Verdon (2026)

Some of my boyfriend’s family live on either side of the France-Italy border, and so we try to visit them at least once a year. This year, we decided to go in June, in the hopes that the weather would be cooler than when we visited the previous July, and we spent four days there.

We booked an evening flight on the Wednesday, so headed to the airport after work and boarded our flight bound for Nice. Since we only arrived around 11pm, we spent the night in a hotel just a five-minute walk from the airport, and headed straight to bed.

Day 1: Gorges du Verdon

The following morning, we awoke bright and early in order to enjoy the hotel breakfast and then walked back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Our plan this morning was to stay on the French side of the border and visit Verdon, which features spectacular views of gorges with turquoise water running through. I’d never been to Verdon but my family are big fans, and I actually have a poster in my living room featuring the gorges, which was gifted to me following one of their trips there. They also love Route Napoleon, a famous driving route following the route Napoleon took in 1815 after escaping exile on the island of Elba, which I’d never done before, so I was excited to see what the hype was about.

I took the first driving shift as, between my boyfriend and I, I’m the more confident driver, and we quickly got onto Route Napoleon, bound for Verdon. The roads were practically empty and were fun to drive on, offering a range of landscapes and views. We passed through small towns, barren mountains, and many a hairpin bend. We stopped on some gravel at a viewpoint to take some photos, which were stunning, and when we set off again, there was a very loud, grating sound of metal-on-metal. I’ve had a stone stuck in my tyre before but the sound was very different and worryingly loud. We stopped as soon as we could next pull over to investigate, but we couldn’t see anything. This was definitely not the place for any car issues; we were in the middle of nowhere, on the top of a cliff with very narrow roads, it was hot, we had no signal, and there were no open restaurants or shops. Nonetheless, no warning lights had turned on and there was no one who could help us, so we tested that the brakes worked and then kept heading to Verdon, praying that the issue would either sort itself out or someone would be able to help us once we'd arrived.

Even with the music blasting, we could hear the screeching above it, but eventually, we realised that the noise had quietened significantly to the point it was barely audible! This was a huge relief, and we later found out that there must have been a stone lodged in the brake pads, which sorted itself out. Soon thereafter, we made it to Pont du Galetas, the iconic bridge from which you can see the entrance to the canyon. This was my favourite stop of the trip and was absolutely breath-taking. We were early enough in the season that there weren’t huge crowds and the temperature was still under 30°C so we could walk around without too much discomfort. We were dead set on swimming or renting a paddle board/pedalo, however we decided to first head to a cute nearby village, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, whilst it wasn't too hot, and come back later for a swim.

We parked the car and hitched a ride in a small tourist train that took us up to the town centre and provided some history on the place. Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is a lovely village nestled in the mountains and in some ways reminded me of Èze. It has a pretty waterfall in the town centre and a small chapel higher in the mountains. There is also an iconic gold star suspended between two mountains over the village, which apparently lights up at night. We observed that the majority of shops sold pottery, although several sold honey, meats, and lavender-scented souvenirs too. My favourite things about this village was that there were public drinking water fountains and taps all over, which made exploring in the summer much more pleasant. We had a quick lunch in the village, before grabbing the car and heading to our next stop: the lavender fields.

Valensole is a nearby village famed for its huge expanse of lavender fields. Although neither my boyfriend nor I were super set on seeing the fields, we were only a 15-minute drive away so it felt silly not to see them whilst we were here. Truth be told, I’m very glad we did drive over as the fields were gorgeous and it was lovely seeing all of the bees and butterflies surrounding the fields. We stopped quickly to take some pictures, and then headed back towards Verdon for a much-needed swim.

Although there are many places to swim near Verdon, we decided to go back towards the Pont du Galetas bridge, where we could easily park up and swim in the water directly below, lac de Saint-Croix. The turquoise water was very refreshing, though we had to work harder to stay afloat as it was freshwater rather than sea water. I absolutely love swimming so I was in heaven and it was the perfect way to explore the area.

Eventually, we had to head back towards the border as we’d planned to have dinner with my boyfriend’s family, so my boyfriend took the wheel and we set off to Ospedaletti in Italy. The drive passed faster than I’d expected, and before arriving we picked up some gelato from ‘Stop and Go’, which we’d visited last year and completely knocked my socks off. After arriving, we met their two-month-old baby and played with their two-year-old and their dog. We then enjoyed a delicious dinner on the terrace overlooking the sea, and caught up over some wine and gelato, which was wonderful.

Day 2: San Romolo

The original plan for this day was to go to the beach, however a sewage pipe had burst in the sea, so we had to change course. Instead, we decided to visit the mountain town of San Romolo, where it would be much cooler and we could have a picnic. Before that however, my boyfriend and I picked his mum up from the train station, alongside some picnic bits from the bakery. We then drove up the windy mountain roads, eventually reaching 800m above sea level. We spent the day playing football, enjoying our picnic, and exploring the area. It was very relaxing and a great way to catch up with everyone.

The roads to get to San Romolo are very narrow and windy so it was ideal driving with locals who knew them well, and I was glad it wasn’t me in the driver’s seat. In the evening, we enjoyed a homemade Greek feast for dinner on the terrace, which was absolutely divine, so much so that it ended up being my favourite meal of the trip!

Day 3: San Remo

Whilst in Italy, we wanted to get some high-quality produce and souvenirs to take home, so my boyfriend suggested a trip to San Remo market. Everyone was keen to join so we drove over to San Remo and after enjoying a coffee and breakfast in a café on the square, we then walked over to the food market to pick up some souvenirs. The market was lovely, with an abundance of fresh fruit and veg, delicious meats and cheeses, and plenty of olive oil and picky bits. We chose a selection and then grabbed some pizza for lunch, which we once again enjoyed al fresco.

One lovely thing about my boyfriend’s brother’s place is that there’s a pool, and I was very excited to use it. We spent the afternoon chilling in the pool and playing with the kiddos, which was dreamy. Once the evening rolled around, we decided to treat everyone to some sushi so we put an order in, and then headed to the gelateria to stock up on more gelato. Dinner was delicious and we spent the night looking through photo albums and scrapbooks until the early hours, which I enjoyed greatly.

Day 4: Menton

Our trip was coming to a close, but since we had an afternoon flight, we still had the morning to enjoy. We spent the morning swimming in the pool once again, and then said our goodbyes and headed over to Menton for a quick lunch with my boyfriend’s mum. We went to an Italian restaurant on the seafront just a 5-minute walk from her place, and my boyfriend and I shared a pizza and a salad, which were both lovely. The service was great and the food was yummy, so I was one happy girl. I also loved seeing her home and would like to spend a bit more time in Menton the next time we visit!

We filled up our car with petrol, then dropped it off and headed to the canopy lounge in the airport, which was much nicer than I’d anticipated! Before long, we were boarding our flight to London and were home before dark, which was wonderful.

It was absolutely lovely to see my boyfriend’s family and catch up with everyone, only made better by our day trip to Verdon, which I’d very highly recommend!