I had a really nice day in Arles late September 2006. Probably the most famous site is the Roman Amphitheatre, and this is a good site to start off with, it is impressive but not the best example of its kind, perhaps even the one in nearby Nimes is better preserved. It is still in use however and there are regular bull-fights here, in what is the bullfighting capital of France.

One Roman site that is well worth getting to though is les Alychamps, it is a short ten minute walk south from the centre. It was originally a roman cemetery and became one of the earliest Christian sites in France as it was the place for clandestine meetings. The church of St Honorat is at the end of the cemetery and this is included in the Route to Santiago de Compestella WHS of which Arles was one of the four starting points in France so it is quite an important aspect of the inscription also it provides two WHS for the price of one! This was perhaps my favourite part of Arles, the church was empty and had a real eerie feel. Other major roman remains are the Theatre, which is nice but nothing spectacular, the crypts (they were closed when I visited in 2006) the baths which I didn’t get to see.

The Romanesque buildings are dotted around the centre, the major point though is the Cathedral of St Trophime (pictured). It boasts one of the most impressive collections of Romanesque statues anywhere, the impressively restored main entrance and Cloister are fantastic.

It is the combination of the two aspects of Arles’ history that make this such an important site and it is a really lovely city to visit, with lots of nice cafés and plenty to interest fans of Van Gogh who spent a few years here and many points around the town are have been made famous by his paintings.

It is easy to reach, with regular trains from Avignon (20 mins), Marseille (40 mins) among many. You can pay for each site individually or there is a €13 ticket that covers all the sites mentioned above plus a whole host more making it good value.

Arles was a really nice city to visit and the sites, though perhaps not the most impressive of there kind, do combine to make this a worthwhile inclusion on the world heritage list.