How To Spend A Day At The Pont Du Gard Aqueduct

A trip to the South of France isn’t complete without seeing the ancient Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard.

Even though I had no idea it even existed, it ended up being one of my favourite activities of my entire trip!

There’s so much history and nature to discover at the Pont du Gard aqueduct that it’s worth spending an entire day!

I’ll go over everything you can do at the Pont du Gard France because it’s more than just admiring the view!

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

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What Is An Ancient Roman Aqueduct?

The Pont du Gard is an ancient roman aqueduct in the South of France. But what is an aqueduct in the first place?

Back in the day, like way back in the day, the Roman Empire ruled what we know today as France.

They were actually living it up and were ahead of their time – like they knew the importance of running water and how a colony needed it to thrive.

So the Romans built aqueducts to transport water from the mountains to the villages.

Once such example of those aqueducts is the Pont du Gard France!

A Brief History Of The Pont Du Gard France

The Pont du Gard brought fresh water from Uzès to Nîmes in the first century AD.

The Pont du Gard is only a small part of the once 50 km aqueduct that was built to cross the River Gardon.

Over the centuries, it couldn’t be used as an aqueduct anymore due to limestone build up. So the Romans built an extension, turning it into a bridge, or rather a viaduct!

P.S. Pont du Gard Facts!

Pont is bridge in English. The river it was built to cross is the River Gardon. So the translation is the Bridge of the Gard.

What Makes The Pont Du Gard Aqueduct So Impressive?

The Romans built a lot of aqueducts, so what makes the Pont du Gard aqueduct so impressive?

The most impressive part about the Pont du Gard is the sheer size of it. It’s the highest Roman bridge in the world measuring 48m by 275m.

To give you an idea of how big the Pont du Gard aqueduct actually is, it’s the height of the Statue of Liberty, and the length of three large airplanes.

But not only is it one of the largest, but it’s also the best preserved. You’d think that something of this size wouldn’t have survived over the centuries, but it looks almost fully intact. That’s a testament to how well the Roman’s worked.

I haven’t even told you the best part yet!

The Pont du Gard is in such good condition that it’s completely accessible for visitors to discover.

You can walk across the bridge, and even go through the aqueduct itself (more on that in a bit!).

Where Is The Pont du Gard?

The Pont du Gard is in the South of France in the Occitanie region (bordering the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region).

The closest city is Uzès, which is about a 10 minute drive away. But you can also easily reach it from both Nîmes and Avignon (about a 30 minute drive from either city).

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How To Get To The Pont Du Gard… Three Ways

The Pont du Gard isn’t exactly in a convenient location… It’s actually kind of out of the way as it’s in the middle of three cities: Uzès, Nîmes, and Avignon.

The easiest way to get to the Pont du Gard will be to drive there.

Depending on where you’re staying, you may be able to also take the bus or go on an organized tour.

Option 1: Driving To The Pont Du Gard

We drove to the Pont du Gard from Aix-en-Provence (about an hour and a half).

We didn’t realize how long we could actually spend at the Pont du Gard France so had combined the day with other attractions in the South of France. We also visited Les Baux-de-Provence and the Carrières de Lumières.

The benefit is that you definitely have more flexibility to your day when driving. The downside is that you’re driving in a foreign country… read my guide on driving in the South of France here.

You also have to deal with parking when you’re driving…

Parking At The Pont Du Gard France

There are actually two entrances and parking lots at the Pont du Gard: rive droite and rive gauche.

The different parking lots are the two different sides of the river: the right and left side of the river.

So the parking lot you park in will depend on where you’re coming from and which one is more convenient for you.

You can access either side of the river by walking across the bridge, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on anything.

You might also be interested in reading…

27 Day Trips From Aix-en-Provence

Option 2: Taking The Bus

If you’re staying in Nîmes or Avignon, there’s a ilO bus you can take from each city going to the Pont du Gard Aqueduct.

You don’t have to worry about driving in a foreign country, but you do have to stress about taking public transport in a foreign country. And now you are bound to the bus schedule, so taking the bus is a bit less flexible.

From Nîmes, you’ll want to take the 121 bus. And from Avignon, it’s the 115 bus. Depending on the times, it’s about a 40 minute bus ride and a 20 minute walk at the end.

Google Maps does not know about these bus routes, so you’ll have to use the ilO website (here), or Rome2Rio (here).

Option 3: Organized Tours To The Pont du Gard

Organized tours to the Pont du Gard will be the most expensive option, the least flexible, but also the least stressful!

Everything is planned for you from the itinerary to transportation!

There are several organized tours from Viator that include a stop at the Pont du Gard aqueduct in France. They have both half day tours (around 5 hours) or full day tours (from 9 to 11 hours).

There are the most options leaving from Avignon, but there’s also tours leaving from Aix-en-Provence (see them on Viator), or Marseille (see them on Viator)

Organized Tours From Avignon To The Pont du Gard

Head out on a full day Provence highlights tour with stops at the Pont du Gard, Roussillion, Gordes and more! See the full tour on Viator here.

Or head out on a half day tour from Avignon that includes the cities Nimes and Uzes. See the full tour on Viator here.

If wine tasting is more your style, go on a half day wine tasting adventure in Provence with a stop at the Pont du Gard. See the full tour on Viator here.

For more Pont du Gard organized tours, click here.

Where To Stay If You’re Visiting The Pont Du Gard?

If you are planning on visiting the Pont du Gard aqueduct for an entire day, it’s best to stay nearby.

We stayed in Aix-en-Provence which is an hour and a half drive away. So I would try to stay in either Uzès, Nîmes, or Avignon instead, they’re 10 to 30 minutes away.

You can actually stay on the grounds of the Pont du Gard, but it’s quite the unique stay! Book the Évasion en pleine nature to stay the night in a luxury tent! See availability and rates on Booking.com.

If you want to be in a city, book at Chambre Hôte vue splendide in Uzès for a remarkable homestay with an incredible view. See availability and rates on Booking.com.

Or if you’d prefer to stay in Avignon, book the Hôtel de l’Horloge, set in a 19th-century building! See availability and rates on Booking.com.

Or click here to see more hotels on Booking.com.

How To Spend A Day At The Pont du Gard France

You can easily spend an entire day visiting the Pont du Gard France, there’s no shortage of activities to do.

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How Much Does It Cost To Visit?

Entry to the park is actually free. But you can pay extra for additional activities like guided tours and education areas.

If you drive here, you will have to pay for parking though!

Find The Best View Of The Aqueduct Bridge

The main attraction is to see the Pont de Gard aqueduct, so why not find the best spot to photograph it.

You’ll want to see it from every vantage point possible – because the sun and different angles really changes the view!

Walk past the bridge to see it from the opposite side. Walk across the bridge itself to see it up close. And hike up the hill to see it from above.

Aside from taking in this century-old wonder, there are few other activities to do while at the park and you won’t want to miss any of them!

Go On A Guided Tour

The Pont du Gard site offers guided tours of the grounds in both French and English.

The best part about this tour is that they actually bring you inside the aqueduct.

To save your spot, make sure to book your tickets in advance.

Visit The Pont Du Gard Visitors Centre & Museum

If you’re interested in learning more about the Pont du Gard but don’t want to go on a guided tour, head to the Visitor’s Centre on rive Gauche.

This is where you’ll find the cinema (where they play a short educational film) and the museum.

You can easily spend over an hour in the museum alone – it’s obvious a lot of effort was put into it. They give you the history of aqueducts and set the scene for that time – like why the Romans needed aqueducts anyway.

They even built models and virtual reconstructions to really showcase how the Romans lived and how they ultimately built the Pont du Gard.

Hiking & Walking Trails At The Pont Du Gard

The area surrounding the Pont du Gard aqueduct is huge (like 165 ha huge!) – and you can explore it all!

There are two main trails for you to explore depending on the level of difficulty you’re looking for.

The main walking trail is the 3.5 km aqueduct trail that takes you to the best vantage points of the Pont du Gard and to other remains of the aqueduct.

For a shorter trail, walk the Memories of the Garrigue is 1.4 km hiking loop that explores the mediterranean landscape.

This is the ultimate way to spend a day surrounded by nature and history. You might even spot some more aqueduct ruins on your route that didn’t survive as well over the centuries.

Find the best route for you >>

Go Swimming In The River Gare * Summer ONLY!

If you’re visiting the South of France during the summer time, you have to take advantage of the Gardons river.

Pack a picnic lunch to take with you, invite family and friends, and just sit back and enjoy the river views!

When it gets too hot, go for a dip in the river. Come on, does anything beat swimming in front of an ancient roman aqueduct!?

We were visiting the Pont de Guard in the fall so it was a bit too chilly for swimming but I would definitely want to make the trip back just for that!

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Don’t Miss The Olive Trees

While visiting the Pont du Gard, you don’s want to miss seeing the oldest olive trees.

Now, you might be thinking that you didn’t come all the way to France to see olive trees. But! These aren’t just any olive trees.

The olive trees are 1000-years-old! There are three of them nest to the aqueduct on rive gauche.

Restaurant Options At Roman Viaduct France Pont Du Gard

You can pack a picnic lunch and enjoy setting up anywhere on the grounds.

But there are also two restaurants inside the Pont de Gard that you can eat at (but one is definitely better than the other).

On rive gauche, you have the cafeteria at the Visitor’s Centre, which is great for families and a quick bite to eat.

But! Nothing can beat the view you get at Les Terrasses on rive droite.

There’s an outdoor patio with an unbeatable view of the Pont du Gard.

We had packed our lunch but we had to stop here for a coffee. The drinks also weren’t overpriced like at most tourist attractions (but I don’t know about the food!).