From season to season

The Diois in spring

Immediately after snow melt provides the best water conditions for kayaking in the Drôme.

From May onwards, you can get away from the crowds by swimming in the Roanne gorges or pedalling up our medium height mountain cols and getting into shape.

You can also enjoy walking in the high pastures, when nature is in full bloom.

In the spring, head for the sunny South between Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert and La Motte-Chalancon, then with the rise in temperature, make for the Hauts-Plateaux of the Vercors, above Châtillon-en-Diois or Lus-la-Croix-Haute.

The Diois in summer

Have fun enjoying the creative offerings of the events diary, the convivial nature of the café terraces all over the Diois and the display of local produce on the markets.

And in particular, breathe the lavender air when you enter the bluish haze of the landscape between mid-June to early August.

Even if you happen to be a bit late, don’t panic, you can still enjoy the lavender until mid-August above Valdrôme, capital of true lavender - Lavender Vera.

The Diois in the autumn

When the vine leaves begin to turn, enjoy the Clairette vineyards between Die, Châtillon-en-Diois and Luc-en-Diois. and witness the joyful agitation of the grape harvest with the coming and going of tractors and the effervescence of team working in the rows of vines.

The grape harvest usually begins in mid-September and lasts for 4 to 6 weeks, with a lag of a couple of weeks between the Bas-Diois and the Haut-Diois.

Enjoy the last sunny days and their exceptional light, and visit the villages which have now regained their tranquillity. Walk through forests showing their finest colours, mantled with fungi and resounding to the call of stags.

The Diois in winter

You can put your skis on at the Col du Rousset and Lus-La Jarjatte from December to March.

When the peaks of the Parc naturel régional du Vercors don their white coats, you can also go cross country skiing and walk in snow racquets on many slopes under 30° steepness.

For walkers, the trails of the South Diois remain open as they are very rarely snow bound and open up vistas on landscapes where box, broom and pine retain their green colouring and oak leaves turn brown.

This is the best time to try the specialities of our growers and restauranteurs, by the fireside.

See also