Before leaving the Mediterranean beaches, we found a wooden glamping chalet on Airbnb on a campsite near Vallon Pont d’Arc.
It is a very touristy area and gets many visitors over the summer. The last week of August is the off-season because the French have all gone back to work. I’d say this is a better time of year to visit the Ardeche as there are fewer tourists and campsite prices are lower. The weather is still great too at this time of year.
There is so much to do here: thousands of caves draw in pot-holers from all over Europe. The sport had its birthplace in this part of France, with many of the pioneers developing techniques and equipment in the caves here.
It is easy to see why tourists flock to the Ardeche: It is not just the beautiful Gorge, there is so much to see and do in the surrounding area. The French do tourism properly – the campsite owners gave us a local tourist map which has all of the main attractions highlighted on it. We had originally booked 5 nights at the campsite, but there is so much to do and we liked it so much that we extended this to 8 nights.
The Campsite: Vieux Vallon
We stayed at Camp Vieux Vallon, a 5-minute drive from Vallon Pont d’Arc. It is situated up a hill so has nice views across the valley. There is a small pool and bar area. The wooden chalets are great. We paid 55 Euros per night for a small 4-berth cabin: this was fantastic value considering this was the price we were paying for a camp pitch earlier in August. Having a chalet to be based in gave us the freedom to explore the local area without having to pack up the rooftop tent every morning.
There are many other campsites to choose from in the gorge, some with direct river access.
Caves (Grottes) open to the public
There are quite a few caves you can visit in this area, and most of them offer private caving tours into areas of the caves closed to the general public. We visited 4 of them, and they were all different from one another. It is worth paying them all a visit if you have time. For me, the Salamander cave stood out as being the most visually stunning. The Chauvet 2 cave is incredible for the beauty and age of the prehistoric cave art.
1. Chauvet 2
This is an incredibly accurate replica of the original cave which was found nearby. If you search Google images for ‘Cave Paintings’, the resulting pictures will be from Chauvet 2 and Lascaux. They are among the most famous and beautiful cave paintings yet found in the world. They are also one of the oldest in Europe too: around 37’000 years old, far older than Lascaux. The age of these paintings is astonishingly old, and the skill of the artists who made them is impressive. Anyone visiting the region needs to come and see this.
2. Grotte de la Madeleine
This cave is known for its beautiful natural pool formations.
3. Aven d’Ornac
A large cave with a great museum depicting the history of the region from millions of years ago to the middle ages.
4. Grotte De La Salamandre
This cave is one of the most beautiful natural wonders I have ever seen. The stalactites, stalagmites, and columns are incredible. The light display is superb. Another must-see attraction. If you only have the time to visit one cave in the Ardeche, make sure this is the one you visit.
5. Grotte Saint-Marcel
A large spectacular cave. We did a private cave tour here with a guide and hired caving equipment.
Kayaking the Ardeche Gorge
A kayaking trip through the Pont D’Arc and down the Ardeche gorge is what draws most tourists to this area in the first place. There are several options to choose from depending on what you want. You can do anything from a couple of hours paddle to a 2-day expedition with an overnight camp at one of the designated bivouac sites. There are many boating companies in Pont Vallon D’Arc offering these trips. Your campsite will recommend one that they partner with, but they are all pretty much the same.
Suma didn’t want to come along, so it was just me and the 2 kids. Josh was 12 years old and had kayaked before, he is a strong paddler for his age. Reece was 9, and not a good paddler. I have done quite a lot of multi-day sea-kayaking camping trips but very little on rivers.
Based on 2 strong paddlers and one weak one, we opted for the longer 26km all-day trip (Salavas to Sauze) with the Arch De Noe boat hire company. We hired a large sit-on-top kayak, which has 3 seats and was perfect for us. Reece could sit in the middle and get his paddle wet now and again, while me and Josh would do the bulk of the paddling.
The safety briefing was thorough and the instructor gave us some great tips for keeping the boat upright and on course through the minor rapids we were to face.
The river has grade 1 rapids, and they are nothing to worry about. There are a lot of large rocks, many of which we hit on the way through the rapids. We didn’t capsize once, but there were a lot of people we saw who did capsize. If you decide it is too much for you halfway down the river, there are areas to get out. You will be charged extra if the boat company has to recover your kayak from a bivouac in the Gorge.
There are also a lot of shallow parts where you need to get out and push the kayak. Wear Crocs or sandals.
We got in the water at 8.40 am and paddled for 5 and a quarter hours, with two rest stops totalling 1.5 hours. We then had around an hour’s wait at Sauze for the minibus to fetch us. So I would say you have plenty of time to do the trip in the allocated time but don’t hang around sunbathing or swimming for too long. It is quite a tiring trip but well worth doing. If you want a more leisurely paddle with more time for sunbathing and relaxing then do a shorter trip. This kayak trip was definitely one of the top highlights of our entire 5-week trip.
Ardeche Gorge Kayaking
Ardeche Gorge Walk
If you have already seen the gorge from a kayak, then why not see it again but from the riverbank? The gorge is certainly amazing enough to warrant a second visit. The walk begins with a fairly easy stroll through the shade of the forest on the plateau, and then the trail leads down a shaded side valley to join the river. You walk along the river bank, and the trail gets a bit narrow in places and goes across ledges. There are ladders and handrails in the tricky spots. The trail back out of the gorge is quite steep and gets the lungs working for sure.
A drive around the Gorge
This is a great scenic drive around the gorge. We drive parts of this route several times because it goes past many of the best caves and sights in the area. The views along the D290 are spectacular. Aigueze is a small medieval village perched on a cliff overlooking the lower part of the gorge, it is thought by many to be one of the prettiest villages in France. In a country as beautiful as France, there are many contenders for this title.
Trip costs
I won’t do a breakdown of costs, I’ll just give a total. I’m not one to keep spreadsheets and document every penny spent. I have a HSBC Global Money Account, so it is easier to keep track of how many Euros we spent in total (you can use a Global Money card without incurring fees, allowing you to travel without carrying much cash). I hardly carried any cash for the whole trip.
The total we spent for 5 weeks was GBP 5000, for a family of 4.
This includes all travel costs to and from the UK: fuel, ferry, and road tolls. Accommodation averaged around 60 Euros per night: both for campsites and cheap airbnbs.
Most of that £5k was spent on accommodation, food & drink, and travel costs. There were some additional costs for activities along the way, such as MTB hire and lift passes in Andorra, Kayaking, and cave entrance fees in the Ardeche.
We travelled on a budget but did not skimp on spending when it came to activities. We did a lot of hiking and swimming, which were mostly free.
We mostly prepared food ourselves, shopping at supermarkets rather than eating out at expensive restaurants. There were a few visits to Burger Kings, McDonald’s, ice-cream stalls, Shisha bars, cocktail bars, etc but these weren’t daily occurrences.
