Are you thinking about visiting the Camargue and Arles in the south of France? Are you looking for inspiration on the best things to do in the Camargue and Arles? Read on to find out about our day in both places.
After a very busy previous day visiting Aix-en-Provence and Arles Day 1 we woke up at Maison Douce Arles and had our breakfast on the terrace.
Breakfast was lovely, facing the garden and with plenty of good choices to start the day. After breakfast, we checked out, but the owner allowed us to leave the car in the garage until the end of the day when we would go to Avignon.
We were travelling independently in France with a car as we are confident travellers and speak a bit of the language. However, if you prefer to be part of a tour and to have everything organised for you, I advise you to book a complete tour with Tourradar.
Tourradar has different kinds of tours that will fit your time and budget. If you book it via my links you can get a discount by using this code: RoseG50.
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We had a morning tour booked to visit the Camargue, and the meeting was near the guest house at 9 am. We went to the meeting point just a bit before 9 am and met our guide and group for the visit.
Below is a map showing the places we went to on that day:
Before telling you about our nice morning on the tour, let me tell you a little bit about the Camargue:
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CAMARGUE
The Camargue is a vast, marshy delta in the south of France, where the Rhône River meets the Mediterranean. It’s a unique mix of wetlands, salt flats, and reed beds, shaped by centuries of interaction between land and water. The region is famous for its white horses, black bulls, and pink flamingos, which thrive in the brackish lagoons and expansive grasslands.
Historically, the Camargue has been a centre for salt production and rice farming, both of which remain important. The people here, known as the “Gardiens,” are essentially French cowboys who maintain the region’s semi-wild herds of bulls, which are used in local bullfighting traditions.
Unlike Spanish-style bullfighting, the Camargue version is called course camarguais. It involves acrobatic men trying to snatch ribbons from the bull’s horns rather than killing it.
It’s also an ecologically sensitive area, protected as a national park. But it faces challenges: rising sea levels threaten to disrupt its delicate balance.
Human activity, tourism, agriculture, and industry puts pressure on its biodiversity. It’s a place where nature, culture, and tradition collide in a way that’s increasingly rare in modern Europe.
VISITING THE CAMARGUE
After meeting with our guide and group, we boarded a Jeep that would take us on the trip. There were six people + the guide, and her son, who was learning about being a guide.
The journey from Arles to Sainte-Maries-de-la-Mer (the capital of the Camargue) is about 45 minutes, but we went slowly, stopping in various places to see the bulls, the rice plantations and the horses before getting to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is a small coastal town in the Camargue, known for its deep ties to Romani culture, its religious significance, and its wild, untamed surroundings. It’s the capital of the Camargue and embodies the region’s blend of Mediterranean, French, and Spanish influences.
The town’s name comes from the legend of the Three Marys: Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome, and Mary Jacobe, who, according to Christian tradition, arrived here by boat after fleeing persecution in the Holy Land.
The Church of the Saintes Maries, a fortified 9th-century structure, houses relics linked to them and serves as the heart of the town’s religious life.
When we arrived in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer the guide gave us about an hour to explore the centre of town. It is not very big, we looked around and stopped in a shop to buy some Camargue rice, some salt and some Camargue rosé wine to bring back with us. Soon, it was time to get back to the jeep and continue with our visit to the Camargue.
We went on a route to see the flamingos this time. However, they were very far, and we couldn’t see them very well. They seemed to be a very light shade of pink and not the usual pink of flamingos. A bit underwhelming to say the least.
This is the tour we took to visit the Camargue, book it HERE. Or you can take this Electric Bike Tour of the Camargue that includes the wildlife and tasting of the local cuisine. Book it HERE.
VISITING ARLES DAY 2
From there, we made our way back to Arles. Once in Arles, we decided to have lunch at a restaurant near the guesthouse called “Bar du Marché”. We had a nice lunch there.
After lunch, we went to visit other places in Arles that we didn’t have time to visit the previous day. We went to “Place de la République” and visited the “Cryptoportiques d’Arles” on this square.
The Criptoporticus of Arles dates from the 1st century BC as the foundation of the Forum. Today, they are the foundations of the Jesuit College and the City Hall. There are three parallel tunnels in a “U” format with around fifty piers. They were probably built by the Greeks. These Criptoporticus are also listed by UNESCO and are an interesting visit in the centre of Arles.
After the visit to the Criptoporticus, we went to visit the “Thermes de Constantin”. These are Roman baths on the banks of the River Rhône, which were constructed in the 4th century during the reign of Emperor Constantine.
The remains of the baths include a Roman wall, adjacent cellars, the caldarium with suspended underfloor heating and three plunge pools. The visit is an interesting glimpse into the bath habits of the Roman era.
The restoration of the baths undertaken by the city of Arles between 1980 and 1995 was a meticulous work of preservation to proportionate an educational visit to all visitors.
Continuing with our explorations of Arles, we still had time to visit “Musée Réattu” next to the baths.
“Musée Réattu” is housed in the former Grand Priory of the Order of Malta built in the 15th century. Before it was sold to the city of Arles, it belonged to Jacques Réattu, a painter who worked and lived there in the 17th century.
It was turned into a museum in 1868, initially housing the collection of works of Jacques Réattu. The museum had renovations in the 1950s, and other collections joined the museum.
Today, the museum has a collection of 800 paintings by Jacques Réattu in twelve rooms. There is a collection of 57 drawings by Pablo Picasso in three rooms dedicated to this artist. There is also a room dedicated to photography with over 4000 works.
It is a very nice museum and if time allows should not be missed if you like art.
After the visit to the museum, it was time to get back to the guesthouse and collect the car. We left Arles at the end of the afternoon, and our next stop was Avignon. It took us about 45 minutes to get to Avignon via D570N. It was an easy drive until we arrived in Avignon.
If you have more time in Arles, I recommend this Gourmet food walking tour that I would certainly have taken if time allowed us.
Time allowing also try this tour: “Following the steps of Van Gogh” where the guide will take to the places where he lived and painted while staying in Provence.
Below is a reel from The Travelling Surveyor Instagram account with more photos of the Camargue and Arles. Check it out and follow me on Instagram.
Upon arrival, we got so much traffic; it was very busy, but I think it was because it was the rush hour, just after work on a weekday.
In Avignon, we booked a studio flat called “Le Precieuses Suites 7 Spa II”. There was no car park at the building, and parking on the road was very restricted. However, they gave us directions to a car park nearby.
We unloaded the bags and went to park the car afterwards. It turned out that the car park was quite far from the flat (but it was free) and we had to take a free bus back to the town. It was about fifteen minutes away. To get to the car park, we had to endure more traffic spending a long time on it.
The flat was nice and clean, and it had a jacuzzi bath, a nice treat to have at the end of the day.
After a relaxing bath, we got ready and left for dinner. We booked a restaurant called “Eat Restaurant” in the centre of Avignon. It was a nice dinner; the food was OK but not great. In general, we enjoyed the dinner and the restaurant and walked back to the flat for our first night in Avignon.
I will tell you all about our day in Avignon in my next post.
I hope this post will give you some idea of what can be done in a day in the Camargue and Arles and will help you plan your own visit there.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP TO THE CAMARGUE AND ARLES
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in the Camargue and Arles. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
PLEASE NOTE: Every hotel, restaurants and attractions I mention on my blogs are not sponsored reviews and we always paid the full price when visiting. We give our own opinion of the place and detail our experience, good or bad.
THINGS TO DO IN THE CAMARGUE
ATTRACTIONS IN THE CAMARGUE
1 – To see the rice fields – ***
2 – To see the black bulls – ***
3 – To see the white horses – ***
4 – To see the Flamingos – ***
5 – Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer – ***
6 – The centre of Saintes Maries and the shops
7 – Church of Saintes Maries – ***
THINGS TO DO IN ARLES
ATTRACTIONS IN ARLES DAY 2
1 – Place de la République – ***
2 – Criptoportiques d”Arles – ***
3 – Thermes de Constantin – ***
4 – Musée Réattu – ***
WHERE TO STAY
ACCOMMODATION IN THE CAMARGUE AND ARLES
1 – Gîtes Equestre Lou Caloun – 4* – ££
2 – Mangio Fango Hotel and Spa – 4* – ££
3 – Lodge Sainte Helene – ££
4 – Hôtel L’Estelle en Camargue – 5* – £££
5 – Maison Douce Arles – 3* – ££
6 – Hôtel Le Relais de Poste – £££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation, search and book via the below widget:
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BEST PLACES TO EAT IN THE CAMARGUE AND ARLES
RESTAURANTS IN THE CAMARGUE AND ARLES
1 – La Table des Baumelles – ££
2 – La Manade des Baumelles – £££
3 – Le Seize – £££
4 – Le Grain de sel – £££
5 – Les Piques ou rien – £££
6 – L’Essentiel Bistrot – ££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to France:
1 – Lyon – Day 1
2 – Lyon – Day 2
6 – Saint-Tropez/Port Grimaud/Grimaud
7 – Monaco
8 – Cannes
10 – Camargue and Arles
11 – Avignon – Coming Soon
12 – Dijon – Coming Soon
13 – Fontainebleau – Coming Soon
14 – Paris – Day 1 – Coming Soon
15 – Paris – Day 2 – Coming Soon
16 – Paris – Day 3 – Coming Soon
USEFUL SITES
1 – Provence-Alpes-Côted’Azur Tourism Board
2 – Wikipedia
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