Detour #336: Driving Deep into the Gorges du Verdon, France
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France’s deepest canyon delivers a drive that’s turnful in the extreme, but can also be touristy to a similar degree.
Timing is everything if you want to enjoy the cliff-hanging challenges of the Gorges du Verdon. At first light, not only will you find the route far-less travelled, but you’ll get to enjoy the shift in mood as the sun rises and the canyon emerges from the shade to display its true colours. The glacier-fed Verdon River is a glorious turquoise as it thunders through the gorge and this circular route gives you the chance to see it from both sides.
The village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie in Haute Provence is our start and end point, and the route can be tackled in either direction. Set out clockwise and as you follow the winding D952 Route de Castellane south on the through forest, you’ll emerge to a gobsmacking view of Le Lac de Sainte-Croix in the distance. Hugging the limestone wall of the gorge the road continues to rose with every turn (of which there are plenty). There are steep drops into the ravine below, with only occasional concrete barriers.
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Grab your camera at Belvédère de Mayreste for a panoramic view over the Verdon and, if you’re ready for break, take a pit stop at Le Relais des Gorges, before tackling a vigorously winding section to the next photo opp – helpfully known as Point de Vue. Pass through La Palud-sur-Verdon and you could take an extended Detour on the Route des Crêtes, or keep going on the increasingly twisty route to the aptly named Point Sublime viewpoint.
By now the walls of the gorge have closed in somewhat and the road has dropped down closer to the river’s edge. It’s more claustrophobic with the rock face overhanging the asphalt and corner after corner. Reach Pont de Solais and you can have a paddle in the river before crossing the water and joining the D955 south.
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You’ll lose sight of the Verdon for quite some time, but the Soleis road will keep you plenty entertained. At Trigance take the D90 into a more open landscape, although that doesn’t make the route any less curvy. Turn right onto the D71 and you’ll find yourself in a more barren landscape, before nourishing waters of the Verdon bring a verdant green back into view. Reach the Corniche Sublime and the roads gets even more challenging for the run into Aiguines where there’s an especially exercising run of hairpins.
The D19 will see you to the shores of Sainte-Croix and you’ll cross the azure waters at Pont de Galetas before a final short run alongside the lake and back into Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. The village is famous for its pottery if you want to pick up a keepsake, but we rather suspect that the drive itself will have been enjoyable enough to lodge itself in your memory.
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ROADBOOK
CLASS: RIVER RUN
NAME: Gorges du Verdon
ROUTE: Moustiers-Sainte-Marie to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
COUNTRY: France
Distance: 57 Miles
France’s deepest canyon delivers a drive that’s turnful in the extreme, but can also be touristy to a similar degree.