Piste cyclable à Arles
F. Tijou
Pont Van Gogh à Arles
F. Tijou

Arles

A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Provençal Arles has been a major city of culture, heritage, history and art since Roman times. Thanks to its location beside the Rhône, for so long the major transport route between the Mediterranean and northwest Europe.

The whole city feels like an open-air museum. The ancient Roman legacy is stupendous, with the theatre, amphitheatre, forum and baths still so visible. As to the Musée de l’Arles Antique, it presents an amazing collection of classical objects. In more recent times, the people of Arles have remained proud of their traditions and folklore, following in the footsteps of a great 19th-century defender of Provençal culture, Frédéric Mistral, who founded the Museon Arlaten. Today, traditional festivals and feria mark the annual calendar. In summer, the city hosts a prestigious international photographic festival. Arles celebrates both its history and the present with gusto!

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Beaucaire / Arles

Beaucaire / Arles

19 km
1 h 17 min
I begin / Family
This stretch links two towns packed with fascinating history and monuments. At Beaucaire, the river port reaches into the heart of the old town, a place to enjoy many discoveries. Arles, with splendid Roman and medieval monuments, boasts an exceptionally rich heritage. This provisional but signposted portion of ViaRhôna takes you along quiet roads, across a plain crisscrossed by tracks to remote mas (the name for the farms in the parts) and by irrigation canals helping water the crops and orchards here. You then enter Arles from the southwest.
Arles / Port-St-Louis-du-Rhône

Arles / Port-St-Louis-du-Rhône

52 km
3 h 26 min
I begin / Family
3.5 / 5
The historic town of Arles stands just north of the Camargue. Famed for its Roman monuments, the whole place is steeped in history and packed with art treasures. Leaving town via the Pont Van Gogh (this bridge’s name recalling the time the great Dutch Impressionist spent in Arles), ViaRhôna leads you towards the Rhône Delta along a pretty greenway running beside the Canal d’Arles à Fos. Be aware that the way has not been thoroughly maintained in recent times and can be dangerous between the Fos lock and Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône. From the latter, a cycle path leads you to the sea and the possibility of a well-deserved swim at beautiful Plage Napoléon. En route, visit the Marais Vigueirat marshes by Mas-Thibert.
Beaucaire / St-Gilles

Beaucaire / St-Gilles

29 km
2 h 08 min
I cycle often
A provisional signposted stretch of cycle route has been put in place between Beaucaire and Saint-Gilles while awaiting the creation of a dedicated route alongside the Canal du Rhône à Sète. At present, you follow quiet roads into the start of the Camargue plain, cycling amidst fields divided up by irrigation canals. Saint-Gilles with its medieval centre takes visitors back to major pilgrimage times. Beyond town stand slopes producing Costières de Nîmes wines.