Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

The Sorgue emerges at the base of a two-hundred-and-thirty-metre cliff at the head of a closed valley, and it is the most powerful spring in France, draining a limestone plateau of some twelve hundred square kilometres. In spring flood the water rises up the shaft and pours over the rocks in a torrent; in late summer it drops below the visible pool and the river appears further down the bed instead, which disappoints anyone arriving in August. Cousteau dived it in 1946 and several attempts followed; a remote submersible reached three hundred and eight metres in 1985 without finding the bottom of the system.

What you actually see

• The cliff-foot pool - the spring emerging under a 230-metre wall.
• The spring flood - water pouring over the rocks in March to May.
• The exploration history - the dives and the unreached bottom of the shaft.
• The Petrarch connection - the poet's valley and a small museum.

When to go

March to May, when snowmelt and rain push the spring to overflow. From July to autumn the pool is often still and low, and the spectacle is absent. The village is crowded in summer regardless.

Honest expectations

Off-season visitors regularly find a quiet green pool rather than a torrent. The walk up from the village passes a solid line of souvenir stalls. Parking is charged and the path is stony.

Nearby

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue lies west; Gordes is northeast.