Hiking route from Sainte-Enimie, France -

The region of the Gorges du Tarn is a perfect destination for your holidays in France. The region offers fantastic nature, atmospheric towns, beautiful castles and… the Tarn river! I suppose it wouldn’t surprise you when I say this region also offers plenty of hiking trails. Hiking lovers, like myself, will have the time of their lives!

During our stay last August in Gorges du Tarn, we hiked a trail from the town of Sainte-Enimie. In this article I’d like to tell you some more about this trail and our experiences.

About Sainte-Enimie

Sainte-Enimie is one of the most beautiful towns of France (it’s part of the list ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France’). It’s one of the highlights of Gorges du Tarn, as the town offers beautiful, old buildings, cosy streets and some lovely views. There are some restaurants and shops, but it’s still a very small and atmospheric town. From Sainte-Enimie, you can start several hiking trails. There are also possibilities to go canoeing on the river or to do some other outdoor activities.

The hiking route

We found a nice hiking trail at the outdoor app Komoot. This hiking trail starts in Sainte-Enimie and goes all the way up into the nature & mountains and then back again to town. On the app, the route is called ‘Sainte-Enimie round from Rue Basse’ and it starts at restaurant La Tendelle. Hereby some details of the route as mentioned on Komoot:

the trail has a distance of 7,5 kilometers
it will take us around 2 hours and 45 minutes (non-stop)
the trail goes 450 meters up (mostly at the beginning) and 450 meters down (mostly at the end)
the highest point is 920 meters and the lowest point is 470 meters
most of the route is unpaved
it’s an average hike (as for difficulty) and the hike requires good condition

Our experience

So we started our hike at Sainte-Enimie. We parked our car in town and walked along the beautiful streets of Sainte-Enimie. When we left town, we immediately went upwards into the hills. The paths were unpaved, but good to walk on with firm hiking shoes. Along the way, we came across some magnificent views over the town of Sainte-Enimie and on the river.

Although the first 2,5 kilometers were very tough (in the first piece of the hike we went 450 meters up and it was quite warm that day), it was an amazing part of the hike. Mostly because of the beautiful nature and views. I think this part of the hike take most of the time at the end.

However, when we reached the top, we walked towards a beautiful farm called Domaine des Boissets. Here we bought a soda and ate our lunch, sitting at one of the many picknick tables. For us, it felt like a warm welcome. The lady in the small book store told us some more about the farm. It features a museum of the region’s agricultural and pastoral traditions, but also of the limestone architecture. Furthermore, there’s a part where they bake and in the evening, they were organizing a small cinema night. It was really nice to walk around a bit!

The farm is open to visitors in July and August.

After our lunch stop at Domaine des Boissets, we got back on track and started our hike back to Sainte-Enimie. From here, we didn’t go much upwards anymore. The route went mostly downwards. The first piece of the route went along trees and the last bit we went all the way down back to town, the surrounding were more open at that moment. Have a look at the below photos for an idea of the trail during the last bit.

We arrived in Sainte-Enimie at another side as where we started, so it was nice to have the last meters hiking in an area of Sainte-Enimie we haven’t seen yet. We ended up at a terrace where we enjoyed a nice, cool drink.

Outdoor app Komoot

For the ones who haven’t discovered the outdoor app Komoot yet, I would like to give you a small introduction. On the outdoor app Komoot, you can find all kinds of trails for hiking, but also for other outdoor activities like biking, mountainbiking, cycling and running. The app provides trails in a diverse range of destinations which can be found on the homepage of the website. You can also use the app in other languages, but the destinations differ per language. You can download a route and use it offline during your hike, which is ideal! Furthermore, you can select the route on difficulty and the time it normally takes to hike / bike the route. During the route, you come across sights which are pointed out in the app as well.

Although the hiking trail was quite tough at the beginning (also due to the warm weather), I really loved the trail. We came across magnificent views along the way and we’re happy we discovered Domaine des Boissets. It was a nice day!

Do you have other tips on hiking trails in this area? Let us know in the comment section below.

Author: Tamara