Forty thousand Bronze Age rock engravings, in the open air, across fifteen square kilometres around Mont Bégo at 2,000 metres. It is one of the largest bodies of rock art in Europe, a listed monument — and it can only be seen on foot and with a guide. The addresses I give my own passengers, each with its phone number, its website and directions.
⚠️ THE RULE FIRST: the archaeological zone lies in the core of a national park and is a listed monument. YOU MAY ONLY MOVE THROUGH IT ACCOMPANIED by a guide approved by the Mercantour park and the regional directorate for cultural affairs. From 15 June to 30 September the visits are run by the association « Merveilles Gravures et Découvertes », and booking is ONLINE ONLY.
Both are reached on foot from Casterino. Bring proper boots, water and a windproof: at 2,000 metres the weather turns within the hour.
🚕 I'll drive you as far as the last car park — beyond that it is on foot and with a guide. Dropped at Casterino in the morning, collected at the end of the day: it is the only way to do this in one day.
+33 6 58 27 93 12The Roya valley was devastated by STORM ALEX in October 2020: roads swept away, the railway cut, hamlets isolated. Five years on everything has reopened — but nothing is as it was, and you need to know what is running.
Both lead to the same place. The train stops at Tende or Saint-Dalmas; after that you need the Casterino road.
🚕 I'll drive you there. A hundred and thirty kilometres from Nice, the last fifty in the mountains: allow two and a quarter hours, and allow more coming back.
+33 6 58 27 93 12You cannot go up to the Merveilles for the day without crossing the Roya. Three stops are worth the detour, and one of them holds some of the finest frescoes in the Alps.
All three are a few kilometres apart, in the same valley.
🚕 I'll drive you there. Tende, La Brigue and Saint-Dalmas are in the same valley, a few kilometres apart: you take them one after another in an afternoon.
+33 6 58 27 93 12