Canyoning

This is the activity that most marks a weekend with friends, and the one everyone still talks about over dinner. The principle is simple: you drive up a canyon, put on a wetsuit, and come back down the streambed on foot, swimming, abseiling and jumping into the pools.

The southern Cévennes and the edges of the causse hold several canyons within a reasonable radius of the property, at very different grades. Some routes are what guides call playful: few abseils, plenty of water-polished slides and jumps of two to five metres, entirely doable by teenagers and by adults who have never worn a harness. Others are markedly more committing, with abseils of several tens of metres and sections where turning back is no longer an option.

This is an activity to do with a qualified guide, without exception. That is not administrative box-ticking: flow in a canyon changes fast after a storm, and knowing the escape routes is what matters. The local guiding offices supply wetsuit, helmet and harness along with the instruction, and adjust the route to the group’s real level once they have seen you.

For a large group, plan on splitting across two departures or two grades rather than imposing one route on everybody: grandparents and fifteen-year-old cousins want different things from the day. Most guiding offices are happy to organise it that way given notice.

Allow half a day at minimum including the walk out, and plan for a proper recovery afterwards, the spa and sauna exist for precisely this, and it tends to be the evening when dinner runs longest.