Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon: Hiking, Lake and Village History

Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon offers a range of ways to spend your stay: hiking trails, nature watching, lake activities and historic buildings. When looking for a hotel for your trip, you can prioritise these themes according to what matters to you. A route around Lac d’Artignosc focuses on birds; the path to Chapelle Notre-Dame combines a stretch by the lake with a viewpoint. At Lac de Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon, the focus is on a beach and outings on the water.

Hiking and Nature Watching

The route around Lac d’Artignosc is described as a nature walk. It begins and ends at the Aires car park, opposite the château in the village. Having the same clearly named starting and ending point makes the route easy to identify. Along the way, you may spot grey herons, ospreys, great crested grebes, gulls and jays. The path is stony; hiking boots are recommended. There are also lovely walks between lavender fields and the Verdon. The descriptions distinguish the walks by their stated features: the route around Lac d’Artignosc has a specified starting point and terrain, as well as possible bird sightings, while the other walks are characterised by their setting between lavender fields and the Verdon.

The Path to Chapelle Notre-Dame

The path to Chapelle Notre-Dame runs alongside Lac d’Artignosc for part of the way and offers a remarkable view of the Verdon’s left bank and the village of Artignosc. The restored chapel stands on a small hill at an altitude of 483 metres. Its nave ends in a semi-domed apse, which probably dates from the 17th century.

Beach and Outings on the Water

Lac de Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon has a partly shaded beach, suitable for picnics and family relaxation. The lake is also suitable for outings on the water. This gives you two different ways to spend time by the lake: relaxing on the beach or heading out on the water.

History in the Village

Two Neolithic dolmens are considered evidence that Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon was already inhabited in prehistoric times. The 19th-century church is dedicated to Saint Lawrence. A fountain complex dating from 1647 served as a fountain, washhouse and watering trough for livestock. The fountain complex thus brought several everyday water-related functions together in one place. Its history spans prehistoric traces of settlement, the 1647 complex and the 19th-century church. Three distinct historical connections can therefore be seen: early settlement, community infrastructure and religious dedication.

Landscape and Location

Saint-Laurent-du-Verdon lies on a hill that slopes gently down to the lake. More than a third of the municipality consists of forests and wooded areas. These two details describe different scales: the hill and lakeside setting relate to the village, while the proportion of woodland applies to the municipality as a whole. When assessing the surroundings for your stay, this distinction helps you avoid equating a single lake or trail feature with the entire landscape.

Discover more destinations: Les Mees, Castellane, Manosque, Entrevennes, La Foux, Saint-Julien-Du-Verdon, Noyers-sur-Jabron, Jausiers.

Back to the main travel overview: Alpes-De-Haute-Provence.