Which to choose? St. Tropez or Grand Canyon du Verdon
 

Time: Late August this year. If you had to choose. . . on the way to Nice and the Riviera. . . .which would you choose?

There's no way you can compare those two!

Many people are under-whelmed with the Cayond du Verdun. August will be a zoo in St Tropez.

I agree with MyriamC.

Stu Dudley

Instead of the Verdon canyon, visit the delightful village of Moustiers--very near the canyon. Then take the scenic Route Napoléon across the mountains to Castellanne en route to Nice.

The route via the canyon area is much much more scenic and mellow than the roads along the coast. St Tropez is, arguably, today just another fine beach resort - the canyon is exceptional in all of Europe. I've driven both routes and the hinterlands route via the canyon is far more interesting and scenic to me than the traffic-plagued coastal routes.

Yes if you've seen the Grand Canyon U.S. this grand canyon could be underwhelming - but it's more the nicer driving route and as Underhill says the Route Napoleon, ancient road built by Napoleon for military purposes that twists down via Grasse to the Riviera. A superbly scenic yet sinuous enough mountain road.

I haven't been to St. Tropez. However, based on what I've read, I'd avoid it in August (a "zoo," as Stu says).

Last June my wife and I and our adult daughter spend most of a day driving from Nice to Joucas (near Rousillon). Our route included the south side of the Grand Canyon du Verdon and we found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable drive for the open country vistas as well as the views from the canyon rim.

And if you want to get a close up view of the canyon you can rent kayyaks and canoes at places - though in certain seasons the river can be quite rough. Me and my young son stopped and swam at one place one August - great cooling off in this usually torridly hot area.

I agree comparisons between the two are apples and oranges.

One of the most memorable places we stayed (enroute to St. Tropez) was on the Gorges de Verdon overlooking tiny Trigance: http://www.chateau-de-trigance.fr/

I vote for the gorges du Verdon -- which come with a surrounding area that is equally picturesque.
Saint Tropez is not even worth turning off the main highway to see it.

The route I followed, as summarized above, was Grasse to le Logis-du-Pin on the Route Napoleon, then to Comps-sur-Artuby, along the canyon to Aiguines, and finally Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.

Underhill, when you drove from Moustiers to Castellane, did you take the time to go off the Route Napoleon at la Palud-sur-Verdun to follow the circular Routes des Cretes? My Michelin map indicates some very scenic canyon viewpoints on that section.

No, as we had to drive straight through--and I am not fond of windy mountain roads., or of heights. Color me wimpy!

Is it a good idea to stay overnight at either the West or East end of the Canyon, or can one just drive by the canyon en route to some other place? I know this has to be an all day trip seeing the Canyon, so is it wise to stay the night nearby?

You might consider spending the night somewhere around Moustiers-Ste-Marie.

Underhill - Sorry that you and mountain roads don't get along. I was hoping you could advise strad549 as to which side of the canyon offers more spectacular views.

strad549 - Whether or not you should plan on staying overnight depends upon both the total distance you plan to drive and how often you stop. As I said previously, we drove from Nice to Joucas in one day. We didn't get a super early start, stopped often to admire the views and to have lunch, and still got to Joucas by late afternoon.

What is your starting point likely to be?

Moustiers would be a good place to stop for the night. However, stay flexible. Like I said, you may not be that impressed with the Verdun Canyon. If you have visited the Grand Canyon - you definitly won't be impressed. I don't think it's even the best in France - I like the Tarn Gorge much more because of the Medieval villages in the Tarn, and because you can drive along the base of the gorge or from the scenic plateaus along the top. We've visited the Gorge du Verdun twice. The Route des Cretes is the scariest road I've ever driven on - including the Amalfi coast & the Hwy #1 here in Calif where we live.

I like St Tropez much more than kerouac does. We spend at least 2 months in France each year, exploring different regions and returning to our favorites also. We returned to St Tropez for 3 days this June. We've been there at least 8 times, for anywhere from 2 weeks at a stay to only 1 night. I'm almost 60 years old and definitely not a "jet setter", and we did not spend any time at the beach this past trip. We just enjoyed St Trop in the early morning and very late afternoon - taking day-drives to surrounding areas during the day. However, St Tropez is no good for a day trip, IMO - you need to stay overnight to avoid the mid-day hoards. Also, I try to avoid the yacht port in St Trop - I find it a little too "see & be seen".

Stu Dudley

I have been following Strad's threads...
I am glad to hear St. Trop has an admirer... we have finalized booking a little house there for the second week in October - hopefully, fewer people and from there my then husband wants to show me his Cote d'Azur. He loves St. Tropez.
He's in his 60's, I'm his sweet young thing in my 50's... so the see/be seen is sorta moot

Which side of the canyon is best?

Starting point? Good question. I will come to the canyon from Aix, I think. Is two days enough to visit Aix if I'm in Provence for two weeks?

>> Is two days enough to visit Aix if I'm in Provence for two weeks?<<

One day is enough, IMO.

Stu Dudley