Tarascon

Take a last look back at the great papal city before ViaRhôna leads you across the Rhône into the county of the Gard. A dedicated cycle track will be put in place here; for the moment, follow the green strip of land between the TGV rail bridges and Aramon Bridge. Then the route zigzags between vineyards and orchards before joining the Pont du Gard Greenway, heading to the Rhône-side port of Beaucaire, designated a Ville d’Art et d’Histoire for its rich historical legacy, and set at a point where the regions of Languedoc and Provence meet.

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.

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.