We are spending four days in Provence next week. We are getting concerned that the B&B we booked, near Grignan, is too far north. The concern is everything we read about markets and charming little towns seems to focus on towns 1 hour south (at least) of Grignan. Has anyone been in Grignan area? Can we find charming little towns, some hikes, some shopping, etc. in that general area? We are going to have a car so we are fine to drive a bit. Thank you. Linda
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Portland
3643 posts
You are correct that Grignan is somewhat to the north of the provencal towns that get the most tourist attention; however, there are enough charming towns, hikes, etc. to keep you happy for four days. Grignan, itself, has a chateau worth visiting. Crest, Die, St. Paul Trois-Chateaux, and Le Poet-Laval are all worth exploring. Vallon-Pont-d'Arc has a museum with findings from the nearby Grotte de Chauvet (not open to the public), some thought to be the earliest cave art ever discovered. It looks to me, from the map, that you'll be able to get to Vaison-la-Romaine and Orange pretty easily. I believe you can also hike many places along the Ardeche river. When we were in that area, we were actually staying even further north, near Valence, and we did a day trip as far away as Fontaine de Vaucluse (highly recommended). Our resource for touring that area was the Cadogan Guide, "Rhone-Alpes."