Uzès Travel Guide 2026: Quiet Walks & Slow Travel Picks

Uzès is the small town in Provence that everyone stops at on the way to Pont du Gard and then regrets only taking an hour. It was a ducal seat before Avignon was a papal seat, and it still looks the part. a market square under lime trees, a ducal château with a round tower you can climb, and about a thousand people who all seem to know each other.

It is pronounced roughly oo-ZESS, and it is entirely walkable.

discover our Bayonne guide

Seven things to do

1. Place aux Herbes on a Saturday morning. The market fills the square under the plane trees, and it is loud in the good way. Cheese, olives, bread and a lot of people buying the same thing. Go at eight when the produce is best and the crowd hasn’t arrived, which is the whole trick.

2. The Ducal Château. Still a fortress with a palace inside, and the climb up the Tour du Roi is 96 steps for a view over the whole basin. It’s the one thing here worth paying for, and it’s cheap.

3. The Fenestrelle tower. Round and Romanesque, attached to Saint-Théodorit. The stairs inside it are a ladder, which is part of the fun, and the top is the best cheap view in town.

4. The medieval garden at the foot of the castle, planted with the plants that are documented in Uzès in the Middle Ages. It’s small, it’s walled, and it’s best in the morning.

5. The aqueduct path into the Vallée de l’Eure. The Roman aqueduct that once carried water to Nîmes starts here, and the section above the valley makes an easy, shaded walk out of town. The Uzès tourist office has the maps.

6. The passages. Uzès is small enough to get properly lost in, and the narrow ruelles between the squares have courtyards, fountains and washing lines. Take the street that looks like a dead end.

7. An evening concert at Saint-Théodorit in summer. The acoustics are the argument for it.

💡 Pro tip: Walk the streets at seven in the morning. You will have the market square, the château and the church to yourself, and the light does something to the limestone that it doesn’t do at four in the afternoon.

When to come

Month	Weather	Crowds	Verdict
March	Cool, occasional rain	Low	Empty, sharp light
April	Mild and sunny	Moderate	Blossoming, ideal
May	Warm, green	Moderate	Best month
June	Warm to hot	Moderate	Walk early or late
July	Hot, dry, intense	High	Shade only, at dawn
August	Very hot	High	Hard going, honest advice
September	Warm, harvest	Moderate	Best of the year
October	Mild, some rain	Low	Autumn colour
November	Cool, overcast	Low	Quietest month

Where to stay

Type	Vibe	Price per night
Guesthouse or B&B	Simple, quiet, usually above a shop	€70–120
Mid-range	Character, in old buildings	€130–200
Luxury	Historic houses and Relais properties	€250–500

Book ahead for April, May and September. Staying slightly outside the centre buys quiet and costs less.

Getting there

The nearest airports are Nîmes (FNI), Avignon (AVN) and Marseille (MRS). Nîmes is closest, with a direct bus into town in about 45 minutes. TGV trains stop at Nîmes Centre and Avignon TGV, both of which connect by bus.

Inside Uzès you walk everywhere, and you can’t decide to do otherwise. For Pont du Gard or Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie you need the bus, a bike or a car.

⚠️ Heads up: Regional bus services thin out at weekends and in the afternoon. Check the timetable before you plan a day out, or you’ll be waiting at a stop longer than the walk you were avoiding.

Food

Start at the Saturday market: goat cheese, olives, tapenade, bread and herbs from within about twenty kilometres. Eat well without alcohol easily here, and the local olive oil is bought direct from producers who will tell you which field it came from if you ask.

For a plate, brandade de morue, the cod purée of the region, is the local dish. Sirops, fruit syrups mixed with water, are the standard soft drink and they are everywhere.

Outside the walls

The Vallée de l’Eure is a shaded river walk a few minutes from town. Further on, Pont du Gard is 20 minutes by bus, and the quieter trails around the aqueduct are better than the viewpoint everyone photographs.

The garrigue scrub around Uzès is thyme, rosemary and rock, and it is walkable in the morning and unpleasant at three in the afternoon.

Budget

Daily (EUR)	Budget	Mid-range	Luxury
Stay	50–80	90–150	180–300
Food	25–40	45–70	80–120
Transport	0–5	0–10	0–15
Activities	10–25	30–60	70–150
Total	85–150	165–290	330–585

Frequently Asked Questions

What to do in Uzès?

The château and the Fenestrelle tower, the Saturday market, the medieval garden, and the aqueduct path down into the Vallée de l’Eure. Half a day is enough for all of it.

How do you pronounce it?

oo-ZESS. The u sounds like the French ou, the z is soft, and the ending is like ehs.

How do I get there?

Fly to Nîmes, Avignon or Marseille, then bus. From Nîmes there is a direct service in about 45 minutes. TGV to Nîmes Centre or Avignon TGV, then connect.

Where to eat?

The market for provisions, and the small squares behind Place aux Herbes for lunch. Brandade is the dish to try.

Best walking?

The aqueduct path above the Eure valley, and the passages in the old town if the weather is hot.

📝 Editor’s note

Uzès is one of those places where the plan is less interesting than the hour you arrive. Two nights, a market Saturday, and no car.

Plan Your Trip & Start Walking

Stay two nights. Go up the tower early, walk the aqueduct path in the afternoon, and be on Place aux Herbes at eight on Saturday.