Provence walking tours - Provence bike tours - Provence hiking and Cycling places

Provence walking tours - Provence bike tours


 


 

Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur regional flag Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur Region

 

 Paca map

 

 

 

See all our tours in Provence here 

 

The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region (or PACA)  is made up of the former province of Provence, the former papal territory of Avignon, known as the Comtat Venaissin, the former Sardinian-Piedmontese county of Nice, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera (in French as the Côte d'Azur), and lastly the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps.It encompasses 6 departments bounded to the east by the Italian border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the principality of Monaco, to the north by the Alps.

The region logo displays the coat of arms created in the 1990s and which combines the coats of arms of the old provinces making up Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Rhône-Alpes, and to the west by Languedoc-Roussillon, with the Rhône river marking its westernmost border.

Provence

Provence is a "region" on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region. The traditional region of Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes and parts of Hautes-Alpes. The Romans formed this region into their Gallia Transalpina, the first Roman provincia outside the Alps. From thus, it derives its name today. Most of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot, dry summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine. Within Provence there are micro-climates and local variations, ranging from the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental climate in the northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an important feature of the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which, especially in the winter, that blows down the Rhone Valley to the sea.

 

 

The Calanques

 The Calanques, also known as the Massif des Calanques, are a dramatic feature of the Provence coast, a 20 km long series of narrow inlets in the cliffs of the coastline between Marseille on the west and Cassis on the east. The highest peak in the massif is Mont Puget at 565 metres. Calanques are remains of ancient river mouths formed mostly during Tertiary. Later, during quaternary glaciations, as glaciers swept by, they further deepened those valleys which would eventually (at the end of the last glaciation) be invaded with sea and become calanques.

 

The French Riviera

From Saint Raphael to Nice, each city is worth the visit : Antibes, Cannes, Saint Tropez have always attracted artists of all kinds and are considered as luxury and marvellous places.

Varied landscape combining the Blue Coastline of the mythic Mediterranean but also several moutainous massifs as Esterel or hilltop villages as Biaut, Vallauris.

Rich cultural region which attracted so many painters fascinated by this pure light inherent to the Mediterranean sky.

Rich gastronomy with provençal flavours and scents.

 

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