Attractions

The extraordinary three-tiered Pont du Gard was once part of a 50km-long system of channels built around 19 BC to transport water from Uzès to Nîmes. The scale is huge: the bridge is 48.8m high, 275m long and graced…

Nîmes’ twin-tiered amphitheatre is the best preserved in France. Built around 100 BC, the arena once seated 24,000 spectators and staged gladiatorial contests and public executions; it's still an impressive venue fo…

Founded in 1825 by painter François-Xavier Fabre, this exceptional museum houses one of France’s richest collections of European art. The galleries collectively showcase the last 600 years of artistic activity in Eu…

Built on a steep spur of rock, Carcassonne’s rampart-ringed fortress dates back more than two millennia. The fortified town is encircled by two sets of battlements and 52 stone towers, topped by distinctive ‘witch’s…

Roussillon had its artistic heyday around the turn of the 20th century, when Fauvist and cubist artists flocked here, attracted by the searing colours and sun-drenched landscapes. This wonderful museum was created i…

The gravity-defying Viaduc de Millau toll bridge hovers 343m above the Tarn valley, making it one of the world’s highest road bridges. At its northern end (in Brocuéjouls, about 5km west of the centre of Millau), th…

Signs warning of dinosaurs line the drive up, but this dinosaur park is no gimmick – the biggest cache of dinosaur eggs ever discovered in Europe was found here in 1996. Ongoing archaeological digs are unearthing mo…

Within the cavern of Aven Armand is the world’s greatest concentration of stalagmites, including a gallery of stone columns known as the Forêt Vierge (Virgin Forest). Colourful illuminations create an eerie atmosphe…

This fortified château belonged to the House of Crussol, who were the dukes of Uzès for over 1000 years until the French Revolution. The building is a Renaissance wonder, with a majestic 16th-century façade showing …

Near the small village of Ste-Eulalie-en-Margeride, 45km north of Mende, this vast 200-hectare nature reserve contains more than 30 free-roaming bison. Visits to the reserve are by horse-drawn carriage or, in winter…