The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is the department of lavender and the Gorges du Verdon, a region of Haute-Provence nestled between the Southern Alps and the Mediterranean, where villages perched on rocky outcrops seem to rise directly from the limestone cliffs that support them. This department, one of the least densely populated in France, preserves a wild and unspoilt Provence far from the crowds of the Côte d’Azur.
Sisteron, ‘the gateway to Provence’, whose citadel perched at 600 metres overlooks the Durance gorge, is the department’s most iconic landmark with its 16th-century ramparts and breathtaking views over the town and river. Forcalquier, the former capital of the County of Provence, retains traces of its medieval past in its historic centre. Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a pottery village clinging to the cliffside on the shores of Lake Sainte-Croix, is listed among the most beautiful villages in France.
The Gorges du Verdon, the ‘Grand Canyon of Europe’ carved by the river through the limestone plateaus, and the lavender fields of the Valensole plateau offer breathtakingly beautiful landscapes that make the department one of France’s most spectacular natural destinations.