Worth getting out of bed for
The best Languedoc-Roussillon has to offer, from picturesque picnic points to the best tourist tick-boxes…
- Viewpoint
- Les Cévennes provide a healthy climb with incredible views, accessed from the Parc du Duché gardens in Uzès.
- Arts and culture
- If you want your breath stolen by some ancient sites, visit the 20,000-seat Roman amphitheatre in Nîmes, which doubles as a bullring and theatre venue. Then check out the Maison Carrée temple that occupies the site of the old Roman forum. To gen up on the town’s art and history, hit Musée D’Uzès on Georges Borais (+33 (0)4 66 22 40 23). For a more frivolous excursion, the sweet-toothed will drool over the Musée du Bonbon on Pont des Charettes (+33 (0)4 66 22 74 39; www.haribo.com), curated and owned by those purveyors of pocket-money favourites, Haribo.
- Something for nothing
- Bus shelters aren’t usually an obvious sight to earmark on the tourist trail –unless they come courtesy of designer du jour Philippe Starck; located on Avenue Carnot in Nîmes.
- Shopping
- Pick up the tastiest local produce on market days. Uzès has a Saturday market selling home-made goodies, from honey to linen quilts. Brocantes and antiques litter the streets around Place aux Herbes in Uzès. Rue de la Madeleine in Nîmes is great for window-shopping. For labels, head to Rue Saint-Firmin and marble-paved Rue de l’Ancien-Courrier in Montpellier; other upmarket boutiques can be found among the high-street names around Rue de la Loge and Place de la Comédie. At the east end of the same is the Polygone centre, with Zara, Sephora and Galeries Lafayette, plus a supermarket. Regional foodie treats can be had on Rue de l’Argenterie (we like the sweets at Pinto, number 14), and at Les Arceaux market; for second-hand French literature, try the Rue de l’Université.
- Daytripper
- Pont du Gard, the famed triple-decker aqueduct built by the Romans to deliver drinking water from Uzès through the hills of the Uzège to Nîmes (and now featuring on the Unesco world heritage list) is a feat of engineering to be marvelled at. Pont du Gard (0820 903 330; www.pontdugard.fr) is free to view, but bring some change to pay for parking.
- Best beach
- One of Languedoc-Roussillon’s best beaches is just south of Montpellier at La Grande Motte, though the city’s summer playground of Palavas-les-Flots is another option, with good bus links. Great day trips include flamingo-watching in the Camargue, where gypsies and cowboys congregate at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer; and ramparts make for great photos at the walled town of Aigues-Mortes. A hidden treasure of a beach, Beauduc is near Porte de St Louis du Rome in the Camargue: if you can find the right path, a 20-minute walk will take you to a beach you’re likely to have all to yourself.
- Perfect Picnic
- Green year-round, the Jardins de la Fontaine in Nîmes were once hailed as the grandest in Europe. In Uzès, the gardens of the Parc du Duché are comparably beautiful. For something a little further away, there’s a small cave (La Grotte de la Baume) half an hour’s walk away, towards Pont St Nicholas.
- Activities
- Float around in a wicker basket propelled by fire: go hot air ballooning. A one-hour flight across the region costs €220 an adult, with Les Montgolfièrs du Sud (+33 (0)4 66 37 28 02, www.sudmontgolfiere.com). Paragliding is available at the nearby village of Seynes (+33 (0)4 66 83 17 07, www.parapentesud.com). If the water’s warm, take a canoe out at Gardon (45 minutes away) – try ABC Euro canoe (+33 (0)4 66 22 45 33) or Kayak Vert (+33 (0)4 66 22 80 76; www.canoe-france.com/gardon).
Diary
Uzès has a hectic calendar, with a festival to suit all tastes: 1 May May Day Flower Festival in Uzès. 2–29 June Printemps des Comédiens (www.printempsdescomediens.com) brings global theatre and circus performance to Montpellier. June Artists and choreographers from all over the world arrive in Uzès for its Modern Dance Festival (www.Uzès danse.fr) and Festival Internationale Montpellier Danse in the region’s capital. July Nîmes Festival is a colourful celebration of culture, contemporary and classical (www.festivaldenimes.com). Late July Classical Music Festival (http://nuitsmusicaleuzes.org). September It’s all about the bullfighting at the Féria de Pentecôte, which lasts for five days in Nîmes. October The Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival is an important date on the global-cinema calendar. November The Festival d’Abrivado – a Camarguais bull race at Ste Marie de la Mer – sees dozens of kamikaze cowboys charging across the beach.