Gîtes du Moulin

Keen walkers, grab your sturdy boots and jump on the hiking trail right from the farm for forays up to the Vercors Massif (90 minutes’ walk). Depending on the time of your stay, you can ski in winter or summer hike in the Parc Naturel Régional du Vercors (direct from the site), where it’s also possible to go deep underground and see where Ice Age man once lived in Thaïs Cave (15 minutes’ drive). When it’s historic buildings you’re keen to visit, meander down to the 12th-century château in Saint-André-en-Royans (20 minutes’ walk), stop off for a drink in the square with views across the Vercors foothills and – suitably refreshed – carry on your walk along the Bourne River to Pont-en-Royans (an hour and 10 minutes) to admire the colourful hanging houses clinging to the cliffside. There’s more Isère heritage to be discovered at ancient Saint-Antoine-l’Abbaye (25 minutes’ drive), where cobbled streets packed with half-timbered old houses lead to an abbey church bristling with flying buttresses – a popular stop on the famed Santiago de Compostela pilgrim route into Spain.