Visiting Gourdon, the Alpes-Maritimes’ eagle’s-nest village: a day trip from Hôtel du Clos
Some villages show themselves from afar long before you arrive. Gourdon is one of them. Clinging to a rocky spur at 760 metres, it overlooks the Gorges du Loup like an eagle’s nest, and its pale stone silhouette gathered around the château can be spotted from the road well before the first hairpin. Listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, it lies roughly half an hour from Hôtel du Clos, up into the Loup valley.
It is the excursion we recommend to guests who have half a day and want to look at the Côte d’Azur from above, away from the crowds of the coast.
A village suspended above the valley
The village can be explored in an hour and a half to two hours, with no need to hurry. Narrow stone lanes, remnants of ramparts and medieval houses gather around the château. A few craft shops offer regional produce, perfume and local goods.
The highlight comes down to one word: the view. From Place Victoria, the village’s viewpoint, the gaze takes in nearly 80 kilometres of coastline, from Théoule-sur-Mer to Nice, with the mouth of the Var, Cap d’Antibes, the Lérins islands and the Estérel beyond. A few minutes at the edge of that drop are enough to understand why Hitchcock set up his camera in the area for To Catch a Thief in 1955.
The château and its terraced gardens
The Château de Gourdon began as a fortress built in the early Middle Ages, reworked over the centuries and completely rebuilt in 1610. Its terraced gardens, attributed to André Le Nôtre, the landscape architect of Versailles, open onto a direct view of the valley. Access (gardens, rooms, opening periods) varies with the season: please check before you set off, or ask us, we always have the latest information.
Just below the château, the nineteenth-century wash-house is worth a glance. It is one of those details that remind you Gourdon is first and foremost a lived-in village, with fewer than three hundred year-round residents.
The Gorges du Loup, from the Saut du Loup to Pont-du-Loup
Gourdon can also be discovered from below. At the foot of the village, the hamlet of Pont-du-Loup marks the entrance to the Gorges du Loup, overlooked by cliffs several hundred metres high. The gorge road leads to the Saut du Loup waterfalls, a cool stop in summer and striking in late autumn when the water runs high.
For walkers, the old mule track linking Pont-du-Loup to the village, the Chemin du Paradis, climbs more than 500 metres: a real ascent that makes the view all the more rewarding. At Pont-du-Loup, the Confiserie Florian, specialising in candied fruit, is also a classic stop. Thrill-seekers will notice Gourdon’s paragliding site above the village, one of the best known in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Our tip: drive up the gorge road from Tourrettes-sur-Loup, come back the same way at the end of the day, and keep Place Victoria for the last hour before sunset, when the light fills the valley.
From Hôtel du Clos, a half-day that changes the scenery
From Le Rouret, Gourdon is about thirty minutes away, along hillside roads through Châteauneuf and Le Bar-sur-Loup. The route is part of the excursion: olive groves, flower fields, then the winding climb up to the cliff.
The perched village itself offers very limited accommodation, so visitors stay in neighbouring communes. From our garden, your day can unfold at your own pace: leave after breakfast, lunch in Gourdon or at Pont-du-Loup, and return for the calm of the pool in late afternoon.
Book directly on our website, with no intermediary, and ask us for itinerary advice on combining Gourdon with the Gorges du Loup.
Check availability
Gourdon, to combine with the rest of the hinterland
Gourdon pairs well with Tourrettes-sur-Loup, the village of violets, on the gorge road, or with Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Fondation Maeght for a day devoted entirely to art: → read our article on Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Fondation Maeght. In summer and autumn, our guide → The cultural summer of the Pays de Grasse helps you combine perched village, festivals and concerts.
October and November are excellent months to visit: the light is low and golden, the holiday crowds have gone, and the colours of the valley are changing. It is the season when Gourdon is best enjoyed.
Spend a few nights at Hôtel du Clos and keep Gourdon for a day of big skies.
Direct booking