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Hike "Le pont du Gard" (Gard » Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard) | [Printable version] |
Place : France » Languedoc-Roussillon » Gard » Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard  hiking Languedoc-Roussillon hiking GardHiking & Walking
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Source : This hike is described in the guide PR - Le Gard à pied, page 122. You will find inside a description of the track, a map, some information about the signs, the difficulties...
Comment : The car park of the start is easy to find. Coming from Nîmes, turn to the left in Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard, in the middle of the main street, just before a small square with a nice water basin. The hike starts with a concreted path along vines in the direction of the hill. After a steep climb over a stony path, follows a steady descent through the woods to one of the car parks near the Pont du Gard. This first section is very shady. Arrived at the site of the Roman Pont du Gard, you will find a bar restaurant, free toilets and a souvenir shop. The museum lies on the other riverside. You can swim in the Gard and get a tan now or wait to be back. You cross the aqueduct Pont du Gard to start the second section of the hike. The track leads you to the village Vers-Pont-du-Gard, over small tarred roads without shade. You will pass the almost completely ruined Saint-Pierre Chapel which lies close to a splendid hotel-restaurant called La Bégude Saint-Pierre. Arrived in Vers-Pont-du-Gard you will discover a very nice and typical village with three beautiful washbasins, a bell tower and natural stone houses. Beside the second washbasin, there is a square with banks and lots of shade. It is the perfect place for a picnic, the more because you are halfway the hike. The third section after the village brings you back to the Pont du Gard. It is a nice part, because you follow the remains of the Roman aqueduct, which become the more and more important, until the climax, the Pont du Gard itself ! It is an earthen path, sometimes full of stones and oft not protected from the sun. Back at the Pont du Gard, a refreshing bath in the Gard is really advisable when you do this hike in the summer. The fourth section brings you back to Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard over a long earthen path with no shade but a nice view. Count five hours for the walk without lunch and swimming time. Provide for lots of water, protect yourself against the sun in the summer. Bring a towel, bath suite and water sandals if you want to swim. According to us : a very nice hike, without physical difficulties. Lots to see, including the magnificent Pont du Gard in the middle of the walk. One of the most beautiful hikes in the Gard region ! A real must ! Click on the photos to enlarge them
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