Estaing, Espalion, Saint-Côme-d'Olt: the valley of the finest villages

Aveyron has more villages classed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France than any other French department. From Entraygues, following the Lot upstream strings three of them together in a day.

Estaing

A spectacular arrival: the Gothic bridge over the Lot, a UNESCO site on the routes to Santiago, facing the imposing castle of the counts of Estaing that dominates the village. Classed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, and deservedly so.

Espalion

The 11th-century Pont Vieux, also a UNESCO site, the tanners’ houses with their wooden balconies reflected in the Lot, the Renaissance Vieux Palais, and the pink sandstone church of Perse on the edge of town.

Saint-Côme-d’Olt

Also a Most Beautiful Village of France, recognisable from afar by its flame spire, a twisted, spiralling steeple that makes no sense at first glance.

The thread that links them

All three villages are on the GR65, the Via Podiensis, the busiest of the French routes to Santiago de Compostela. The official GR65 continues towards Golinhac and Conques without dropping down to Entraygues, so the cottage is not on the way, but within immediate reach of its finest stages.

For walkers that is arguably an advantage: you can set up a base here for several nights and reach a different section each day, instead of unpacking in a different hostel every evening.

Further up the valley

Pushing on, the Bozouls canyon, a horseshoe meander cut a hundred metres deep by the Dourdou, is worth the detour.