This private day trip from Marseille to Pont du Gard and Avignon visits the Palace of the Popes and the famous bridge, Pont d'Avignon, in the morning, then the UNESCO listed Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard in the afternoon.
After meeting your driver guide, you drive to Avignon. In 1309, Pope Clement V decided Rome was no longer suitable for the Papal Seat, and moved the Papacy to Avignon. Though he died in 1314, six more French Popes resided here, and Avignon became a cultural center with a flourishing university and a beautiful medieval palace built by the Popes. From 1378 until the early 1400s, two Popes simultaneously vied for power, one in Avignon and one in Rome, until the Papal Seat finally returned to Rome.
Today the Palais des Papes, or Papal Palace, is a highlight of any visit to Avignon. The palace is composed of two buildings, built one after the other, in the mid 1300s. Unlike the Vatican, this palace was fortified to withstand attacks from enemies, and you will find battlements, turrets, arrow slits, and defensive gateways. Today the interior is largely empty except for tapestries and frescoes, and you can tour the palace by audio guide (entry fee not included) to imagine what life was like here and how the Popes lived.
After visiting the palace, you can climb up to the Rocher des Doms, a park offering views over the town and its famous bridge, the Pont Saint-Benezet. This medieval bridge was once nearly 3,000 feet long, supported by 22 arches, before 17th century floods reduced it to the 4 arches that remain today, made famous by the French children's song "Sur le Pont d'Avignon." Before leaving Avignon, you have free time for lunch (meal not included).
This afternoon you visit Pont du Gard (entry fee not included), considered one of the best preserved Roman sites in Europe. The Pont du Gard was built in the middle of the 1st century AD as the tallest section of a 31 mile (50km) aqueduct that carried water from a spring near Uzes to the Roman city of Nimes, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Today you can cross the bridge on its lower level and climb into the surrounding hills for wonderful views. As you cross, consider that it was built nearly 2,000 years ago, with stones cut and placed so precisely that no mortar was needed. The site's visitor center near the parking area includes an interactive museum on Roman life and the use of water in Roman times. You end your day by returning to Marseille.
Review Location- Marseille 
