Arles tour reviews: six tours, rated on what they actually do
Six GetYourGuide tours pass through Arles with enough ratings to be worth writing up: three day trips (from Aix, Marseille and Avignon) that put Arles alongside Les Baux and Saint-Rémy, a Van Gogh half-day from Avignon, and two walks that start a few minutes from the amphitheatre. I have written each one up the same way: what it includes, what it leaves out, and the complaint that keeps coming back in the reviews. One thing first, because it applies to every page here: none of the six includes the entry ticket to the amphitheatre, and you do not need a tour to go in. If the monument is all you want, read how tickets work and skip the rest.
The six tours I have reviewed
From Aix-en-Provence: Arles, Les Baux & Saint-Rémy Full-Day
The most-booked of the three day trips. A driver-guide briefs you in each town, then you are on your own; that is the strength and the recurring complaint.
8.5 hours · Small group, max 8Read the full review ›
From Marseille: Arles, Les Baux & Saint-Rémy Full-Day Tour
The longest day, ten and a half hours from the Vieux-Port, with the same three towns. Reviewers who went in July mention the heat before anything else.
10.5 hours · Small group, max 8Read the full review ›
From Avignon: In the Footsteps of Van Gogh in Provence
The only tour with a guided walk past the places Van Gogh painted in Arles, and the only one of the six that includes Saint-Paul-de-Mausole.
5 hours · Saint-Paul-de-Mausole entry includedRead the full review ›
Arles: Private Guide Tour – Explore History & Culture
Two hours with a licensed guide in one of five languages. The guides score a full five; the value score does not, and I explain why.
2 hours · Private guide, 5 languagesRead the full review ›
Arles: Express Walk with a Local
An hour with a local host from the amphitheatre to the Roquette. The one I recommend to anyone with a train to catch.
60 minutes · Max 8 peopleRead the full review ›
From Avignon: Arles, Les Baux de Provence & St Rémy
Arnaud’s day: a guided walk in Arles, an olive mill, a picnic and the Carrières de Lumières. The most included, the fewest reviews.
6.5–7.5 hours · Carrières de Lumières includedRead the full review ›How I read the ratings
Everything here rates between 4.3 and 4.8, which tells you the vans were clean and the guides turned up. It does not tell you whether the tour does what you want it to. So I read the four-star reviews before the five-star ones, because that is where the pattern sits. On the Aix and Marseille day trips the pattern is the same sentence in different accents: the towns are self-guided once you arrive. On the private walk it is the sub-score GetYourGuide prints under the headline rating, guide 5.0 against value 3.8, from 22 reviews. On Arnaud’s Avignon day it is one traveller who wanted more choice at a picnic. None of these is a reason not to book. They are reasons to book the right one.
Two of the six have fewer than twenty reviews: the express walk at 18 and the Avignon day at 16. A 4.7 from 18 people is a good sign rather than a verdict, and I say so on those pages instead of pretending the sample is bigger than it is. The Aix trip, with 111, and the Van Gogh half-day, with 118, are the two where the pattern in the reviews is solid enough to lean on.
Where to start
If you are staying in Arles and have an hour, go straight to the express walk review. If you are based in Aix, Marseille or Avignon and want Les Baux and Saint-Rémy in the same day, the three day trips are set side by side on day trips via Arles. If Van Gogh is the reason you came to Provence, read the Van Gogh half-day review. And if you have not decided whether a tour is worth adding at all, all six tours works through them by who they suit. My own answer is short: a walk with a local if you have an hour in Arles, a day trip if you sleep elsewhere, and nothing at all if you only want to see the arena, which opens at nine from March to October and takes an hour on your own.
Frequently asked questions
Which Arles tour has the best reviews?
Three of them sit at 4.8: the Aix day trip from 111 reviews, the Marseille day trip from 46 and Arnaud’s Avignon day from 16. The ratings are close enough that I would choose on what each one includes rather than on the number; the day-trip comparison sets that out. The lowest headline rating, the private walk at 4.3, still has a perfect guide sub-score.
Are these reviews independent?
I do not work for any operator and I do not sell tickets, for the tours or for the amphitheatre. I earn a commission if you book through a link here, which is explained on the affiliate disclosure page, and it does not change what I write. The criticism in these reviews comes from the travellers who left it, quoted by first name as GetYourGuide shows them.
Do any of these tours include the amphitheatre ticket?
No. None of the six includes entry to the Arènes d’Arles or any other monument in town. The day trips give you free time in Arles and you buy a ticket at the door if you want to go in; the walks see the arena from outside. The only entries any of them include are Saint-Paul-de-Mausole on the Van Gogh half-day and the Carrières de Lumières on the Avignon day. Ticket types and passes are on the tickets page.