Hiking tours
The area stretching from Valbonne to the Préalpes d'Azur is a veritable paradise for hikers. Whether you're an accomplished walker or a Sunday stroller, you'll find itineraries to suit your level. The hills around Valbonne, Châteauneuf, Roquefort-les-Pins and Le Rouret offer beautiful, easy walks, often enhanced by sites of interest, that can be enjoyed by the whole family. The mid-country offers a more varied range of walks, from 2 hours to a full day, depending on the area, and for which a minimum of equipment is required. As you climb to higher altitudes, you'll find trails for experienced hikers, with greater vertical drops. This is the perfect way to enjoy a pleasant interlude with nature and a wide variety of unspoilt landscapes that are relatively uncrowded, even in summer. However, you should avoid the hottest hours of the summer season (from 12pm to 4pm), when temperatures can reach forty degrees. The GR4 and GR51 long-distance hiking trails intersect at Cipières, as does the GR653A, part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. The paths are perfectly signposted. Many communes have listed the walks on their territory in their own guidebooks, available from Tourist Information Offices.
Among the circuits linking villages are Le chemin du Paradis (Gourdon/Le Bar-sur-Loup), Le circuit du Loup (Cipières/Gréolières) and Le sentier de la Brague (Valbonne/Biot). From June to September, the Communauté d'Agglomérations Sophia Antipolis also offers the Casa Nature program, with walks led by expert naturalists and guides specialized in botany, geology or archaeology. Examples include Plateau de Cavillore in Gourdon, La flore des villages in Opio and Les cabanes en pierre in Cipières.
Horseback riding
A different way to discover the paths of Saint-Barnabé, Caire or Caussols... at the pace of your horse. Several equestrian centers offer rides on the plateaux. These usually last 2 hours, half a day or a full day. For the more adventurous, some centers also offer 2 or 3-day rides with bivouacs.
Cycling and mountain biking
Cycling enthusiasts will be delighted by the small departmental roads in the Loup and Estéron valleys, near Coursegoules or in the massifs around Gréolières and Caussols. For mountain bikers, there's no shortage of choice: nature is there as soon as you leave the urbanized areas. The middle and high country abounds with itineraries, whether on forest tracks or more technical routes, on arid baous or valley bottoms, following mule tracks or transhumance trails on the plateaux.
The Conseil Départemental des Alpes-Maritimes offers its "Boucles d'Azur", itineraries to discover the region, such as Le Circuit des Hauts Plateaux, a 42 km day trip starting from Gréolières, or Le Grand Tour des Préalpes d'Azur à vélo. A six-day tour starting from Grasse, taking in clues, limestone plateaus, balconies overlooking the Mediterranean and hilltop villages. The last two stages will take you up the Estéron valley and through La Roque-en-Provence, Bouyon, Bézaudun-les-Alpes, Coursegoules, Cipières and Gourdon.
The Tourist Information Offices in Gourdon and Tourrettes-sur-Loup have been awarded the "Accueil vélo" label. Like the one in Gréolières, they guarantee a tailor-made service, with equipment and addresses adapted to cyclotourists.
Swimming
Swimming is possible in safe areas along the Estéron. In La Roque-en-Provence, for example, it's possible to cool off in the waters of the Estéron, from the landscaped areas of the departmental nature park. However, you must take care to ensure that you do so at your own risk.
White water sports
With the right equipment and supervision, anyone can venture into the steepest waterways and discover canyoning. Neoprene wetsuit, helmet, harness... We'll be jumping into pools, sliding down slides and showering under waterfalls! Don't worry: thanks to numerous escape routes, obstacles are optional. It's also worth noting that the gorges are often shaded; the river water is cold.
Spotlights include the Clue de la Cerise on the Estéron or the Gours du Ray in the upper Loup valley, near Gréolières. There are also a number of aquatic excursions available in the Loup gorges between Courmes, Gourdon and Tourrettes-sur-Loup, always under professional supervision.
Winter sports
Downhill skiing, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing... The Gréolières 1400 ski resort, 20 minutes from the village, offers 10 lifts and 30 km of ski runs, all 22 km as the crow flies from the Mediterranean! In summer and winter alike, the Huskies chairlift takes you to the summit of Le Cheiron. From up there, you can contemplate an exceptional circular panorama: the Alps to the north, the coastline and the Grande Bleue to the south... all the way to Corsica on a clear day!
Tree climbing
In summer, head for Gréo'Branche! An "unlimited" course for children aged 6 and over and 1.30 m tall, where you can move from tree to tree in the forest, using monkey bridges, footbridges, zip lines, rope ladders and lianas... just like Tarzan himself! This accrobranche is open mainly in summer and is part of Gréo'Parc, a multi-activity area for 3 to 12 year-olds with trampoline and bouncy castle. An Explor Games Ⓡ, "Le Dernier Espoir de Gaia", is also offered at the Gréolières 1400 resort when the Huskies chairlift is open to pedestrians.
Paragliding
Seen from the sky, a region appears in a whole new light. So it's up to you to take to the skies in a paraglider, and take advantage of the updrafts rising from the sea to soar over villages and valleys, with the Côte d'Azur as your backdrop. From the take-off sites of Gréolières and Gourdon, schools offer courses and baptisms.
Mountaineering, climbing and via ferrata
The cliffs of the Gorges du Loup offer 50 listed climbing routes, with heights of up to 45 meters. The Déversé sector is the most difficult, but offers the advantage of pleasant temperatures, even in summer, as the cliffs are cooled by the waters of the Loup, which flows below.
Caving
The avens and gouffres of the Caussols plateau and the Cheiron massif offer numerous opportunities for underground exploration. These include the Calernaum and Cipiernaum pot-holes in Cipières, the Cappuccino pot-hole in Gourdon, the Bois de la Malle in Bar-sur-Loup and the Faille de la Bouissière in Gréolières. Caving must be supervised.
Golf
Golf enthusiasts will find plenty to do around Opio, Valbonne and Châteauneuf-Grasse, where they can practice their swing on magnificent courses (Golf d'Opio Valbonne, Club Med Opio, La Grande Bastide).
Karting
For speed fans, Bar-sur-Loup is home to the only outdoor karting track in the Alpes-Maritimes. And it's one of the biggest circuits in Europe: 1,600 meters of track on the Sarrée plateau.
Fishing
The Gorges du Loup sector offers some fine spots, particularly upstream of Saut du Loup, where fario trout come to spawn. After Le Pont-du-Loup, rainbow trout and eels are more common. The La Roque-en-Provence area offers pleasant fishing, alternating between flat stretches and fairly deep holes. You can choose between the lower Estéron valley downstream, or the Cheiron de Roquesteron upstream. Important: the purchase of a fishing permit is compulsory. Fishing is subject to regulations laid down by prefectoral decree. The rules concern catch zones, species and minimum authorized sizes.
Astronomy
The large number of high vantage points, well clear of light pollution, and the purity of the atmosphere, make the region a privileged area for sky observation. Daytime guided tours are offered in summer at the Observatoire du plateau de Calern, in Caussols.
