The first sight of the Pont d'Arc is the sort of thing that makes you stop without being asked. A single arch of pale limestone, about sixty metres wide, spans the Ardèche river like a doorway cut by water, with the river running through and canoes drifting in the shade. It is a natural bridge, shaped over a very long time as the river found a shortcut through a narrow meander, and the little town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc sits close beside it, full of campsites, bakeries and shops that sell kayaks and ice cream in about equal numbers.
The riding along the gorges is the main event. The road above the canyon, the Route des Gorges, runs for about thirty kilometres along the rim with a string of belvederes, each looking down onto the river through cliffs hundreds of metres high. Corners are open but numerous, the surface is generally good, and the views are among the best in southern France. The weakness is the traffic: in July and August the road can crawl, with camper vans, canoe shuttles and tourist cars filling the lay-bys, so go early or late, or choose a shoulder-season day.
Nearby, hidden in a limestone cliff, is the Chauvet cave, found in 1994 and containing some of the oldest known paintings in the world, more than thirty thousand years old. The cave itself is closed to the public to protect it, but a full-scale replica, the Caverne du Pont d'Arc, opened in 2015 and is a remarkable visit if you have the time. It adds a deep human layer to a landscape that already feels ancient.
Vallon has about two and a half thousand residents and the services you would expect of a busy holiday town, including fuel in the area, though prices are higher than in the larger centres. Bourg-Saint-Andéol, about twenty kilometres away, is bigger if you need more choice. Wear light layers in summer, because the gorge holds heat, and keep water in the panniers, as there are long stretches of the canyon road with no shops at all.