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Things to Do in Nimes
Check out must-see sights and activities:
Arenes de Nimes, Jardins de la Fontaine, Arenas & Stadiums, Walking Tours. For personalised recommendations, try our AI trip-planning product.
Arenes de Nimes, Jardins de la Fontaine, Arenas & Stadiums, Walking Tours. For personalised recommendations, try our AI trip-planning product.
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Book these experiences for a close-up look at Nimes.
- fromper adultAU$136
- fromper adultAU$136
- fromper adult (price varies by group size)AU$220
- fromper adultAU$16
- fromper group (up to 6)AU$117
- fromper group (up to 3)AU$1,268
Day Tripsfromper adult (price varies by group size)AU$220
Private Sightseeing Toursfromper adult (price varies by group size)AU$338
Food & Drinkfromper adultAU$119- fromper adultAU$280
Arenas & Stadiums
Roman colosseum featuring audio-guided tours that delve into gladiatorial history, with panoramic views from an adjacent tower and relaxing green spaces.
This attraction description was created by AI, using information and phrases commonly found in reviews users submitted to Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor did not create and is not responsible for this description. Please read full traveller reviews for more details and information. If you believe something in this AI-generated description is inaccurate, please share your feedback.
Historic park featuring Roman ruins, serene fountains, and shaded walkways. Ideal for leisurely strolls and picnics, with panoramic city views from an ancient tower.
This attraction description was created by AI, using information and phrases commonly found in reviews users submitted to Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor did not create and is not responsible for this description. Please read full traveller reviews for more details and information. If you believe something in this AI-generated description is inaccurate, please share your feedback.
Ancient Ruins
Flea & Street Markets
Speciality Museums
Admission tickets from AU$16
Points of Interest & Landmarks
Other Top Attractions around Nimes
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What travellers are saying
- Brun066Florence, Italy13,880 contributionsEven in Provence, as in all the regions of the former Roman Empire, theaters and amphitheatres were not an exception, but the rule for every settlement of some importance.
It can be assumed that the theaters and amphitheatres, which have reached us in a state of conservation such as to be appreciated by the general public, were the most impressive. But the correlation is not obligatory: Caesarodunum (now Tours) had one of the top ten amphitheatres of the Empire in terms of size, yet little of it remains; and the same goes for Mediolanum (now Milan, even in late antiquity one of the capitals of the Empire). And on the other hand, the amphitheatre of Nîmes is not among the largest in the Empire.
In this regard, the following rule can be inferred: amphitheatres (and in general thousand-year-old buildings) are best preserved when the settlements that expressed them are almost completely erased, so that there isn't even the predation of stones for new constructions (this is the case of some Roman cities in Africa); or when, on the contrary, the occupation of the building is continuous for all the following centuries.
The latter one is the case of Nîmes, for this reason considered by many to be the best preserved in the Roman world. In fact, we are aware that the building was transformed into a fortress since the 6th century (therefore in the Visigothic age), resulting formidable thanks to the protection obtained simply by plugging the huge arches.
Then, from the 15th century onwards, the rulers of Nimes abandoned the fortress, and the structure until the beginning of the 20th century became a place of dwellings for the common people, the population amounting to hundreds of inhabitants. But the old wall structures continued to be used: everything was added, almost nothing was demolished.
The result is today before our eyes: the external circle of the arches has survived in all its orders, on a good part of the upper arch the attic that crowned it is also preserved (an almost unique case); the internal galleries are also well preserved, and so are the steps (even if the stone seats that covered them have been redone). The whole is truly impressive, and represents one of the main must-sees in the south of France.Written 8 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Brun066Florence, Italy13,880 contributionsToday the appearance of the Jardins de la Fontaine is that of a beautiful public park, picturesquely located partly on the plain, beeing equipped by scenic fountains, partly on the slope of the hill called Mont Cavalier, up to the top of it, which hosts the Tour Magne.
At the origin of both this current garden, and of the previous urban arrangements, is a karst spring (so of variable flow, but never completely exhausted), which has always flowed at the foot of the hill.
This spring, already venerated by the first inhabitants of Nimes, the Volques Arecomiques, in Roman times was included within a huge sanctuary of Augustus, whose plan has been defined by archaeologists (the model of it is also worth seeing at the Musée de Romanité) and of which the so-called "Temple of Diana" is the most conspicuous visible remnant.
In the Middle Ages and Modern Ages, even though the sanctuary was abandoned, the source still retained an essential importance for Nimes, until, in the mid-18th century, it was taken into consideration as an essential element to improve the city's water supply, along with the construction or rehabilitation of aqueducts.
The hydraulic operation is then covered with the captivating forms of a public garden, which is considered one of the first built in Europe with this specific purpose.
Even visitors who are not aware of the illustrious past of this place, will feel great enjoyment from the path both through the "classic" garden and the water games of the lower part, and through the winding paths and the "rock gardens" of the sloping part.Written 19 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - JoannaFthegrumpyLondon, UK95 contributionsI was just reading the reviews and I’m disappointed I didn’t even get the cinematic experience. What a let down.
Not sure it’s worth paying to go in. You get a video of Norman foster talking to camera. That’s about it. The inside is basically non-existent. No attempt to recreate anything. It does tell you how some bloke worked out the inscription from the bronze holes left behind. And it tells you that the name carree is from the French for square, even though the building Is technically not square (or, for purists like me, it’s technically a cuboid, not a cube).
You can save yourself some money by not going in. The outside is where this building is special. I’ve told you everything I learnt. You’re welcome.Written 20 May 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Tj0pGeldrop, The Netherlands85 contributionsGreat inside market. Parking is available right above the halles. Great lunch spots available with local cuisine and friendly staff. We skipped the daily special of ducks heart, but the sausages and squid were lovely.Written 25 July 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Brun066Florence, Italy13,880 contributionsAccording to press reports, the decision by the mayor of Nȋmes to build this museum was taken following the discovery, during the construction of an underground car park, of a large and well-preserved mosaic (35 m2) depicting the myth of Pentheus, king of Thebes, in the act of being killed by his mother Agave (the mother had been driven mad by the god Dionysus in revenge). The mosaic was part of an immense villa (900 m2) , dated the 2nd century AD, and today it's one of the highlights of the museum: it's placed in a position that allows the best possible view, and equipped with effective interpretative tools.
But the mastery of the mosaic display is only the particular case of a general commitment, which was made to make all the museum's exhibits captivating and easily understandable, using the most modern museographic devices. Here we recall only a few highlights:
Another mosaic, depicting Bellerophon who, riding the horse Pegasus, kills the Chimera; a life-size marble statue of a woman; a reclining Silenus; a bronze head of Apollo; a very large series of Roman epigraphs, which would be rather tedious finds, but on which attention is kept alive and understanding is permitted by wonderful animated virtual figures; a large, perfectly preserved portable barbecue (never seen anything similar in all the museums I have visited); the 1:1 scale reconstruction of the room of a Celtic house from the 5th century BC; and so on...
The Museum - inaugurated in 2018 - has therefore taken the place of the old archaeological museum of the city in assuming the role of the greatest vehicle for understanding the past of Nȋmes, from its Celtic origins to the Middle Ages. And it has become a pearl of the city, absolutely not to be missed, also thanks to the cumulative ticket for all the main Roman antiquities of the city.Written 19 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - kansasmadDublin, Ireland47 contributionsGreat views, but a long uphill slog. My advice is go early in morni g, take a taxi to the Top, and walk down at your own pace. Go early as the steps up to Viewing Deck are quite narrow, and you don't get much space when busy for good photos. Take a small picnic and stop on one of the terraces on the way down.
But trust me on the taxi!Written 9 July 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Brun066Florence, Italy13,880 contributionsOn the edge of the Jardins de la Fontaine this Roman construction from the early imperial age stands, certainly less famous than the Arènes or the Maison Carrée, but in my opinion very attractive.
In fact, it doesn't appear to have imposed itself forcefully on the attention of the city; but it was equally saved from destruction for centuries, thanks to alternative uses. When it was half destroyed, it was the seat (since the 10th century) of a monastery, which had adapted the ancient structures to its own uses.
Then, in 1576, the fire that irreparably damaged the building. Other subsequent looting made it even more ruined.
Scholars unanimously believe that its presence is to be linked to the source that flowed at the foot of the back limestone hill of Mont Cavalier; source that it has been an object of veneration since the time of the Volques Arécomiques (the Celtic peoples settled in the area since the 3rd century BC) and that it was organized as a sanctuary in the Roman era, by this construction and by a public building to the east.
The remains are very evocative, both for the romantic aspect of the vegetation mixed with the ruins, and for the finesse and the wonderful conservation of many surviving decorative details.Written 9 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Traveler OWashington DC, DC1,216 contributionsBig open area by the arena - can't miss it if walking into town from the train station. Nice fountain and starting point to see the city.Written 20 May 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- emrystravelAmiens, France189 contributionsWe found this a bit hard to navigate. For example, there are no signs to tell you which floor you're on. You don't get tickets, just a till receipt. The entrance doors to the exhibition on floor 2 look like it's a broom cupboard, we had to ask where it was. The main concourse is very noisy and echoey.
When we visited, the temporary exhibition on floor 3 was by Wolfgang Tillmans. Maybe I'm dense, but I found it utterly unintelligible. I thought some of the photography was of poor quality (not deliberately obscure, but just poorly done) and I couldn't understand what he was trying to put across even after I read the explanations.
But! The exhibition on floor 2, about what is missing from archaeology, and about colonialism, I found wonderful! Very thought-provoking. There is a disturbing exhibit of how asylum-seekers can be rejected based on inexpert review of a few spoken words, quite upsetting. And the best video installation I have ever seen, relating modern movies to myth, quite outstanding art and a splendid use of the medium.
And a note for those who visit in high summer: it has great air conditioning!Written 12 August 2018This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - travellerukDerbyshire529 contributionsThe best thing is to find this on a map and then take the short walk to get there.
The aquaduct lead to this and then the water was dispersed to different areas in Nimes so everyone had fresh water.
I was saddened to see so much rubbish in it and also felt it isn't looked after by Nimes at all. It's such a shame.
Please do go and visit it.Written 2 June 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - chrissie21YorkshireYorkshire251 contributionsSpent an hour or so looking at the paintings in this lovely museum. Well worth a visit if you have time.Written 17 September 2018This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
The above attraction descriptions were created by AI, using information and phrases commonly found in reviews users submitted to Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor did not create and is not responsible for any of the above attraction descriptions. Please read full traveller reviews for more details and information.
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