Pont du Gard
Vers-Pont-du-Gard, France
The Pont du Gard is the three-tiered Roman aqueduct bridge over the river Gardon near Remoulins in southern France,…
9 tickets & tours
Country
Best ancient sites in France
The catalogue’s French sites are all Roman, monuments of the province of Narbonensis and of Lugdunum, capital of Roman Gaul, strung along the Rhône. Lyon has the theatre and Odeon of Fourvière beside the Lugdunum Museum, and Vienne a hillside theatre for 13,000. In Provence, Orange keeps the only complete Roman stage wall in Europe, Arles an amphitheatre and theatre a minute apart, Nîmes an arena of 60 arches and the Tour Magne, and Glanum lies outside Saint-Rémy. The Pont du Gard, the tallest surviving Roman aqueduct bridge, is 30 minutes from Nîmes.
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Arena of Nimes
Nîmes, France
The Arena of Nimes is a Roman amphitheatre of around AD 90 to 100 in the centre of the city, one of the best preserved…
1 ticket or tour
Roman Theatre of Orange
Orange, France
The Roman Theatre of Orange, built under Augustus early in the 1st century AD, is the only Roman theatre in Europe that…
1 ticket or tour
Roman Theatres of Fourvière
Lyon, France
The Ancient Theatre of Fourvière is the Roman theatre of Lugdunum, cut into the hill above Lyon around 15 BC and…
1 ticket or tour
Arles Amphitheatre
Arles, France
The Arles Amphitheatre is a Roman arena of around AD 90 that still stands two storeys high in the centre of Arles.
No online ticket
Glanum
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France
Glanum is the excavated Celtic, Greek and Roman town just south of Saint-Remy-de-Provence, set in a narrow valley below…
No online ticket
Roman Theatre of Arles
Arles, France
The Roman Theatre of Arles was built under Augustus in the late 1st century BC and once seated about 8,000 people on 33…
No online ticket
Roman Theatre of Vienne
Vienne, France
The Roman theatre of Vienne is one of the largest in Gaul, built into the slope of Mont Pipet above the town in the 1st…
No online ticket
Tour Magne
Nîmes, France
The Tour Magne is a Roman tower on the hill of Mont Cavalier above the Jardins de la Fontaine in Nimes, the highest…
No online ticket
These are arenas, theatres and feats of engineering rather than excavated cities, and the Provence group fits a few days based in Arles, Nîmes or Avignon, with combined passes in Nîmes and Arles. Book the Pont du Gard in July and August, and festival nights at Orange and Vienne months ahead. The arenas close on bullfight and concert days, so check the calendar. Open tiers pass 35 degrees in high summer; April to June and September are better.
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Ancient sites in France: questions
How many ancient sites are there in France?
This catalogue lists 9 ruins and ancient sites in France, 4 of them with tickets or tours to book online. The most booked are Pont du Gard, Roman Theatre of Orange, Arena of Nimes.
Which is the oldest ancient site in France?
Glanum, founded in 250 BC, is the oldest in the catalogue for France.
Which ancient sites in France are free to enter?
1 of the 9 ancient sites in France charge no entry fee, among them Roman Theatres of Fourvière. The entry fee is shown on each page.
Which ancient sites in France are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
5 ancient sites in France in this catalogue are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Pont du Gard, Roman Theatre of Orange, Roman Theatres of Fourvière.