The Vercors range in southern France - Another unexpected gem
On our slow way back from the high mountains in the French alps on our recent van trip we spent a few days in the Vercors natural park just south west of Grenoble: And we were happily surprised by the stunning landscape and quaint towns in this lesser known region.
Part 1 of our September 2026 van trip discoveries
The Vercors massif rises up steeply on its eastern and northern ends above the Grenoble and borders on the Rhone valley to the west. In the South it abruptly falls off into the more famous Provence region. Its three parallel ridges run North to South and feature many peaks above 2.000 meters but never get really high.
In total we spent four days here cycling, hiking, climbing and checking out the few small towns that are dotted throughout the region. The whole range rises quite steeply from all sides and any flat areas are in high valleys. A mix of woods, few open areas, dramatic gorges and steep cliffs dominate the landscape.
A few things we discovered while spending time here:
Maybe the two most stunning canyons in range are the Gorge de la Borne and the Combe Lavall. Both are accessible by quite elaborate but small roads. The former hugs the bottom of the narrow Gorge de la Borne the latter clings high above the Lavall canyon.
While driving through them by car is great, both are even better experienced by bicycle. As a matter of fact the whole area is perfect for both on road and off-road cycling.
The towns worth mentioned (at least from our experience) are Pont-en-Royans with its houses suspended over the river like swallow nests, Villard-de-Lans (the regional seat of administration and featuring a pretty good museum on local history and culture) and lastly Vassieux-en-Vercors further south and the main battlefield during the resistance uprising against the German occupation during world war 2.
Another more curious finding was the „Fontaine Ardente“. Here methane gas emits from the ground in a forested area and is burning permanently. It’s quite weird to just find a bunch of flames burning between some random stones on the ground in a forest.
We left the Vercors by driving down the many switchbags of the Col de Rousset. Right at the very top I took the time to climb the Via Ferrata there both to enjoy the views and to give the arms a bit of a workout after riding my bike the days before.
So if you are either traveling through and have a few days or are looking for a little corner of South-Eastern France that is not as busy as the Provence, Cote Azur or the high Alps I highly recommend considering the Vercors.
Adventurers: Brigitte and Bengt