Whoever said you needed to travel far to find yourself some breathtaking views, was wrong. Horribly wrong. Some people tend to forget how beautiful Europe is, and how much different kinds of landscape you can find over here.
I myself was instantly captivated by the Ardèche-region, a with a very rough but breathtaking scenery. Today, I’m taking you into the canyon, the Gorges d’Ardèche ..
The Gorges de l’Ardèche is made up of a series of ‘gorges’ in the river, locally known as the ‘European Grand Canyon’. It forms a thirty-kilometre long canyon running from Vallon-Pont-d’Arc to Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche.
Most of the canyon is protected by law and is inaccessible except by water – exploring by canoe or kayak being one of the few possibilities – it provides a very rough, but authentic experience. Take a look for yourself.
At the end of our 16km Kayak-trip, we paused briefly at the Pont d’Arc – where a natural whirlpool tipped us over – a natural arch 60m wide and 54 m high. It’s very crowded here, so we only took the obliged photo and left.
To end out day, we rode up the mountain to take some beautiful pictures of the Gorges from above, to fully understand why they call this ‘The European Grand Canyon’. Can you blame them?
TIP: Book yourself a slightly longer Kayaking-tour if you want to experience the true beauty of this place. The short routes are awfully crowded, so you’ll miss a lot of the peace-and-quiet this beautiful place provides.
A kayaking trip will cost you about 15 euros or more per person, depending on the type of kayak and distance. We booked our Kayak Trip here.
I totally agree with you on the fact that we tend to forget how much beauty Europe has to offer. I loved this post about the Ardèche, I have to say I didn’t even know about its Gorges… Shame on me! This definitely goes on my list of places to see! xx
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I didn’t know about them either when I first visited the region. This year, we’re going to the Cevennes, to the ‘Gorges de Verdon’. They are a bit similar, but the Gorges the Verdon are a bit more ‘rough’, I guess..
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Sounds good! Looking forward to read about it on your blog!
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When I think of Europe, I always think about their lovely architectures, but I’ve never thought much about the outdoor opportunities it offers. This completely blew my mind. Gorges de l’Ardèche is absolutely beautiful, and something that can captivate me for hours on end. I would love to have a chance to explore this area. Will have to bookmark this for future reference.
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It’s definitely worth the while! This year, we’re going to the ‘Gorges de Tarne’ ! It’s a bit the same as these riverbends, but with a slightly more ‘Rocky’ terrain!
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That sounds amazing! Hope you have the post up soon. I love reading about these outdoor opportunities. It reminds me of Banff and Waterton’s hiking which I really love and miss. I will have to go look up Gorges de Tarne now.
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