Nîmes Bursts With History

Once a regional capital of the Roman Empire, Nîmes boasts a wealth of ancient ruins. Its pedestrian-only downtown buts up against a giant stone arena and one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. Nearby is a massive 2000 year old aqueduct that is a true engineering marvel. Due to the plethora of Roman history in and around the city, Nîmes has billed itself as “the French Rome”. Walking around feels like stepping back in time.

The city symbol of Nîmes is a crocodile chained to a palm tree. This insignia is plastered everywhere throughout town and represents the success of the Romans over the Egyptians in the Battle of Actium. The Roman victory from 31 BCE was such an inspiring one, that Nîmes decided to commemorate a coin pressing which later became their city emblem. Today, the crocodile and palm tree symbol is stamped onto everything from clothing to building facades to the metal tops of bollards that separate pedestrians from vehicles. 

That insignia is the only abstract thing about Nîmes’s history though. The remainder is local and alive. Day to day life takes place within full view of historical riches. Cafes teem with patrons enjoying their coffee with amazing ruins in the backdrop. Kids take lunch breaks on the stone steps of these while joking with their friends. And daily commuters fight traffic to get past the ancient arena and out to the faster roads. There’s almost no place in town that doesn’t have its finger on the pulse of history.

Maison Carrée

The Maison Carrée is one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. Its title is the “square house” in French, despite being a rectangle. However everything else about it is pretty perfect. The facade was restored less than 15 years ago and looks incredible. Almost every aspect of it has some fine detail. This building has inspired people throughout history, including Thomas Jefferson. After visiting Nîmes, he commissioned the design of the Virginia capitol building to be modeled after it. I think it was a good choice.

Arena Of Nîmes 

Nîmes also features an historic amphitheater that was built around the same time as the Colosseum in Rome. This almost 2000 year old Roman structure is still used for public events today. They have dancing performances, concerts, and (unfortunately) bullfighting. The modern use shares some similarities to the one we visited in Pula, although this one has much more seating, with the ability to host up to 24,000 spectators. 

We walked around the outside of the arena a number of times. It looks good from every angle. There’s also interior access, for which we paid €8 each. Included with the entry is a cheesy audio tour that’s accessed via their website. It’s supposed to make you feel like you’re back in time watching gladiators compete, but it didn’t work for us. We skipped most of the commentary to wander around on our own. The guide did at least teach us one thing though. We now know the difference between an arena and an amphitheater. This one is called the Arena of Nîmes because arena means sand in Latin and the floor of this structure is sand. 

Pont Du Gard

The best reason to visit Nîmes is actually just outside of the city. The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct from the first century and it’s still in amazing shape today. It towers over the Gardon river valley below and is truly a spectacular work of engineering. It even still serves as a bridge for pedestrians to cross the river. The aqueduct is the only way to do so within miles.

We were visiting in the offseason so it was pretty quiet. There were a few other people around, but judging from the size of the parking lots on each side of the river, they must really pack in the crowds during the summer. Only the parking costs money, as it’s free to enter on foot. Once inside, there are plenty of hiking paths and wild areas that can be walked to and climbed on. We spent a few hours exploring the space in awe of this ancient 2000 year old structure. 

To get there, we took the local “liO” bus line 121 from the main train station. The ride takes 30-40 minutes. The closest stop is the Vers-Pont-du-Gard stop, but we got off earlier at Pont du Remoulins at the edge of the town of Remoulins. From there we walked back across the bridge and turned north for about 20 minutes. This route took us alongside vineyards down a quaint tree-lined path to enter the site from the south side. We found the bus schedules and bought tickets for €2 each through the liO Occitanie transportation app. 

Les Jardins De La Fontaine

Just to the northwest of downtown is the fanciful Gardens of the Fountain park. The flat lower level has carved marble sculptures, ancient temple ruins, and multiple water features. The higher levels climb the hill to the north via an ostentatious marble staircase where the ascent begins. The grounds on the hillside are mostly well manicured and have multiple paths and small gardens within them. Near the top of the hill is the historic Tour Magna, which can be climbed for panoramic views of the city below. The entire park has plenty of benches and seating. It’s quite popular on sunny days and weekends.

Musée Des Beaux-Arts De Nîmes

The Fine Arts Museum in Nîmes is a small space that has some interesting paintings and artifacts. The highlight is the large Roman mosaic that is the centerpiece of the main room. It’s pretty exquisite and has several unique sections and patterns. Aside from that, there are a handful of rooms dedicated to religious art and landscapes from the surrounding area. Naturally there are also several marble statues. 

Musée De La Romanité

The Museum of Romanity is a very modern museum that opened in 2018 and is dedicated to the Roman antiquity of the area. It features many interactive exhibits on the Arena, Maison Carrée, Pont du Gard, Les Jardins de La Fontaine, Tour Magne, old city walls, and many of the other sites around town. It tells about their history, uses, excavation, restoration, and more. There are also plenty of sculptures, artifacts, mosaics, and many other archeological treasures. The museum was extremely informative, and especially after seeing all of the sites first, it really helped to bring them alive. Visiting this museum is a must for any trip to Nîmes.

Day Trip To Avignon

We took the train to nearby Avignon and spent a day exploring there. Avignon was the other city in this area that we considered staying in, so we wanted to make sure we at least caught some of it. Our plan was to visit the two most promising art museums and then spend the rest of our time exploring. Downtown was very festive and decked out for the holidays, making it fun to wander around. 

The highlight of our day in Avignon was the Musée Calvet, which is a free museum with impressive sculptures and paintings. Despite not knowing any of the artist names, we really loved the art on display. The paintings only filled a couple of smaller rooms, but we were impressed by much of it. It’s always fun to discover new artists. There is also a large room with excellent marble sculptures, along with a small Egyptian area with a couple of sarcophagi and some other artifacts. 

The second museum we visited was the Musée Angladon, which has work from notable names like Van Gogh, Degas, Picasso, Cezanne, and Modigliani. We expected this would be the best one, but we didn’t enjoy it as much. Each artist basically had one painting, and that painting wasn’t representative of their best work in my opinion. I’m sure that sounds very spoiled, but it could also be a commentary on just how much amazing art there is around France. When obscure painters can dwarf the masters, it shows how wealthy the art riches are in this part of the world.

We were also treated to a ridiculous sunset near the end of our visit. The colors were so bright I think it even screwed up the sensors on our phones because the pictures seem off compared to what we saw. It was a brilliant display. We hustled outside of the city walls and onto a bridge over the Rhône for the best views. Afterwards we took the train back to Nîmes in less than an hour.

Where We Stayed

We rented an airy apartment with high ceilings on the edge of the downtown in Nîmes. The place was in an older building, but it had been refurbished. The kitchen and living room were part of the single large living space. We were also seriously impressed by the retro style of the sink and shower room. The blue tiles gave off great community pool vibes. The high ceilings meant that it was a little cold when the temperatures dipped, but otherwise we liked it.

What We Spent

Our off season visit to Nîmes was pretty economical. We got a good deal on our apartment and the trains and buses we took around the area were also cheap. Most of the ruins and parks were free to enjoy, although they did actually charge us for museums here, unlike Grenoble. Overall, we spent $2698 during our 28 days. Adding in our regular monthly bills for blog hosting, insurance, and the rest brought the grand total to $2914, or just over $100/day. 

Overall I thought Nîmes was a pretty cool city. We loved the arena, Maison Carrée, and of course, the massive aqueduct. The Romanity museum was a real gem as well. The sheer wealth of old Roman ruins made walking anywhere enjoyable. I almost hesitate to call them ruins, because so many of them are in such good shape. Nîmes does an excellent job embracing their roots, making it a great place to bond with history. It’s impossible to visit and not feel a connection to the past.