FRANCE - French Alps
Mercantour - French Riviera Hinterland
If you have time, and a car and a good driver for curvy narrow roads, you can visit the french Riviera hinterland : the Mercantour National Park located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes departments. Since it was created in 1979, the Mercantour Park has proven popular, with a lot of visitors every year enjoying the 600 km of marked footpaths and visiting its villages. The roads are very scenic, villages are amazing, looking italians (and some were italians before 1945), but don't expect any luxury palace but authenticity of real villages.
The Vallée des Merveilles, also known in english: Valley of Marvels, is a part of the Mercantour National Park. It holds the largest quantity of open-air Bronze Age petroglyphs in Europe.
BEST TIME to VISIT MERCANTOUR
BEST TIME to TRAVEL to FRANCE
From May to October
typical village
scenic drive
church in a village
typical village
scenic drive
bridge
scenic drive
typical village - church
typical village - church
typical village - narrow street
typical village
church on a hill
Var valley - view on a mountain village
landscape
landscape with a village
Chapel accessible with the stairs and the bridge
scenic road
landscape between Sospel and Saorge
village around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie
landscape
Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie
Typical village on a hill
Typical village on a hill
atound Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie - landscape and houses
landscape
Village of Saorge
Typical village on a hill
landscape between Sospel and Saorge
Typical village on a hill
scenic road
Scenic road
village
the village of Roubion
the village of Roubion
landscape
landscape
around Tende - driving thru a village
Tende - crossing the town
Scenic drive from Saorge to Tende - old building
Scenic drive from Saorge to Tende
landscape
Touristic train
Scenic drive - the village of Saorge - church
Around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie - old houses in a village
landscape around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie
landscape around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie - scenic road
landscape around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie - village
Scenic road around Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie
landscape between Saorge and Tende - river
Scenic road - crossing a typical village
Landscape around Tende
Scenic road - Church and Cemetery
Scenic road - village on a hill
Scenic road - village on a hill
Scenic road - Village on a hill
Var Valley - Village on a hill
Scenic road - Village on a hill
Scenic drive - River and Valley
Scenic road - red stone
Scenic road
Village of Roubion
Scenic drive - Village
Scenic road
The village of Roubion
Scenic drive - Typical village
The village of Roubion from the bottom of the cliff
Col de la Bonette (el. 2,715 metres (8,907 ft)) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps, near the border with Italy. It is situated within the Mercantour National Park. This road is the highest paved through route in the Alps.
Scenic road to the "Col de la Bonette"
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
This road is the highest paved through route in the Alps.
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette) - landscape
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette) - landscape
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)- old houses
Scenic road to the Pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette) - old houses
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette) - old farm
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)
Road to the pass of la Bonette (col de la Bonette)