Nîmes
France
A working southern town that happens to have a Roman arena, a Roman temple in one piece, and the Pont du Gard half an hour up the road
Photos by Nathan Cima, Hongbin and Sébastien Jermer on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
April to June, and September — the autumn storms come after that, and high summer is well over thirty degrees
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 120mm in Oct
Where it is
43.84°N, 4.36°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Buy the combined ticket for the arena, the Maison Carrée and the Tour Magne
- Get to the Pont du Gard at opening or in the evening, when the coaches have gone
- Swim in the Gardon under the bridge in summer, which is allowed and is what the locals do
- Hire a canoe at Collias and paddle down the gorge to the Pont du Gard
- Eat lunch at the counters inside Les Halles
Nîmes travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Good valueCards everywhere, including Les Halles. Refuse the conversion when a terminal offers to charge you in your own currency.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines are all over the centre and near the arena. Use those rather than a stand-alone machine that offers to convert.
Avoid these
- stand-alone machines near the arena that offer to convert to your own currency
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
- Caisse d’Épargne
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Reasonably safeThe centre is calm, with the usual pickpocketing round the arena and the station. The thing that catches people out is the weather: autumn storms here dump a month’s rain in an afternoon, and Nîmes has flooded badly before — when the streets start running, stay indoors and off the roads.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- the Écusson — the old town between the arena and the Maison Carrée
- the Jardins de la Fontaine
- the Maison Carrée
- the Pont du Gard
Worth more attention
- the arena and the station forecourt — where pickpockets work, especially during the ferias
- Autumn storms, which can turn streets into rivers within an hour — stay indoors and off the road until they pass
- the Gardon at the Pont du Gard — the river rises fast after rain upstream in the Cévennes, and swimming is unsupervised
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodBrandade de morue — salt cod beaten with olive oil — is the town’s dish, and the stalls at Les Halles sell it to take away. Petits pâtés nîmois are small hot meat pies from the bakeries. The Costières de Nîmes wines from just south of town are cheap and better than their price.
Travel tipsGetting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Nîmes
No Holistay rentals in Nîmes yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Nîmes on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Montpellier–Méditerranée MPL
50 minfrom the airport· 43 km as the crow flies
About 45 min by hire car on the A9, or the shuttle into Montpellier and a half-hour train.
Also worth pricing: Nîmes–Alès–Camargue–Cévennes FNI — twenty minutes from town, but Ryanair only and mostly seasonal.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
