Gorges du Verdon (Verdon Gorge, Grand Canyon du Verdon), Provence, France
When you're on the Cote d'Azur, it is really worth taking a day trip to the Verdon Canyon (Gorges du Verdon, Grand Canyon du Verdon, Verdon Gorge) - one of the most beautiful and largest canyons in Europe. Its length is about 25 kilometers, while the depth reaches 700 meters in some places. The views from the top are breathtaking - awesome are the mountains and the unique color of the water.
Important note: the trip is not the easiest one - if you are a beginner driver, be extremely careful, because you'll be moving the serpentines and narrow roads at the very precipices. The roads themselves, however, are very well maintained, and the amazing views compensate for any stresses resulting from driving!
Our route
First, you have to find yourself on the D71 road (A; GPS: 43.710701, 6.505570) and then move to the north / north-west.
We suggest to make the first stop at the first meeting with the Verdon river, forming the canyon (B; GPS: 43.741371, 6.381954), at the vantage point of Balcon de la Mescla. From the parking lot you should go a path a few meters down to get beautiful views of the canyon and the river itself.
Then it is worth stopping at interesting bridge Pont de l'Artuby, which can be used to make some beautiful pictures (C; GPS: 43.731032, 6.386776). The bridge is often used for bungee jumping (no wonder, it's perfect for that).
We suggest to make next stop at really exceptional place - between two parts of the Tunnel du Fayet. There is only room for 2-3 cars, but it is really worth to try to stop here and then to enjoy great views (D; GPS: 43.735507, 6.365951).
We go further and stop at the next viewpoint of Cirque de Vaumale (E; GPS: 43.773820, 6.242984), where you can see the tops of the mountains, as well as Lac de Sainte-Croix, emerging behind them.
We pass the town of Aiguines with an interesting castle with colorful towers - it is worth stopping and walking to this building, which was built in the 12th century and was rebuilt in the 16th century (F; GPS: 43.773820, 6.242984).
The Lac de Sainte-Croix
We arrive at the Lac de Sainte-Croix (Lake of Sainte Croix). The bridge Pont du Galetas is a perfect observation point as it overlooks the Lac de Sainte-Croix lake on one side and the majestic Verdon canyon on the other. For the sake of curiosity, let's compare the color of the water of the lake and the river flowing from the Verdon canyon (G; GPS: 43.802377, 6.249675).
Toward Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
We continue our travel on the the road D957, then D952, since our next goal is very interesting town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (H; GPS: 43.843585, 6.221021) (we created separate article about this town). In addition to visiting the old town, we will go upstairs several centuries-old stone stairs carved in the rock to visit the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir.
Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon
On the opposite side of the Lac de Sainte-Croix there is a small village called Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon - a good place to enjoy water sports or just stroll around. Returning from Moustiers-Sainte-Marie you may wish to stay there for a while, because you will have interesting views of the lake itself and also the opportunity to visit the town which is located on a small hill. There you have a quite big parking lot at the lake (J; GPS 43.760183, 6.153660). Then you can watch the lake or go just directly to the village. However, before reaching the town, you can stop the car on the road (I; GPS: 43.793505, 6.187284) to admire nice panoramic views of Lac de Sainte-Croix.
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