Walking Provence's sun-drenched gorges, valleys and villages
Walking Provence-West is the perfect mix of fine moderate walking [graded 2] and serious cultural insight. Enjoy the fruits of five years’ research and the very best that Western Provence has to offer compacted into seven, gloriously-indulgent days.
Key Facts
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Self-guided, moderate walking [av. 9 miles/14.5 kms per day], starting and finishing in Pont St Esprit.
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Eight night tour, with arrivals any day, from March to end-September. Tour length can be customised on demand.
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Superior accommodation, and the chance to savour an over-night stay in a former Carthusian monastery.
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Alternatively, click the flyer image below to download and read the tour in pdf format.
a) Theme
a) Theme
Walking Provence-West is a unique opportunity for you to get intimately acquainted with a part of Provence that is delightfully under-trodden. Whilst most visitors to Valcézard enjoy a mix of rambling and touring by car, we are thrilled to bring you the opportunity to enjoy what is arguably the best week’s walking Provence has to offer.
Our readership will already be familiar with just how highly we rate the Ceze Valley. However, we simply cannot decide which part of it we like best – the upper or the lower Ceze; although the two experiences differ widely when it comes to the hiking challenge set by one or the other.
Mass tourism has thankfully ignored this part of Le Midi and we have no desire to alter that. Nevertheless, our love for this region led us to research its hiking trails over a five-year period with the aim of allowing our enlightened customers to see its most splendid sites as part of a relatively light and easy-going inn-to-inn walking tour. We have succeeded in knitting together western Provence's most remarkable landscapes and geological features in a way that enables you to enjoy them during seven relatively-short, ‘day journeys’ of discovery on foot. You average nine miles/14.5 kms a day, over undulating, bucolic terrain with ascents and descents that are within the capabilities of the vast majority of social hikers.
En route you will visit seven fascinating and under-explored Provençal villages, including the Venice of Provence; three impressive limestone gorges and some impressive falls; and on the megalithic trail, you will visit both dolmen and the tallest menhir in the south of France.
Built in more remote times, you will enjoy a stay in a thirteen century Carthusian monastery as part of your accommodation for the tour that includes a range of charming, family-run hotels and guest houses, flaunting the stone facades and vaulted ceilings that are so much a part of the fabric of western Provence. Whichever accommodation plan you choose, the welcome you receive will make you delighted by your choice.
Walking Provence-West allows you to enjoy the culinary delights of Provence in a fashion that is tailored to the requirements of both your budget and diet. We include bed and breakfast for your convenience, whilst the options for dinner are such that you decide whether you wish to eat in or out.
b) Further Information
c) Model Programme: Walking Provence-West
Day 1 Pont St Esprit.
Arrival at the starting point of your tour and check in. Early arrivals can enjoy a short urban hike around this busy town located at the confluence of the Ardeche and Rhone rivers. Night in Pont St Esprit.
Day 2 The Ardeche Gorge. [7.5 miles-11 kms, approx. 4 hrs, +140 ms -85 ms]
You start your week hiking The GR4 as it wends its way along the left bank of the Ardeche and up to the remarkable village of Aigueze, as if hewn out of the sides of the gorge itself. Night in Aigueze.
Day 3 Rocher de Castivel. [5 miles-8 kms, approx. 3 hrs, +200 ms -200 ms]
This ‘figure-eight’ walk offers splendid views along the Ardeche gorge, as you walk from the village through the Garrigues and down to a fine vantage point on the gorge. Then it’s back along a spectacular cliff-top trail. Second night in Aigueze.
Day 4 The Forest of Valbonne. [8 miles-13 kms, approx. 4 hrs, +240 ms -125 ms]
A charming bucolic hike as you meander through the Valbonne forest en route to the impressive site of the Carthusian monastery. Enjoy its majestic aura, take the free tour of the site, and perhaps a short botanical walk around its perimeter. Night at La Chartreuse.
Day 5 Across Martel Bridge. [8.5 miles-13.5 kms, approx. 4 hrs, +100 ms -235 ms]
You discover the fascinating Sautadet ‘waterfalls’ en route to the imposing hilltop village of Roque. ‘Flaneur’ through its ‘ruelles’ and imbibe its rich ambiance. Night in Roque-sur-Ceze.
Day 6 Ceze Valley Panorama. [8.5 miles-14 kms, approx. 4 hrs, +160 ms -160 ms]
A memorable sweeping tour of two of the valley’s finest villages, juxtaposed in contrasting fashion on either side of the Ceze. A feudal castle, an outstanding view over the lower Ceze Valley and a tree-lined canal are just some of the day’s highlights. Late afternoon collection and short transfer. Night near Montclus.
Day 7 Gorges de la Ceze. [14 miles-20.5 kms, 6.5 hrs, +580 ms -600 ms; or 8.5-mile/14 km, 4 hrs, +215 ms -215 ms].
Either descend into the bowels of the Ceze Gorge itself via a grotto and a dolmen, or simply enjoy the fabulous view of the meandering valley from a fine belvedere. Then it's time to explore Montclus itself. Second night near Montclus.
Day 8 Megalithic Man and Les Concluses. [11 miles-16.5 kms, approx. 6 hrs, +440 ms -375 ms].
You set off in search of dolmen and well-hidden menhir, despite its six-metre-high stature. The walking is scenic and the day’s highlight is a descent into the depths of the Aiguillon gorge to its gateway and superbly-potholed limestone channel. Your collection point is nearby for your return to Pont St Esprit. Night in Pont St Esprit.
Day 9 End of your Provence walking tour.
An unforgettable tour has come to an end. Breakfast and onward journey. Au revoir et bon retour.
Note: As part of our policy of continual review and improvement, we reserve the right to make alterations to our walking tours.
d) Access
Easy and convenient access is from either Avignon or Nimes airports or SNCF stations with short onward journeys. Ask us about transferring you to and from Pont St Esprit.
Alternatively, for those choosing to drive, the Bollene exit on the A7 will have you in Pont St Esprit within minutes.
e) Accommodation
The standard of accommodation in this walking tour is high. The region is blissfully bereft of chain hotels, so family-run character accommodation is the order of the day. Staying in them is not a cheap option, thus our decision to include only B & B in the offer. This enables you to further customize your holiday to your budget, by selecting the menu of your choice at your hotels, or eating out, rather than the habitual inclusive option. All information pertaining to meals, both lunch and dinner, is contained in your vacation dossier.
Your accommodation is as follows and comprises excellent levels of character and comfort, with outdoor swimming pools where available.
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Two nights in Pont St Esprit – three star hotel
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Two nights in Aigueze – two star residence with pool
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One night in the La Chartreuse monastery site's unclassified hotel - depicted above
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One night in Roc sur Ceze – fine chambres d'hotes
- Two nights near Montclus – three star hotel with pool
Click here for the background information on the vagaries of the French accommodation classification scene.
f) What's included in Walking Provence-West
Included
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8 nights B & B and all hotel taxes
- Luggage transfers and transport integral to the programme, including a short transfer on Day 6 and a longer one to Pont St Esprit at the tour’s end.
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Post-tour de-briefing
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Hiking Insight Notes™ that empower & make orientation easy
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1:25,000 scale maps & themed vacation dossier
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Emergency telephone help-line service with local British backup
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Loan of mobile phone where required - subject to availability.
Not included
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Single rooms - unless booked at single-person rate
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Remaining meals
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Personal expenses
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Travel, walking and personal insurance
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Travel and entrances to optional cultural visits and sightseeing programme.
g) Prices 2010 - Walking Provence-West
Price per person based on 2 persons sharing double room: £620.00 or €695.00
Single person rate £980.00 or €1085.00
Extra nights On Request
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