Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is a tiny town located in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, South France. The main reason we stayed just outside Moustiers is because of it’s close proximity to Les Salles-sur-Verdon. It wasn’t until after we planned our trip to Verdon Gorge that I found out that it is one of the “most beautiful villages of France.”
Where We Stayed: Les Oliviers
We booked a bed and breakfast called: Chambres d’hôtes Les Oliviers. We ended up booking it through Airbnb, but they have their own website too. This location was prime for all the activities we had planned in the Verdon Gorge and Moustiers-Saint-Marie was a great day trip or evening trip.
From Les Oliviers, Moustiers is a two minute drive. However since the town is pedestrian only streets there is limited stressing parking at the bottom of town. It is possible to walk (20 minutes), however there is no sidewalk. It’s mostly uphill and you are pretty close to cars driving on a twisty turny road, but if you don’t want to worry about parking a car, it is an option.
In town there are many restaurants, ice cream spots, and souvenir shops to wander around leisurely. Moustiers is known for the pottery, specifically faïence. There is a waterfall that flows through town and spigot where you can refill your water bottle.
There is a star suspended above the village between the mountains. It’s fun to walk around town and try to find it and take pictures of it at different angles. Going up to the chapel, you make your way closer to the star. There’s all sorts of myths about the star, but we really don’t know it’s origin.
At the edge of town there are hiking trails. On our way there we ran into another couple and they told us that the waterfall is dry during summer. So we opted to turn back around to town and make our way to the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Beauvoir instead.
It was quite late in the day as we were heading up to the Chapelle. The walkway up to the Chapelle is very slippery! I had more difficulty actually being close to the railing because it’s been traveled so much the rock has worn. If you find it easier I would stick to the edges to make your way to the Chapelle.
The view hiking up to the tops was fantastic and just see the overview of town was breath taking. It’s also fun looking at the star being way closer to it now. There was a guy there flying his drone up and it was cool to watch his screen. Flying above seeing the star was an angle I didn’t plan on seeing.
Traveling To Moustiers-Sainte-Marie from Marseille:
The only way to travel around to Moustiers, Verdon Gorge, Valensole area is to rent a car. From Marseille our drive was about 2 hours. We didn’t go to Moustiers right away, but stopped in the Valensole area for the Terraroma Lavender Fields and the Lavender Festival.
Terraroma, Les Grandes Marges, 04210 Valensole, France
Valensole was about an 1 hour and a half from Marseille. Then from Valensole Moustiers-Saint-Marie was about 30 minutes. From Moustiers-Sainte-Marie to Les Salles-sur-Verdon is 15 minutes.
Conclusion: Fun Traveling or Evening Day at Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
There isn’t much to do past a day at Moustiers. We had stopped there during our traveling day and after the lavender fields/festival. I’m not sure I would have planned to visit town if it wasn’t close to wear our lodging was. Even still, if you have flexible time and you are passing it on your journey; stop for a few hours. It will be well worth the experience. We did take pictures that have easily become some of my favorites from our trip.
Capsule Customs Travel 