Holiday in Provence, France.?

Question

We are holidaying this year in the Gorges du Verdon region of Provence, France. This is a new area to us and for us to explore. Has anyone been to this area before and could you recommend some places of interest, or some nice places to visit whilst we are there ? We will have our own car, so travelling is not too much of a problem.

Answer 1

We were there at Easter and had a wonderful time. We used the following itineraries and websites;

http://www.tourisme83.com/gorges_verdon....

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorges_du_V...

http://www.provenceweb.fr/f/groupes/verd...

http://www.net-verdon.com/

http://www.parcduverdon.fr/

These are in French.

For sites in English:

http://www.beyond.fr/sites/verdon.html

http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/groupes/verd...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdon_Gorg...

I hope you find them as helpful as we did. You do not mention what your favourite hobbies are or the ages of the people in your party. There are things to do there that cater for every taste and age group.

PS. I see from the information which you have added that you are travelling as a couple as we did. This gives you greater flexibility as you can suit yourselves. We are not into water sports, but we did some walking from La Palud -sur-Verdon and near the lake at Ste -Croix. We did a considerable amount of touring though we avoided the coast on this trip. I like the old villages and towns perched on crests of hillsides. There are some dramatic views over the gorges at Point Sublime and from the bridge at L'Arturby.

We are into culture and visited Moustiers, because of its renown faience ware which is still hand decorated, and its comprehensive Museum. There is an attractive 17th century chateau at Aiguines. The narrow streets of Castellane are very picturesque  and the walk up to Notre-Dame du Roc is exhausting but well worth the effort. Being interested in the Provence  described by the writers Bosco and Giono we went further afield into the Luberon. We stopped at Greoux-les-Bains as we were interested by the traditional Santons made for the Christmas cribs and which are fashioned into representations of all sorts of characters, from the poacher and the fisherman to the miller or the mayor.

September is a good period to go as school holidays are over, and traffic is calmer. The weather is pleasantly warm without the violent storms which can occur at the height of the summer.

Since you are there for a fortnight, you have enough time to go down to the coast. On the other hand you may prefer to stay inland and visit historical towns like Aix.

Be careful driving and beware those airpin bends. I hope you have a wonderful time too.

Answer 2

This is by far one of the most beautiful regions of France, and we are lucky enough to own a small village house in Fayence, Var, so I can tell you quite a lot about the area.

However, it really depends on when you go there. Walking through the Gorges is a wonderful experience, though in summer it might be way too hot (remember to bring water, loads!!!). You can leave your car at one point and then walk through the Gorges and take a taxi back to your car, so you don't have to walk the same way back again, lots of people do it that way, and during the holidays there's always taxis waiting there.

Other nice places (off the beaten path) in my opinion are all the small villages, like Mons, Fayence, Bargemon, Castellane (the Lac is a dream!!!), or even go to Aix. For swimming, this is best at Cannes (even though a real pain in summer, when this place is crowded like h**l), especially then the Plage de Saint-Aygulf between Saint Raphaël and Fréjus is much better!

What are you into? If you're more the hiking type, don't go away from the Gorges so far, you've got everything there! Culture is more in the bigger cities, even though every small village has its Concourse de Boule in summer, which are usually big events.

You will have lots of fun, if you want to know more, and more precise info, don't hesitate to get back to me.

Answer 3

Stunning, simply stunning. We go at least twice a year to this area. A real must do is to hire a pedalo at the bottom of the canyons on Lac St Croix and head up the gorges. Jump in for a cooling dip in water you will not believe the colour of and then go to Moustier St Marie for a Pastis on a cafe terrace. Head down to the coast via Le Cannet and La Garde Freinet ( to avoid the traffic ) and go for an evening in St Tropez or Port Grimaud. I dont advise trying this in the day because you will be stuck in traffic for at least 2 hours if you do. And finally you cannot go to this area without a trip to Monaco. There is nothing to beat driving around the F1 course and through the tunnel follwed by an hour people watching infront of the casino in Monte - Carlo. You never know who you will see.