CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Arles it runs 220 km to Arles; allow about 3 h 16 of riding. It goes by way of The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the and back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
For 38 km this is Camargue Scenic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace for 52 km.
Arles is where the Rhône splits in two and the Camargue begins, and for more than two thousand years it has been a city of power, art and sun. The Romans made it one of the great cities of Gaul, building an amphitheatre that still hosts events, a theatre, baths and an underground gallery, the cryptoportiques, and the Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Romanesque church of Saint-Trophime, with its carved portal and cloister, is one of the finest in Provence.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Arles is where the day begins. Next is The Maison Carrée of Nîmes.
Most Roman temples survive as a jumble of columns and a lot of imagination. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes is the exception: a complete temple, standing on its podium with its roof and columns intact, two thousand years after it was built for the grandsons of Augustus. It owes its survival to being constantly reused, as a meeting hall, a stable, a church and a museum. Thomas Jefferson admired it so much that he based the Virginia State Capitol on it, and in 2023 UNESCO finally listed it in its own right.
Read the complete The Maison Carrée of Nîmes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Maison Carrée of Nîmes comes up 39 km in. Next is Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace.
For most of the fourteenth century, the popes lived in Avignon rather than Rome. In 1309, Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, settled here to escape the turmoil of Italian politics, and his successors built a vast palace, the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, with massive walls, towers and halls, more fortress than residence. Seven popes reigned here until 1377, when the papacy returned to Rome, and then rival popes continued to rule from Avignon during the Great Schism. The palace, the cathedral, the ramparts and the famous bridge, the Pont Saint-Bénézet, were listed by UNESCO in 1995.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
78 km in you reach Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace. Next is Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the.
Orange has one of the best Roman theatres still standing anywhere, and what makes it special is the stage wall. It is a tall, plain facade, thirty-seven metres high and more than a hundred metres long, which in most other theatres has fallen or been taken apart for stone. Here it survives, and Louis XIV is supposed to have called it the finest wall in his kingdom. The theatre was built in the first century, under Augustus or soon after, and a statue of the emperor still stands in the central niche. The nearby triumphal arch, on the edge of town, is also Roman and also in good shape. UNESCO listed the theatre and arch together in 1981.
Read the complete Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the, about halfway. Next is back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace sits at 157 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Maison Carrée of Nîmes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes comes up 196 km in. Next is Arles.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Arles write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Arles closes the day.
Arles → The Maison Carrée of Nîmes is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace → Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the → back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace → back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Maison Carrée of Nîmes → Arles is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.