The Green Way

  In 2000, councillors from Meynes, Montfrin, Comps, Sernhac and Remoulins developed the idea of a green way which would follow the old railway line, known as "The Martinet" and would link Beaucaire (the Lake Geneva to the sea route) to Pont du Gard and the Uzège.
The Pont du Gard ‘Communauté de Communes’’ council and the Departmental Council have been working on this project ever since.

The project will benefit all of the Pont du Gard community villages. So far, a section near Comps has been purchased by the Departmental Council and the French Railways' declassification procedure is under way for the next sections at Montfrin and Remoulins, which will be purchased as soon as the procedure is complete. This project, financed by the Departmental Council, should begin in early 2011 on the first section, which has already been purchased.

This fantastic venture will make it possible to enjoy our beautiful region without a car and in total safety, and allow the area's numerous visitors to discover our rich heritage.

An association named Voie Verte, presided by Mrs Sénicourt from Comps, has been working in support of this project. On September 26th 2009 the association organised a walk to publicise the future route, starting at Beaucaire for those on foot and Pont du Gard for those riding adaptive sports bicycles, with the Montfrin wine growers' cellar as the common destination. This great day attracted a large number of people and is certainly the precursor for other fantastic walks in the future.

See the following website:
http://voie-verte-comps.blogs.midilibre.com .

Local rambling plan

The aim of the Local rambling plan is to define a long-standing network of rambling routes all over the country.

It is founded upon:
- a wide selection of itineraries (legal status of routes, heritage interest)
- a programme to lay out, maintain and promote the routes, in conjunction with the various local stakeholders (local authorities and professionals and associations from the tourism and outdoor activities sectors).

The aim of the network is to:
- provide professional support for local initiatives
- harmonise departmental and local signposting
- encourage touring holidays by providing an integrated network to develop out-of-season tourism
- reinforce attractiveness to tourists by defining a strategy to promote the network with documents and rambling maps
-provide a platform for new tourism products

  The network as a promotional tool

The Uzège Pont du Gard community bases the development of its tourism on touring, outdoor activities and the development of tourism across the territory as a whole.

The idea is to define and lay out a permanent network of paths for rambling, horse riding or mountain biking, and to indicate sites where outdoor activities can be enjoyed. In the long term, more than 600km of tracks will be made available to users.

The inter-communal council serves as an interface between the authorities for the construction of the network and private service providers for marketing it.

The inter-communal council’s contribution to developing products around the networks created should generate additional resources. Local service providers’ projects are developed in conjunction with the community council and the departmental tourism committee, backed up by development training.

Beyond increasing the rambling offer, the second aim of the network of paths is to serve as a promotional tool for other tourism products in the area.
The network represents a wide variety of potential themes for developing circuits aimed at exploring the deep charms and multiple facets of our territory:
-the emblematic monuments which retell our nation's history,
-local heritage, steeped in our region's rural history
-local products, high-quality local specialities
-art, craft and the promotion of local skills
-the fauna and flora, which pay homage to the beauty and richness of our countryside.

For more information on the Local rambling plan, please visit the Pont du Gard inter-communal council website.

Aramon River Stop

For the Pont du Gard inter-communal council, the creation of a river stop called "Les Estères - River welcome point" represents a vital facility for the area. 

  Definition of a "River Stop":

A river stop is a place where pleasure boats and barge hotels can anchor to enjoy tourist and historical attractions and town centres (shops, restaurants etc.).
It affords boat users total freedom to visit the local environment or relax, with all the necessary facilities (drinking water, toilets, electricity, etc.) at their disposal.
Creating a river stop is an opportunity to offer a new angle on tourism, which is greener and encourages touring.

This project contributes to:
-increasing the tourism offer
-extending visitor presence to the outstanding sites through the year.

It aims to harness the development of green tourism coming from the Rhône and the Green Way, initiated by French and European (northern Europe) tour operators, which combines the river cruise concept with visits to outstanding sites and places.
This project is supported by the creation of tourism circuits, all of which depart from or arrive at the Estères River Stop, - the very name Estères means landing stage.

These circuits offer tourists various itineraries centred on a variety of themes such as:
-water, as seen through Pont du Gard's outstanding structures, irrigation channels, wash houses, mills and rambling routes on the banks of the Rhône and Gardon.
-landscapes experienced by visiting outstanding geographical sites, such as picturesque small valleys, which were settled by humans far back in time.
-regional products, to be discovered during visits to local farmers or artisans
-culture, through visits to historical towns such as Aramon, Montfrin, Remoulins, Castillon du Gard, Uzès, and others.
-events, with markets, gastronomy-themed tours, hotels and seasonal leisure facilities.

  Aramon river stop

Producing guide books and creating facilities such as tourist offices makes it possible to bring together and clarify our tourism offer in conjunction with neighbouring areas.
This is an ambitious programme, which demonstrates the image that the area wishes to project to tourists in the area.
The creation of the Estères River Stop, which includes making 40 berths available for boats up to 15 metres long combined with the creation of pontoons to accommodate barge hotels with tailored reception services as well as direct access, are the driving forces behind this project.