Pont d'Avignon on our own?

Our cruise offers this excursion but we are thinking of doing something else during that time. Is this something we could do on our own the next day. Is it a simple taxi ride away or would it be crazy $$ to do that? Would it be difficult to find a taxi back or a popular area where some cabs may wait? Thank you!

Are you sure you mean Pont d'Avignon? If your cruise docks in Avignon you will be right at that bridge -- easy walk. If you don't dock in Avignon, it's probably not worth the effort to go there just for that [unless you are really committed to dancing on it!]

 

Or do you mean Pont du Gard?

http://www.pontdugard.fr/en/ancient-work-art

That is a common side trip from Avignon, and absolutely worth the effort to get to. I suppose you could do it by taxi, but it will be very expensive because you will have to ask the driver to wait -- there are no taxis there to take you back -- and you will want to spend some time there (the Roman bridge is huge and you should walk across it so see it from both sides, and also from the river level as well as a high viewpoint). You could rent a car, but it's probably easiest and best to take the ship's excursion.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

Feeling slightly embarrassed ! Yes, I did mean Pont du Gard!Thank you for the information!!

Don't know whether you'd feel comfortable trying this, but there is a public bus that runs between Avignon Train Station (the closer one) and Arles a few times per day, which stops at Pont du Gard. We looked at it to see if it would help us last year, but we didn't need to use it, as we had OBC...so we just took the ship's tour.

 

It seems pretty cheap; 10 euros per person includes entry and an all-day bus pass, or 20 euros per family.

 

Their website is in French only. This page shows ticket prices. It's the A15 line that runs between Avignon and Pont du Gard. You can check the schedule for the day that you're in Avignon here to see if it runs often enough to make it feasible. I don't know if it runs frequently enough to make it an option for you, but you can check the schedule if this is something that you feel comfortable trying.

We did Pont du Gard and loved it.

Our cruise offers this excursion but we are thinking of doing something else during that time. Is this something we could do on our own the next day. Is it a simple taxi ride away or would it be crazy $$ to do that? Would it be difficult to find a taxi back or a popular area where some cabs may wait? Thank you!

 

As another has mentioned, you will be pretty close to Pont D’Avignon, around 15 minutes walk. We were there last October and, like you, it was a must for us...

 

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/11/09/viking-hermod-portraits-of-southern-france/

 

Indeed, I did it twice. Once between breakfast and our excursion departure and then returned with my wife in 'free time' after the excursion.

 

We were on the Viking Hermod and the previous evening the Captain gave us a treat after dinner, a cruise past the Pont D’Avignon…

 

 

Hope that helps.

Feeling slightly embarrassed ! Yes, I did mean Pont du Gard!Thank you for the information!!

 

No need to be embarrassed, I answer comments chronologically so only came across your 'confession' after I'd written the previous post.

 

No big deal, As I said, we were on Viking Hermod and the Pont du Gard was one of Viking's alternative excursions after lunch. So same review, you just need to scroll down further...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/11/09/viking-hermod-portraits-of-southern-france/

 

I too was so glad I did this extra excursion as you can see from my photographs...

 

 

 

 

Now here is the drawback of trying to do it privately. It was a reasonably long journey (my camera photo sequence tells me 28 minutes) by coach and the Pont du Gard is quite 'out in the sticks' so you will have to consider taxi waiting time.

 

Next problem, linked to the above, is the length of time to walk from the visitor centre to the pont.

 

Finally of course it's not really worth visiting just the point if your not going to take in the visitor centre and all it has to offer..

 

Your shout!

Edited May 3, 2016 by Solent Richard

lovely pictures. would love to visit it again our ships excursion was adequate but a bit rushed no time to see the visitor centre and just wander in the gardens. we are interested in the history of the area so would like to see it again. the train option mentioned sounded feasible.

Solent Richard -- I'm glad that your ship excursion gave you time to walk to both viewpoints and the visitor center, as they add a lot to appreciating this amazing engineering marvel. We inadvertently missed our ship excursion [so I don't know how much time they would have allowed], but happily we were able to visit it on disembarkation day since we had rented a car to drive over to Marseille. That allowed us to take all the time we wanted. That's another option for anyone starting or ending on the lower part of the Rhone (if you have the time available). The car rental was an easy walk from the docking location in Arles.

Solent Richard -- I'm glad that your ship excursion gave you time to walk to both viewpoints and the visitor center, as they add a lot to appreciating this amazing engineering marvel. We inadvertently missed our ship excursion [so I don't know how much time they would have allowed], but happily we were able to visit it on disembarkation day since we had rented a car to drive over to Marseille. That allowed us to take all the time we wanted. That's another option for anyone starting or ending on the lower part of the Rhone (if you have the time available). The car rental was an easy walk from the docking location in Arles.

 

 

Good morning Jazzbeau

 

Thank you for your kind comment.

 

As I said in my blog, it was originally a tough decision as I'm also very fond of Chateauneuf du Pape - the alternative excursion that afternoon.

 

By the way, I like your style with the hire car.

 

Next up I am giving Scenic a go with a cruise around Bordeaux.

...I'm glad that your ship excursion gave you time to walk to both viewpoints and the visitor center, as they add a lot to appreciating this amazing engineering marvel...

We did the VANTAGE optional Pont du Gard tour in 2015. I often DIY, but tour cost for two people was only slightly more than car rental, and logistics were considerably easier. The Vantage time line I thought to be quite good. We arrived on site and had 10 minutes for technical stops, then met our local guide and walked to the aqueduct and up to the top level (walking up was NOT required, but if you are able to, I recommend). The top level water channel was locked, but the guide had the key and let us in and we traversed to the other side, walked down to ground level and back across the river on the bottom level. We them were still allowed about an hour for the museum or whatever. Just about the perfect amount of time IMO. I can't speak to the time allotment by other cruise lines.

 

Jazzbeau: Since you did PduG on your own, how was access to the top level handled?

 

Thom

Jazzbeau: Since you did PduG on your own, how was access to the top level handled?

 

Thom

 

Well, it was like this :) The guidebook said to go to the parking lot near the Visitor Center, but the GPS sent us to the parking lot on the far side. No biggie. We walked along past the restaurant to the Pont and then up the path to the viewpoint. The top level, as you noted, was locked -- and we had no guide with a key :( So we walked back down and across the bridge, down to the riverside viewpoint, then to the Visitor Center, back across the bridge, had lunch at the restaurant, and finally back to the car. Because of all that it took quite a bit longer than a ship's tour could have allowed, I think. But except for walking across the top level we got to do everything at our own pace. So -- were you able to see anything while walking across up there? It looked closed-in so I didn't think we really missed much.

...So -- were you able to see anything while walking across up there? It looked closed-in so I didn't think we really missed much.

The sides were close to 6 feet tall, and the top was sometimes open and sometimes covered. I could sort of see over the top, but not really:( Mostly I was looking out for not clobbering my head:eek:

The most interesting item seen was the centuries of lime deposits on the walls. Having never walked inside the water channel of an aqueduct it was interesting, but now that I've done it I'm not in a hurry to do it again.

 

Thom