The lake of Paladru nestles among green hills that form a magnificent setting for this turquoise jewel. The lake owes its colour to the lacustrine chalk that covers its bottom. It was during the ice age, about 12,000 years ago, that these landscapes were shaped. Man arrived here in 2700 B.C. with one of the first human communities in Isère, followed a few centuries later by the knight-peasants of the year 1000 who also found refuge on the shores of Lake Paladru. This human presence has made Lake Paladru an important archaeological area. The brand new Archaeological Museum of Lake Paladru, inaugurated in June 2022, allows visitors to learn more about the remains uncovered by the archaeological excavations carried out over several decades around the lake.

The lake of Paladru, a preserved natural area to discover during your camping holidays in Isere

In addition to its historical interest, Lake Paladru is also a site of great natural wealth. There are no less than 7 protected areas on its shores. Birdwatchers will particularly appreciate the natural site of the Grands Roseaux where mallards, swans and great crested grebes nest. It can be discovered by taking the Chemin des Marais, a greenway dotted with observation points.

A swimming lake near your campsite in Isère

Lake Paladru is bordered by 4 municipal beaches. You can therefore swim there during your camping holiday in Isère. Swimming is only allowed on these beaches, but dogs are not allowed. Three of these beaches are chargeable (Le Pin, Paladru and Montferrat beaches) while the fourth, Charavines beach, is free. As the lake is shallow (36 metres), it heats up well during the summer and its temperature can reach 25°. Swimming is not the only activity offered by Lake Paladru. You can fish or sail on the lake. However, the latter is regulated. You will have to pay a navigation fee which varies according to your boat (with or without motor, electric, etc.).

Our campsites in Isère around Lac de Paladru

A selection of campsites in Isère with camping pitches for your caravan, tent or motorhome.

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Sumptuous landscapes in the heart of the Alps

The Vanoise National Park is above all characterised by its high peaks. The park is home to more than 100 mountains over 3000 metres and 18 peaks over 3500 metres. The highest point is the Grande Casse with its 3855 metres. It is followed by the Mont Pourri (3779 metres) and the Grande Motte (3656 metres). The wide range of altitudes in the Vanoise (from 1,280 metres to 3,855 metres) offers very contrasting landscapes, from green valleys to peaks covered in eternal snow. From your campsite in the Vanoise, your walks will take you to the mountain pastures, around crystal-clear mountain lakes, to the discovery of waterfalls, in forests as well as on the glaciers. The Vanoise massif is distinguished by its ice cap, the largest in the Alps. These ice caps remain visible in summer despite the beautiful climate that bathes the park. It is indeed sheltered from the rains coming from the Ocean by the Prealps and the Belledonne mountain range and benefits from a very nice sunshine. The road itineraries are rare in the Vanoise, the most beautiful sites are only accessible to hikers. The Iseran pass, which is accessible by car, offers superb panoramic views of the park and the Alps. The latter, at 2770 metres, is the highest road pass in the Alps. A mythical stage of the Tour de France, it is a real challenge for cyclists. However, if you are not ready to tackle the 7% slopes, many rental companies now offer electrically assisted bikes. You can dream of being Hinault or Anquetil without making too much effort. Closed for a good part of the year because of its snow cover, it generally opens at the beginning of June. Whether by bike or by car, don’t miss the opportunity to go there during your camping stay in the Vanoise.

A preserved fauna and flora

The Vanoise Park was originally created in 1963 to preserve the Alpine ibex. This was a success, as there are now 2600 of them. However, this is not the only attraction of the park, which has 1200 animal species, 107 of which are protected. Among the most emblematic are the chamois, the golden eagle and the bearded vulture. And of course the marmots which will accompany you during your walks. The flora of the Vanoise has nothing to envy to the fauna. If France has around 5000 species of vascular plants, the Vanoise Park alone is home to nearly 1700. And this for only 0.5% of the national territory! This incredible variety is due to the great diversity of soils and the altitudinal amplitude of the park. A free atlas of rare plants in the Vanoise, which can be downloaded from the park’s website, will help you to recognise them during your hikes. Among the most sought-after plants is the famous Venus hoof orchid. Don’t hesitate to share your photos on the We Love Camping website if you see one during your stay in the Vanoise.

The Vanoise, a hiker’s paradise

There are few roads in the park. The Vanoise is best discovered by hiking. The park has more than 400 kilometres of marked trails that will delight hiking enthusiasts. The majority of these hikes are generally possible from June to the end of October. However, we can never be sure of a late or early snowfall. Some tours are short and easy and can be done with children. Others, on the other hand, require a good physical condition. The park has published practical information sheets to download for the most popular hikes. Those who want to take their experience further can embark on multi-day hikes. There are many refuges where you can sleep at altitude. Some chairlifts and ski lifts in winter sports resorts remain in operation during the summer, allowing you to start your hikes at altitude. Among the most beautiful itineraries, the Vanoise glaciers tour above Champagny-le-Haut can be done with the family. The Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise, on the other hand, should be reserved for experienced hikers and requires several days of walking (from 4 to 7 days depending on your level). It does however offer some unforgettable views. If you wish to venture out on a glacier hike for the first time, it is often advisable to be accompanied by a mountain guide. There are many such guides in the Vanoise and they will allow you to fully enjoy this magical experience. Don’t hesitate to ask at the reception of the campsite where you are staying with your tent, caravan or camper van. They will be able to advise you on the best guides in the region.

Outdoor and white water sports in the Vanoise Park

The Vanoise National Park, with its unspoilt and varied landscapes, lends itself perfectly to the practice of outdoor and white water sports. In winter, of course, it is skiing and winter sports that take precedence. In summer, a much wider choice is available with canoeing, kayaking, rafting or canyoning in the rivers of the Vanoise (Isère, Doron de Bozel, etc.) or climbing, Via-Ferrata, paragliding or mountaineering in the relief of the park. Road cycling will take you up the slopes that have forged the legend of the Tour de France. If you prefer mountain biking, the Vanoise offers you some very nice differences in altitude as well as numerous hiking trails to explore.

A heritage to discover

If the main asset of the Vanoise Park is its spectacular landscapes and its natural expanses, the region is also home to a heritage that deserves to be discovered. There is of course the rural heritage of the Alps with some charming villages such as Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Bonneval-sur-Arc or the hamlet of l’Ecot, but also more surprising sites such as the Esseillon forts. The Esseillon barrier was built at the very beginning of the 19th century (between 1815 and 1830) by the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to protect itself from France. It is made up of 5 forts staggered along the width of the valley. Each fort is named after one of the members of the royal family: Marie-Christine, Marie-Thérèse, Victor-Emmanuel, Charles-Albert and Charles-Félix. None of these forts has ever had to undergo the test of fire. Now classified as historical monuments, three of these forts have been restored. The Marie-Thérèse Redoubt houses the Vanoise Fortified Heritage Interpretation Centre.

Our campsites near Vanoise National Park

A selection of the best campsites for caravans, tents and motorhomes in or near the Vanoise.

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A LAND OF STONE AND WATER

If you discover the Ardèche from the south, you immediately enter a limestone country where water and time have played the artists to sculpt an open-air museum whose jewel is the Gorges de l’Ardèche. This narrow and deep cut in the Ardèche landscape is indeed one of the most beautiful landscapes in France. After having been subjected to the law of a hard rock subsoil which dictates its course and its gradients from its source to Aubenas, the Ardèche finally takes the upper hand and traces its route through the limestone subsoil of the southern Ardèche. At the level of the gorges, it gives a violent stab in the rock, giving birth at the same time to sumptuous white stone statues with evocative shapes: Autridge rock, Cathedral rock, etc.

Pont d’Arc, gateway to the Ardèche Gorges

The most impressive, and without doubt the most emblematic, work of the water was done at the entrance to the gorges, at Vallon Pont d’Arc. The river and the rock have combined here to dig an arch of colossal dimensions which opens like a door on the Gorges of the Ardèche. It is without doubt the most famous and most visited place in the Ardèche.

There are many ways to visit the Ardèche Gorges. From the tourist road, dotted with lookouts, you can already appreciate the beauty of the limestone cliffs, but it is however from the bottom of the gorges that you can best enjoy the impressive verticality of this exceptional site. And for this, nothing beats a canoe or kayak. The canoe trip has become one of the great classics of any good Ardèche holiday. The number of canoes that frequent the Ardèche flirts with the 100,000 boats per year. At certain times, the Ardèche is reminiscent of a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon. If you can choose, the months of May and June remain the best time to canoe down the Ardèche. The waters are still high enough and you can avoid the summer rush.

The Chassezac river and the Bois de Païolive

The action of water and time on limestone sometimes has surprising results. For example, the river Chassezac, a tributary of the Ardèche, flows into the mineral landscapes of the Bois de Païolive stone chaos. Here, the unusual shapes of the rock evoke a strange petrified bestiary with a bear, a lion, etc. On its side, the Chassezac draws very beautiful rocky gorges which are reminiscent of the Gorges of the Ardèche. They offer pretty hiking trails that play tightrope walkers at the top of the cliffs.

When the Ardèche meets the Massif Central

Further north, as the Mediterranean climate is tinged with the mildness of the Massif Central, the geology of the Ardèche is changing and offering us new landscapes. The vertical minerality of the gorges becomes softer. Water and stone stop fighting and join forces to create green valleys with rounded shapes. Thus, if it is less spectacular, the Eyrieux valley has been better preserved from mass tourism than its neighbours in the south of the Ardèche and possesses the incomparable charm of these small parts of France where time seems to have no hold. You can particularly appreciate a specificity of the Ardèche, the terraces. In order to adapt to a hardly docile relief, villages and cultures have indeed been arranged in terraces. In the spring, you can admire, in the lower part, the fuchsia peach trees that stretch out on the sunny slopes of the valley. As you go up towards the Ardèche mountains, fishing gives way to the great regional speciality, the chestnut. The Ardèche is the largest producer of chestnuts in France, with 60% of the country’s chestnut trees. To be sure of this, just visit Privas, the capital of marron glacé.

Following the Eyrieux through the fields of chestnut trees, you enter the relief of the Ardèche mountains where volcanic activity has strongly marked the landscape as shown by the silhouettes of the Mounts Mézenc and Gerbier de Jonc, strange dried-up mamelons. From the heights of Mount Mézenc, the Montgolfier brothers took off for their first balloon flight. Mount Gerbier de Jonc is famous because it is here that the Loire River rises. In a stable on its slope, many tourists come to drink the water of the nascent Loire. From their bald peaks, you can enjoy beautiful views of the Ardèche mountains. The volcanic activity that gave birth to these mountains also caused the appearance of the Issarlès lake, which enjoys a superb setting.

Underground wonders

If the work of water is visible on the surface, the subsoil of the Ardèche also contains its share of treasures. Water has dug caves and avens which have made the region one of the top caving sites in France. However, you don’t have to like to wander through narrow muddy gutters to enjoy the show. The most beautiful of these caves are in fact accessible to the general public. Of all of them, the Aven d’Orgnac is without a doubt the most beautiful and impressive. At 130 metres from the surface, on 30,000 m² and under a 50-metre high ceiling, concretions of more than 20 metres stand out. The spectacle leaves you speechless. And to think that only 3 hectares of the 32 existing hectares are open to the public today. This shows that the Ardèche has not finished surprising us.

Man and stone

If the action of water on the rock has given the Ardèche its current physiognomy, man has also made his mark. And this since the dawn of time. Indeed, it is considered that the Ardèche caves have been frequented by prehistoric man for 80,000 years. It must be said that the hundreds of caves that go deep into the ground of the Ardèche offered, in these sometimes difficult times, many possibilities of housing for these “cavemen”. The region is also known for its palaeographic wealth. However, it was in 1994 that the Ardèche became known as one of the most important places for cave art with the discovery of the Chauvet cave. It was visited for the first time by Jean-Marie Chauvet and two of his friends, all passionate speleologists. It didn’t take them long to understand the unique dimension of this discovery: the cave paintings that cover the walls of the cave are not only among the oldest in the world, but they impress by the quality of their line, their diversity and the incredible bestiary that they represent. In view of the incredible scientific value of the site, the mistake made in Lascaux in the early years was not repeated here. It was never opened to the public, but a 3000 m² facsimile was inaugurated in 2015. This facsimile is accessible to the public and offers a reproduction of the cave down to the smallest detail (humidity, smells, temperatures, etc.). If you are interested in prehistory, you can extend your visit to the cave with a visit to the Cité de la Préhistoire in Orgnac.

While prehistory is giving way to history, the presence of humans is asserting itself in the Ardèche. The dolmens are proof of this. Thus, despite the displeasure of the Bretons, the Ardèche is the department in France with the most dolmens. However, they are more scattered and there is no megalithic alignment like that of Carnac.

If the caves, the climate and the steepness of the Ardèche seemed perfectly suited to the life of our distant ancestors, this was no longer the case at the dawn of the Middle Ages. The development of towns and agriculture forced people to leave the relief to go down into the valleys. The valleys of the Ardèche came alive with white stone villages perched on the hills or huddled along the rivers. Their narrow streets, lined with houses with lauze or thatched roofs and flowered balconies, tell us the story of a rural Ardèche full of authenticity. Twenty-one of the most beautiful (Chalençon, Beauchastel, Antraigues, etc.) have been grouped together under the name “villages of character”. Of all these villages, some are particularly worth visiting. Balazuc, in particular, is worth a visit. This village is built on the side of a wall above the Ardèche.

Man has also left his mark in the stone of monuments that have stood the test of time. In particular, in the north of the department and in the Vivarais, there are many Romanesque churches which are treasures of medieval architecture which blend in wonderfully with the Ardèche landscape. As well as the castles which are scattered here and there, such as the citadel of Largentière which watches over the fortified town or the fortress of Crussol which dominates the Rhône from the top of its 230 metres.

So make the most of your camping holiday in the Ardèche to discover all its facets.

Our campsites with touring pitches for caravans, tents and motorhomes in the Ardèche

A selection of campsites for holidays in the Ardèche with your caravan, tent or motorhome.

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An exceptional site on the road to Santiago de Compostela

Puy-en-Velay is one of the starting points of one of the four pilgrimage routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela. The via Podiensis, or the Puy Route, is the oldest French route to Santiago-Compostela. It passes through some of the most famous stages of the pilgrimage such as Conques, in Aveyron, or La Romieu, in the Gers, before joining the Camino Navrro in Spain. This religious status has earned him the inheritance of a rich heritage that has nestled in an exceptional setting dominated by two rocky peaks that are topped by the Chapel Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe and the statue of Notre-Dame-de-France. This colossal statue, painted in red, has been watching over the Puy-en-Velay since 1860. It was created with the 213-gun metal taken from the Russians during the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. It was then a real technical feat to build this statue of 22 meters high and 835 tons (including pedestal) on the highest point of the city of Puy-en-Velay, the Corneille Rock, a rocky peak of volcanic origin of 757 meters altitude, rising 132 meters above the city. The top of the rock offers a superb view of the old town and the entire Haute-Loire region to those who have had the courage to face the 262 steps that lead there. The climb is arranged and punctuated with information panels. Benches allow you to take breaks if you wish. Access to the site is paid (4 euros for adults), but the panorama is well worth the expense.

A UNESCO World Heritage-listed cathedral

At the foot of the corneilla rock lies the upper town of Puy-en-Velay. A 35-hectare protected area with a magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral. Its origins date back to the 5th century when a church was built on Mount Anis. The cathedral was built in the 11th and 12th centuries in a Romanesque style bathed in various influences, notably Byzantine. Be sure to admire its beautiful façade before discovering, inside, its black virgin with an exciting history. Although the cathedral underwent major changes in the 18th and 19th centuries, it remains a jewel of Romanesque architecture. It also retains beautiful wall decorations and paintings. After visiting the cathedral, don’t forget to go for a walk in its cloister. This Byzantine-inspired cloister is undeniably one of the most beautiful in France.

If the Puy-en-Velay Cathedral is the jewel of the city, it should not make you forget that it is in the heart of a 35-hectare listed area dotted with old mansions, churches and a beautiful Hôtel-Dieu which now houses an Arts and Heritage area dedicated to Puy-en-Velay. An exciting visit to better understand the history and heritage of Puy-en-Velay. It perfectly complements the Crozatier Museum, whose collections tell the story of Puy and Auvergne.

To prepare for your camping holiday in Puy-en-Velay: https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr/

Our campsites near Puy-en-Velay

Whether you’re travelling in a tent, caravan or campervan, we offer a selection of campsites around Puy-en-Velay.

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It can be seen from afar, rocky nipple erected in the green landscapes of the north of the Ardèche. Mount Gerbier de Jonc is a volcanic relief that was formed at the time when the volcanoes of the central massif were still active. This is an example of the ardéchois “sucs”, those volcanic domes typical of the Ardèche. In addition to Mount Gerbier de Jonc, these sucs are Montfol, Sepoux, Seponet, Taupernas and Lauzière.

Due to its terrain, the climate of the Ardèche and the geology, Mount Gerbier de Jonc possesses an exceptional natural richness. Both the fauna and the flora.

The sources of the Loire

Mount Gerbier de Jonc owes part of its fame to the Loire, which originates there. The river has many sources here. the water table beneath the mountain gives rise to several sources. Three of them are highlighted and listed as the sources of the Loire. The “authentic source” has been highlighted by a monument since 1938, the “geographic source” flows into a stone trough inside a barn with a lauze roof and the “true source” is the source indicated on the land map. She comes out of the ground in a meadow, under a lauze that bears the inscription “Here begins my road to the ocean”! Each of these three sources gives a trickle of water. The 3 nets meet quickly to form a thin stream. Very quickly the creek become important and become the Loire, the longest river in France. A 3-kilometre loop on foot allows you to discover the 3 springs of the Loire.

The ascent of Mount Gerbier in Jonc

A large car park is accessible at the foot of the mountain. The ascent of Mount Gerbier de Jonc will take about 30 minutes, on a marked trail. Round trip, count an hour and a half to get to its summit. Although relatively short, the ascent of the mountain is however quite sporty. So think about getting good shoes. But the effort will be rewarded. At the top of Mount Gerbier de Jonc awaits a breathtaking panorama that encompasses the Ardèche, the Haute-Loire and, in the distance, the Alps. The bravest will get up before daybreak to watch the sunrise. The show is sumptuous.

However, if you want to discover the mountain and its surroundings, other hikes are possible from more remote car parks.

If you used to pay to go on the trail, the ascent of Mount Gerbier de Jonc is now free.

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