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Travel guide
The Tarn Gorges
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to September
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Welcome
The Tarn Gorges, in a few days
Over some fifty kilometres between Ispagnac and Le Rozier, the Tarn has cut a canyon 400 to 500 metres deep between two limestone plateaus, the Causse Méjean and the Causse de Sauveterre. At the bottom run clear green water and stone villages set on the river bends: Sainte-Enimie, Saint-Chély, La Malène, Castelbouc.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sainte-Enimie free · about 1 h 30The best-known village of the gorges, built in tiers around an old monastery and a spring, with stone-roofed houses, cobbled lanes and a pebble beach.
- Afternoon · Canoeing from Sainte-Enimie to La Malène · half a dayThe classic 13 km paddle, three to four hours of calm water and small rapids past Saint-Chély and the Château de la Caze.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Burlatis€95 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Chély-du-Tarn free · about 30 minA hamlet below the Causse Méjean, reached by a single-arch bridge, with a spring pouring from a cave and a chapel cut into the cliff.
- Afternoon · The boatmen of La Malène · about 1 hFlat-bottomed boats, steered with pole and oar, take you through the Détroits, the narrowest 8 km of the canyon, to the Cirque des Baumes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Manoir de Montesquiou€120 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Roc des Hourtous free · about 30 minA viewpoint on the Causse Méjean above La Malène, looking straight down the Détroits, with griffon vultures nesting in the cliffs below.
- Afternoon · Point Sublime free · about 30 minA viewpoint on the Causse de Sauveterre, 400 metres above the Cirque des Baumes, where the river twists and vultures circle below you.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Doussière€85 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Aven Armand · about 1 hA cavern 75 metres underground, first entered in 1897, big enough to hold Notre-Dame de Paris, with over 400 stalagmites up to 30 metres tall.
- Afternoon · The Przewalski's horses of Le Villaret free · about 30 minSince 1993 the Takh association has bred these horses, once extinct in the wild, on the windswept Causse Méjean, and returned several groups to Mongolia.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Mont Aigoual€95 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €80 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to September
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/tarn-gorges
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.