Les Gîtes de Ravel

Take the famed and highly scenic Cévennes steam train from neighbouring Saint-Jean-du-Gard to the botanic gardens and maze at the Bambouseraie de Prafrance bamboo garden, then onto the pretty pottery town of Anduze. Cordeliers Parc just outside Anduze is a handsome option for a garden-based stroll. You're in esteemed company if you'd rather hike or bike this part of the Cévennes, as this was the setting of Robert Louis Stevenson's work Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. The nearby Robert Louis Stevenson Trail or GR 70 follows the writer's route: you might be relieved to hear that these days donkeys are optional (although if you'd like to trot around, a horse riding centre is a kilometre away). For ancient history, the huge caverns of the Grotte de Trabuc, the biggest network of underground passages in the Cévennes at 1,200 metres, are within 20 minutes' drive.