Our pearls The Vélodrôme (Drôme cycle path)
The Vélo-drôme tour makes you open the door into the Drôme Valley, from the banks of the river Rhône and the green path called “Via Rhôna”, up to our hilltop villages
At the very meeting point of the Drôme and the Rhône, we are in Printegarde, a Nature Reserve where migratory birds stop to rest. Educational signs, set on the footbridge crossing the river, enable visitors to identify the species.
The tour goes on to Livron. The ancient village called “Le Haut Livron”( high Livron) is one of the hilltop villages dotted along the hilly sides of the valley. You can rejoin Allex , another hilltop village, cycling small country roads alongside diverse fruit orchards and vineyards of the Brézème, a Côte du Rhône wine with an A.O.C. appellation.
The Vélodrome
Riding to a hilltop village
Once in Allex, turn off towards Grâne and come closer to the river again, next to the Ramières, the nature reserve of the Val de Drôme, and the Gare des Ramières . This Interpretive Centre proposes a recreational , sensorial and interactive discovery of this protected zone and the biodiversity of one of the last wild rivers in Europe.
Brochure of the Vélodrome Portes de la Vallée( cycle path entrance doors to the valley)
Going along to Crest, the trail passes near Eurre, another hilltop village close to the Sentier du Castor ( beaver path) , the beaver being a symbolic animal of the river. At the “Ecosite du Val de Drôme”, nearby an arts and crafts area is open to calls. When in Crest, which is an ancient medieval city, from the top of its impressive tower, you can gaze at the panoramic view over the syncline of Saoû Forest, the valley and the pre-alps mountains.
Riding on to Aouste-sur-Sye, notice the massive old buildings like watermills, paper, brick, silk mills and factories which testify of a labouring past. All along the River Drôme, these small engineering industries used the moving power of the water.
From Aouste-sur-Sye to Saillans, cycle past the vineyards and the first vine-growing properties of the Clairette de Die, a fruity sparkling white wine with an A.O.C. appellation . In summertime, take-in the sensual fragrances rising from the lavender and other aromatic plants which titillate all your senses as you are in the Biovallée, and enjoy a cool swim in the nice wild spots of the river…
