Verdon Gorge

After Annecy, we headed down to Verdon Gorge. This was probably one of the places I was most excited to see before the trip. I’d seen the photos of the bright blue water and the huge gorge online, and it looked incredible.

We stayed in Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon at a little campsite and overall it worked well as a base for exploring the area. We didn’t really spend much time in Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon itself though we did walk through it on a morning walk and used it for a food shop, but there isn’t loads going on there.

If I was booking again, I’d probably look at staying somewhere closer to the bridge itself. There are a couple of villages around there with more restaurants and things going on. That said, Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon was absolutely fine. It was around a 30-minute drive from the famous bridge and roughly an hour from Chalet de la Maline (where we started our first hike). If you can get somewhere closer to the bridge then that’s probably what I’d do, but I certainly wouldn’t have any complaints about staying here again.

For our first day we headed off on a hike from Chalet de la Maline. To be honest, I didn’t really know exactly where I was going. I’d heard a lot of hikes started from there, so I got on the trail and followed it🤣 Eventually (when near the bottom) I realised I’d ended up on the hike down into the gorge itself.

The walk wasn’t the easiest. Me and Luna found it absolutely fine, but it is steep and if you get a really hot day it would definitely be more challenging, especially if you’ve got a dog with you. It was incredible at the bottom though so spend some time chilling before starting the incline up.

While we were at the bottom, we played a bit of ball and actually, as you’ve seen from the videos, this is where we learned Luna couldn’t swim. So we spent a lot of time trying to get the ball back and just messing around in the water. It was a great place to just chill. We also started venturing further down the gorge itself to see some of the other parts before heading back up.

It’s also worth noting that this is some of the most crystal-clear water I’ve ever seen, and probably the best water Luna has ever been in. It’s got to be up there in the top five clearest waters she may ever go in🤣

We fully enjoyed ourselves while we were down there as we knew we weren’t going to be doing anything similar again any time soon. Eventually we headed back up and, as you’d expect, the walk up was way harder than the walk down. By the time we got back to the top we were absolutely knackered, so we grabbed some food in a nearby town and headed back to the campsite to relax for the rest of the day.

The goal for day two was to get on one of the boats and head through the gorge. Unfortunately, the wind had other ideas. No electric boats. No kayaks. And because I was on my own they also advised against getting a pedalo out in those conditions. So instead, we found another hike.

I can’t actually recommend this hike in the same way I could the others because, truthfully, it was completely spur of the moment. Once we realised we couldn’t get out on the boats, I zoomed in on Google Maps, looked for some trails that seemed to head towards the gorge, and gave it a go. I ended up parking on the side of the road, the start of the walk was a little bit sketchy, but it turned out to be a great hike with some incredible views. If you’re really curious where it was, I did zoom in on the location on my recent Verdon Gorge video, so go and check that out.

Onto the hike, this hike did have a bit of everything. Views over the gorge, mountain scenery, lavender fields, a waterfall, little trails leading down towards the gorge, and at one point we got a close view from the side watching the boats go past. The weather was better this day aswell, which made the scenery even better, but probably made it a bit tougher for Luna. We didn’t complete the full circular route because it was getting hotter and we still wanted to see if the wind had dropped enough for the boats later on. Unfortunately it hadn’t.

So instead we found a spot by the lake, let Luna cool off in the water, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing before heading back ready for the next part of the trip.

Two days felt like the perfect amount of time here. Verdon Gorge is definitely worth visiting. The scenery is incredible and the water is genuinely some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen.

If you can get a good hike in and get out on the boats, I think you’ll feel like you’ve seen everything the area has to offer. For me, it’s one of those places I would absolutely recommend. I probably wouldn’t spend more than a couple of days there, but I’m very glad we made the stop. It feels like one of those places you go to once, really enjoy, complete, and then maybe never end up back there again.