# The Gorges du Verdon — The South of France
> The deepest canyon in Europe, a green-turquoise river a thousand feet below the road, and a lake the colour of glass at its mouth. The Verdon, between Provence and the Alps.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/provence/gorges-du-verdon/*

---

By **The Editors** — _La Palud-sur-Verdon_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

The **Verdon** has cut a canyon nearly seven hundred metres deep into the limestone of upper Provence — the grandest gorge in Europe, and the strangest colour. The river runs an unreal green-turquoise from the glacial melt and the minerals in the rock, far enough below the rim that from the road it looks painted on.

## I. The road along the rim

Two roads follow the gorge. On the north side the **Route des Crêtes** loops out of **La Palud-sur-Verdon** past a string of belvederes, each one a sheer drop onto the river; on the south, the **Corniche Sublime** runs the other lip. Drive them slowly, stop often, and watch for the **vultures** — griffon vultures, reintroduced here, ride the thermals out of the canyon on most clear days.

“The river is the colour nothing natural should be, and it is entirely natural.”

From the notebook

![Limestone cliffs plunging to a green river](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1578330466360-bd27f92d2fb1?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

A belvedere on the Route des Crêtes — the drop is real, the colour is too.

## II. The lake of Sainte-Croix

Where the gorge opens, the river feeds the **Lac de Sainte-Croix**, a vast glass-green reservoir held behind a dam. At the bridge below **Galetas** you can take a pedalo or a kayak up into the mouth of the canyon itself — the cliffs closing overhead, the water cold and clear, swimmers turning back where the current quickens.

![A green lake below limestone hills](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1614888773798-df30e12a9b6c?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

Sainte-Croix in the afternoon — the calm water below the wild canyon.

## III. Moustiers, hung with its star

At the western gate of the gorge, **Moustiers-Sainte-Marie** spills down a cleft in the cliff, a gold star strung on a chain between the two rock walls above it — a vow, the story goes, kept for centuries. One of the **Plus Beaux Villages de France**, it has made fine **faïence** pottery since the seventeenth century, and the workshops are still open along its steep lanes.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _drive_

Getting there

Best by car; **La Palud-sur-Verdon** and **Moustiers** make the two natural bases, about 2 h from Aix.

When to go

Late spring and September; the Route des Crêtes can close in winter, and July is busy on the water.

Where to stay

**La Bastide de Moustiers**, below the village, for the gorge by day and a quiet table at night.

Read next

[Roussillon and the ochre trail](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/provence/roussillon-ochre/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

### More from the _South_

[

![A hilltop village in Provence](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566720537031-8b3e498d2881?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Provence

#### Roussillon and the ochre trail

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/provence/)[

![A Provençal table](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1601370641788-548389c60155?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Table

#### Six tables worth the detour this spring

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/)[

![A stone hotel in Provence](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1445510491599-c391e8046a68?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Stays

#### Where to stay in Provence

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/stays/)