Tarn Gorges and the Causses

Route description

The Millau Viaduct, the world’s tallest bridge, carries the A75 across the Tarn valley. Crossing it is tolled, and a visitor area below the bridge offers the best view of its piers and cables. From Millau, a short drive south-west leads to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where the famous sheep’s milk cheese is matured in caves in the limestone cliff.

Return to Millau and follow the D907 upstream to Le Rozier, where the Tarn and Jonte gorges meet. From here the D907bis runs along the river through the Gorges du Tarn, a deep limestone canyon with villages clinging to its sides.

At La Malène, boatmen take visitors through the narrowest section of the canyon, and canoes can be hired at many villages along the river. Sainte-Enimie, a stone village at a bend of the Tarn, is a good place to stop. From here the road climbs onto the bare plateau of the Causse de Sauveterre and down to Mende, whose cathedral dominates the town.

The riverside road is narrow in places, with overhanging rock and tight bends, so large motorhomes should drive slowly and avoid the busiest summer afternoons. Canoe and boat trips run mainly from late spring to early autumn.