The Drôme département spreading east from Valence is one of the most rewarding regions in southern France for slow travel. The Drôme Provençale in the south has lavender fields, truffles, and medieval hilltop villages. The Vercors plateau to the northeast is mountain country — dramatic limestone gorges, high meadows, and a wartime Resistance history that still defines local identity.
Across the Rhône in the Ardèche, the Gorges de l'Ardèche are a day trip classic: a dramatic canyon cut by the river through limestone, with an 8km canoe descent that has been popular since the 1960s. The cave paintings of the Chauvet Cave — the oldest in the world at 36,000 years, now accessible only through a replica site — are also within an hour's drive.