Arles or Nîmes: Which Provence City Should You Visit?

Besides lavender fields and market days, there’s one more thing that Provence is famous for: Ancient Roman sites! And there’s no better place to experience these sites than in the city of Arles or Nîmes.

You may not think of the South of France as an epicentre for Ancient Roman history and architecture, but you’d be wrong. Here you’ll find arenas, theatre, baths and cemeteries all thanks to the Roman Empire.

But as you build out your Provence itinerary, you may find yourself with a dilemma, should you visit Arles or Nîmes?

When my husband, Colin, and I visited Provence in 2024, we had a lot of cities and towns on our bucket list. We slowly whittled the list down, but managed to keep both Arles and Nîmes on the itinerary.

But if you only have time to visit one Ancient Roman city in Provence, which one should you choose?

After visiting both, my heart pulls for Arles. I loved the charming small town and diversity of Roman sites. But Nîmes holds her own! She has some heavy hitters when it comes to Roman history.

Below Arles and Nîmes are squaring off – competing to see who has the better arena, Roman sites, museums, transportation and beauty – until only one winner remains. Read on to figure out which city you should visit!

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Arles Arena vs Nimes Arena

Up first, let’s compare Les Arènes d’Arles with Les Arènes de Nîmes. Both of these large arenas, or amphitheatres, are centrepieces in these historic cities. Think of them like mini Colosseums from Rome!

On their surface, these arenas are pretty similar. The Arles Arena was was built in 90 AD and once held 20,000 people while the Nîmes Arena was built in 100 AD and held about 24,000 people.

So the Nîmes Arena is slightly bigger while the Arles Arena is slightly older, but not by much.

Exploring both amphitheatres, they did feel incredibly similar. We visited Arles first and I really enjoyed walking around the different levels and hallways. Since we visited in the off-season, we basically had the whole arena to ourselves!

In Nîmes we were joined by a few school groups, but still the amphitheatre was pretty empty. Unfortunately it was a little rainy, so walking around on the outside tiers wasn’t as fun.

However, we did have an audioguide in Nîmes and there were some information boards set up for us to read. In Arles, there was nothing to read and they either didn’t have an audioguide, or at least one wasn’t offered to us.

Because of the audioguide, and the fact that we got to learn about the different types of gladiators (who knew there was more than one?), I’m going to give the edge to Nîmes.

But once again, both arenas are extremely similar, even down to the fact that they both had metal scaffolding covering part of them.

WINNER: Nîmes (but just barely)

Other Roman sites in Nîmes and Arles

Besides the arenas, both Nîmes and Arles also have a number of other Ancient Roman sites to discover.

Overall, there are more Roman sites in Arles but they’re on a smaller scale. Nîmes has fewer but they may be more impressive.

In addition to its arena Arles has cloisters, a Roman theatre, Roman baths, a Roman cemetery and an underground crypt.

I loved walking around the beautiful cloisters and the spooky crypt which, once again, we had completely to ourselves. The baths were small, but still fun to explore, though there wasn’t much info to read.

In Nîmes, the big claims to fame outside of the arena are Maison Carrée, a large temple, and Jardin de la Fontaine, a beautiful garden with temple ruins and a tower.

I enjoyed admiring Maison Carrée from the outside and walking through the Temple of Diana in the Jardin de la Fontaine. Like Arles there wasn’t a lot of info, but walking the exterior was nice.

Discover the best Roman sites in Nîmes here!

Both cities also have museums that share more of their Ancient Roman history and display related artifacts. Sadly, we didn’t have time to visit any of them, but I hear Museum Romanité (Nîmes) and Musee departemental de l’Arles antique (Arles) are great.

It’s hard for me to choose a winner here. I liked having more sites to explore in Arles, but I was also very impressed by the bigger sites in Nîmes.

Sorry, I can’t choose!

WINNER: Tie

Non-Roman things to do in Arles and Nîmes

Of course, it’s not just Roman sites that you’ll find in Arles or Nîmes. Both cities have plenty of other things to see and do.

In Arles you can visit a number of art museums, including the famous LUMA Arles. This is a 27 acre contemporary art museum (complete with a slide!) that is free to enter.

In town there’s the famous Van Gogh Cafe Arles. Technically it’s closed, but it’s still cool to see from the outside as it perfectly recreates Van Gogh’s “Café Terrace at Night” which he painted while living in Arles.

And just 15 minutes from Arles is the Abbaye de Montmajour. This place looks amazing! We were all set to visit but some road detours sent us 30 minutes in the wrong direction, so we had to skip it. Next time!

Check out more things to do in Arles here!

In Nîmes, you can visit Musée du Vieux Nîmes to learn about the history of denim, which was actually invented in Nîmes. That’s how denim got it’s name: de Nîmes means “from Nîmes.”

There’s also Les Halles de Nîmes, Nîmes’ famous food market, where you can grab some supplies for a picnic lunch.

And a popular day trip from Nîmes is to the Camargue where you’ll find a rocky coastline and abundant wildlife. Though to be fair, you can also visit the Camargue from Arles.

I’m going to have to give the win to Arles on this. I really enjoyed strolling around Arles and definitely want to go back to visit LUMA and the Abbey.

WINNER: Arles

Access to the city

For our trip to Provence, we based in Avignon and visited Arles, Nîmes and other Provençal cities on day trips. We rented a car, so it was easy to get around.

Both Arles and Nîmes are easy to reach via car from Avignon, with the drive taking about 45 minutes. They’re also each to drive to from Montpellier, Marseille or Aix-en-Provence.

You can also easily train to Arles or Nîmes. And sometimes, the train is faster than driving, such as when you’re taking it from Avignon or even from Paris.

While both cities are easy to get to, I’m going to give Nîmes a slight edge. Nîmes is a bigger city, so there are more train connections. There are also more parking options if you’re driving.

We did run into some awful road closures around Arles, which forced us into weird detours and made parking more complicated. This was because a bike race was on, so I don’t think it’s something everyone will deal with, but it did sour my view of Arles.

WINNER: Nîmes

Beauty and charm

Stand back Nîmes, because Arles is absolutely taking the win on this one!

Arles is without a doubt the more beautiful and charming of the two cities. Walking through the streets of Arles was like walking through a storybook. I loved the cobblestone, the cute houses and the winding paths.

Everything about Arles felt quaint, which makes sense since it’s a smaller city. We were also blessed with a bright and sunny day in Arles, which definitely added to its beauty.

Nîmes, on the other hand, felt more grungy. Walking from the arena to the temple and then onto the garden took us past lots of busy streets, fast food chains and cellphone shops.

While the Roman sites themselves were pretty, I wasn’t too enchanted by the walk between them. Of course there were some cute shops and squares, but overall Nîmes was a lot less beautiful. It didn’t help that it was grey and threatening to rain the whole time.

If you’re looking for a charming little town in the South of France, there’s only one choice.

WINNER: Arles

Wrapping up: Arles or Nîmes, which one do I recommend?

If we tally up the points above, it’s actually a tie! Two for Arles, two for Nîmes and one tie.

Which feels pretty accurate to me. Both Arles and Nîmes are awesome cities that have a lot to offer. And depending on what’s most important to you, you may pick one over the other.

If I had to choose one, I’d go with Arles. The small town with all the little Roman sites, Van Gogh history and fairytale streets totally won my heart. I’d love to spend a week just soaking up the town.

But Nîmes has a lot of appeal! I’m glad we went and that I got to see the arena and temples in person.

So if you have the space in your Provence itinerary, I highly recommend including both Arles and Nîmes. While similar, I think there are enough differences to make both cities enjoyable and worth visiting.

I’d love to know: Would you rather visit Arles or Nîmes?