While we were quite happy to take the train for much of our recent trip through France’s Provence and Occitanie regions in the South of France, we opted to travel between Avignon and Carcassonne by car to see some of the historic sites along the way.
We split our itinerary to have two days in Avignon (before and after Carcassonne) so we could get the car and drop it off in Avignon from where we could easily take the train back to CDG airport. In fact, it was very convenient to pick up the car in Avignon’s TGV train station and to return it there. Not only that but we saved considerably on the rental car charges as compared to an airport pickup and/or returning it to a different location.
The road trip itself between Avignon and Carcassonne is about 3 hours with average traffic along the big A9 Highway. We did it in March so we would assume July and August would be much busier at the attractions as well as on the roads.
There were quite a few nice places to see along the way, and we were happy to have the chance to experience them. These would also be easily doable as day trips or tours from either Avignon or Carcassonne.
Pont du Gard
Just outside Avignon is the historic Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard. Built in AD 150, the Pont du Gard is the most visited antique monument in France we were surprised to learn.
Being here in off-season was quite good, there were but a few cars in the huge parking lot. There was clearly room for hundreds of cars and dozens of busses. We expect that summer would be really busy.
From the parking lot there is a short 10-minute walk to the aqueduct itself. You pass through a reception area or welcome center where there are a few shops, clean bathrooms, and a tourist information booth. Entry to the park was free which was very nice but there was a small charge for parking and to visit the museum.
The site consists of many walking paths and is akin to a beautiful park that just happens to have an ancient Roman aqueduct in it! Many locals were cycling or walking their dogs and just enjoying being out in the fresh air. The park has good signage, and the walking paths are wide, clean, and smooth.
Coming up to the aqueduct is impressive. We had seen one in the city Segovia in Spain which was nice but still paled in comparison to the massive structure crossing the riverbed in front of us. The signs say that Pont du Gard lays claim to being the best-preserved Roman aqueduct in the world.
You can walk over the lower part of the aqueduct to cross the river and get some nice views. You can also hike up the makeshift staircase along the slope of the hill to the top part of the structure where you get a different perspective.
Tours are available to walk across the top of the Pont du Gard, but it was locked up with a gate and not accessible for entry without a guide or official tour when we were there. We could see that the top was actually a wide channel which we assumed was used to carry water across the river to the nearby towns in ancient days.
Along the southern bank there is also a grotto to explore (or at least to peek into). You can easily spend an hour around the site wandering around admiring the historical aqueduct from various angles.
The ancient city of Nîmes
Next up along the way for us was the historical town of Nîmes. Originally a city held by the Celts in or around 599 BCE, Nîmes later became part of the Roman Empire. Roman Emperor Augustus decreed that it would be a Roman capital and for this reason we can find some impressive monuments constructed there.
Two key sites to be seen are the Roman amphitheater and the Maison Carrée (a Roman temple) dating back to the 1st century AD.
Maison Carrée
Inspired by the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome, the Maison Carrée was built and used to host various formal ceremonies. Only priests would be allowed to enter the temple itself at the time it was active.
This Gallo-Roman temple has survived to a large degree because it has been used for various purposes throughout the ages. It has been a public building, an assembly of justice, a church, a monastery, a library, and a museum. Classified as a historical monument in 1840, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The room itself inside the monument is small but it’s pretty cool to be able to enter such a space with so much history.
Amphitheatre of Nîmes
While there was a lot of scaffolding in place and we could tell the amphitheater was also a venue that they were trying to actively use, it was still interesting to wander around in this ancient monument dating to the 1st century AD.
You can climb up the stairs and get a good look at the overall stadium. Do be careful of the missing stones and uneven paths! I lost my footing and bruised my foot. It could definitely have been worse!
Signs laid claim to this being the best-preserved amphitheater from the Roman Empire, In its heyday, the NÎmes Arena could hold 24 000 spectators.
Parking and driving in historic Nîmes
We were easily able to find access to the underground parking nearby but one word of advice in navigating the small streets of the historical district is to get a small car. The roads were really narrow and in many cases Google Maps would route us through streets that we thought would have been too tight for a horse to get through never mind our rental car!
In more than a few spots we had to fold in the mirrors just to get by and the car was complaining loudly with lots of beeping and screeching as the walls were closing in! We had a real fear that we might have to back out of these tight spots which would have been even harder to do.
This time, we didn’t follow our own advice to skip the upgrade when renting a car. On arrival they had the car ready and told us that anything smaller would have entailed a wait. We were eager to get on the road, so we took what they had ready, which was bigger than what we had reserved. Do yourself a favor and stick to something small (and maybe automatic too) if you can. And DO take the full insurance for peace of mind even if it’s expensive!
Back on the road
After Nîmes we headed straight into Carcassonne to enjoy our stay in the famous Hôtel de la Cité within the fortified city.
On the way back from Carcassonne to Avignon, we opted to take the more scenic 610 Route instead of the big A9 Highway.
We passed hundreds of small wineries. While not our thing, many might enjoy stopping in to sample the goods (but be sure to do so in moderation especially if you are driving!). Many if not most had welcoming signs out trying to lure in the tourists. We admired the various châteaux along the way and the scenic views of the countryside.
Béziers in Southern France
We had seen Béziers from a distance on the way into Carcassonne from the A9. The huge hilltop cathedral looked amazing, and we put it on our list to visit on our way back.
We ventured into the Old Town again navigating narrow streets barely managing not to tear off the mirrors on the larger than originally booked rental car! We found a parking spot on the street and hiked the last two blocks up a steep hill to the cathedral only to find plenty of parking spots in a dedicated parking area next to the cathedral itself!
Unfortunately, despite Google telling us it would be open, the paper sign stuck on the closed door said that they only opened for the afternoon at 2:30pm. Undeterred, we added some money to the parking meter and headed into town to find some public bathrooms and perhaps some lunch.
A side note here that France is really not that generous with public bathrooms! We stopped in the hotel next to the cathedral asking politely in French to use a bathroom but were told they didn’t have any bathrooms. Wow, I’d hate to stay in a hotel without bathrooms! That one, despite being next to the cathedral is definitely off our list.
All the restaurants were closed but this time Google came through. Did you know you could search for bathrooms on Google Maps? It directed us to a public square where we not only found a clean bathroom but also found a great spot for lunch!
We had been hoping to get to the coast to see where those oysters we had eaten in Carcassonne came from, and we found a walk-up oyster bar serving oysters from Sète. How cool is that?
The oysters were delicious and we spoke to the young shop owners about the various places for oysters. Everyone loved our French-Canadian accent and called us cousins. We ventured back to find the door to the cathedral open at 2:15pm so we got to start our sightseeing a bit earlier.
Cathédrale Saint-Nazaire
The 13th century cathedral was beautiful with its ornate altar and many carvings and paintings.
We also climbed the 167 steps to get the views from the bell tower. It was worth the wait and the visit.
On the way out of town, we crossed over the Pont Neuf and stopped for a few pictures to admire the Pont Vieux with the cathedral perched up on top of the hill as well.
While it was getting late and we wanted to return to Avignon before dark, we also wanted to see the coastline and the Mediterranean Sea so decided to add a final stop to our return journey.
Sète, a seaside town
After trying the delicious oysters from Sète. We had to go have a look. It was also fun for us to get to see the Mediterranean being so close to it with the itinerary we had. There is something special about the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves that always draws us to go have a look.
There was a really nice promenade along an old pier in Sète where we parked the rental car for one euro an hour allowing us to walk around the pier to enjoy the views.
Hundreds if not thousands of small boats of all types were docked in the marina. Fishing trawlers were coming in with seagulls in hot pursuit, and many pleasure craft dotted the horizon. We saw ships being worked on in dry dock and lots of locals strolling the boardwalk. It was just a nice seaside port experience with all the hustle and bustle.
Arriving back in Avignon
We had made the mistake of taking the parking option at the old historic hotel in the medieval town of Avignon. The hotel itself was beautiful, like a castle (see our write-up on Avignon) but the directions to the hotel were challenging. Especially after a day of driving and arriving after dark.
You had to drive through the narrow cobblestone streets and ring the bell which was supposed to bring down the barrier to let us in. We got lost and ended up at the wrong barrier and had to cross pedestrian streets going the wrong way (of course the cars GPS map system was telling us everything was ok and to go ahead). When we rang, the gendarme that answered the phone was less than impressed that we had somehow ended up where we were!
We shudder to think how many cameras got our picture and how many tickets may be on their way by mail. Next time, we will stick to the train or simply park outside the historic center and would recommend the same.
Conclusion
Ultimately it was nice to have a car to visit the sites between Avignon and Carcassonne. None really compared to the two historic cities themselves, but it was a way to see a little more of Provence and Occitanie.
If we could do it again, we would have returned the car before returning to Avignon (or taken a hotel outside the Old City for the second part of our adventure where we were visiting places across the Rhône River anyway. Less stress where driving and parking would not be an issue.
Road trip tips
- Do it by train and take transfers or day trips and tours if you can, but if you take a car, stick to a small one and do your best to avoid the historic city streets.
- Tolls are all electronic now and accept pay-by-phone. You just take a ticket when you enter and insert the ticket using your phone to pay when you exit the highway. The main highway trip may have cost about €15; we got on and off a few times paying smaller amounts.
- You can use the pay-by-phone app for the street parking.
- Rent your car at the train stations as there is no airport supplement for rental cars and overall, it seemed much cheaper.
Despite some challenges navigating inside Avignon’s walled city with the car, it was still fun to have the car, and we probably would not have done the other side trips had we not had one.