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Latest update: 22 July 2026
The Drôme is full of picturesque villages, but only a handful of them officially get to call themselves one of the most beautiful villages in France. I visited three: Mirmande, La Garde-Adhémar, and Grignan.
What are Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, exactly?
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is an association founded in 1982 by Charles Ceyrac, then mayor of Collonges-la-Rouge. The aim is to protect small, characterful villages from abandonment and decay.
A village doesn’t just get added to the Les Plus Beaux Villages list on a whim: it can’t have more than 2,000 residents, and it needs at least two protected monuments, such as a historically significant building or a protected village landscape. The town council also has to support the application, and the mayor has to sign a charte de qualité — a set of agreements about the village’s upkeep and appearance. A committee then judges the application against 32 criteria. Plenty of villages that try don’t make the list.
By now, around 180 villages across France carry the label, spread over dozens of departments. Want to see the full list? You’ll find it on the official website of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, including an interactive map.
In the Drôme, there are six: Grignan, Mirmande, La Garde-Adhémar, Le Poët-Laval, Montbrun-les-Bains and Châtillon-en-Diois (which only joined in 2021). I have visited the first three, and I’ll take you along below. Le Poët-Laval, with its medieval commandery of the Knights Hospitaller, Montbrun-les-Bains, a little spa town at the foot of Mont Ventoux, and the wine village of Châtillon-en-Diois are all still on my to-do list!
La Garde-Adhémar: a stroll through a medieval village
Why is it on the list? La Garde-Adhémar owes its label mostly to its well-preserved medieval structure: the double ring wall is still largely intact, and the village has two protected monuments in the Romanesque Saint-Michel church and the remains of the Renaissance castle of Antoine Escalin. The village has held the label since 1989.
La Garde-Adhémar sits on a limestone outcrop, high above the Rhône valley. I get a short tour through the medieval village on a scorching hot day. And maybe it’s because of the heat, but the village feels a bit lifeless — too bad! Every restaurant and café is (still) closed, and apart from a few construction workers, there’s not a soul on the street.
For a nice picture and a quiet walk it is definitely worth a visit, but don’t count on spending half a day there.
The heart of the village is the church of Saint-Michel, a 12th-century Romanesque church perched high on the rock. From the square in front of the church, you look out over the entire Rhône valley. And right below it is a lovely herb garden with more than 160 kinds of medicinal and ornamental plants.
Mirmande: from silk village to artists’ village
Why is it on the list? Mirmande still has parts of its medieval ring wall and the church of Sainte-Foy, which today serves as a cultural center. Together with the well-preserved, hand-restored houses (thanks to Lhote and the artists who followed him), that was enough for the label.
Mirmande is a completely different story. I’m a lot more enthusiastic here (sorry, La Garde-Adhémar)! Mirmande, with its characteristic calades (the old paved streets), has around 600 residents today. Back in the 18th century, there were a lot more: my Dutch guide Sabine tells me Mirmande had around 2,800 residents back then, thanks to a booming silk industry. When that industry collapsed, most people left, and the village slowly fell into decay.
Tip! Sabine turns out to be more than just a guide: in 2018 she also wrote the Dutch book Surprising Drôme, about the entire region along the river Drôme, the Diois and the Drôme Provençale.
Art in Mirmande
Mirmande kept declining until the painter André Lhote discovered the village in 1925. As the story goes, he asked the postman what was actually for sale here. The answer: everything. Back then, you paid 1 franc per roof tile. Lhote bought a house with 3,000 roof tiles for 3,000 francs. He set up his summer academy there and drew a whole stream of artists to the village. They’re still known as the “peintres de Mirmande” today. Largely thanks to them, the village was rebuilt and eventually earned the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France label.
Mirmande has actually won a prize for the “plus beaux toits de France” (most beautiful roofs of France). Yes, apparently there’s a prize for that. But take a good look around, and you’ll see it’s well-deserved.
The village also has a bit of a film history: parts of L’Incroyable Histoire du facteur Cheval (2019), starring Jacques Gamblin and Laetitia Casta, were filmed here. The film crew deliberately chose Mirmande because the village still looks so authentic and 19th-century. Read more about postman Cheval and his palace.
Scattered throughout the village are studios and shops. Sculptors, glass workers, painters… When I am in Mirmande, the artist Thomas de Vannieuwenhuyse holds an exhibition in the small Chapelle Sainte-Lucie. The Lalala Arts exhibition was temporary, but who knows, there might also be something to see in the chapel during your visit.
Refreshments in Mirmande
After a walk through the village all the way up towards the church, you’ve earned an ice cream at Glacier Gemelli (Google Maps location). Down in the village, you can go to Restaurant Patine (Google Maps location) for a nice lunch or dinner. Chef Julien makes the most delicious dishes with French, Mediterranean, and Asian influences. Creative and tasty!
Grignan: the castle village of the Drôme
Why is it on the list? Grignan easily meets the criteria thanks to the castle and the Collégiale Saint-Sauveur, both protected monuments, and the well-preserved historic village center surrounding them.
Grignan is the best-known Plus Beaux Village de France of the three, and it literally towers over the landscape. The village sits on a hilltop between Montélimar and Nyons, and you can see the castle from miles (kilometers) away. People come here mostly for that castle: the largest Renaissance castle in southeastern France, with a rich history.
Grignan owes much of its fame to Madame de Sévigné. This French marquise wrote endless letters in the 17th century about life in Paris to her daughter, who lived in the castle. She also visited the place several times herself and eventually died there. She’s buried in the Adhémar family crypt, in the Collégiale Saint-Sauveur, the 16th-century church that sits just below the castle.
Paved streets with colorful shutters wind around the castle. Every Tuesday morning, there’s a market on Place du Mail, with products from the Drôme Provençale, and from mid-June to late July, the lavender fields around the village turn purple.
Want to know everything you can do in Grignan? I wrote a full article about it: what to do in Grignan.
Three times plus beaux
La Garde-Adhémar, Mirmande, and Grignan all sit in the same corner of France, yet they’re completely different from each other. Once you’ve visited one, you can’t really skip the others. One might be a bit more plus beaux than the next, but that’s also a matter of personal taste. Together, they give a great picture of what the Drôme has to offer. And with three more Plus Beaux Villages still on my list for a future trip, I’m not done with this region yet.
More inspiration for travel in France?
Helpful links for your France trip
- Accommodation. All-time favorites: Booking.com and Campspace for unique camping spots. Rather stay in a hostel? Check out Hostelworld.
- Activities. You book the best tours and activities with GetYourGuide and Viator. Check out Freetour and GuruWalk for ‘free’ walking tours, and for bike tours, try Baja Bikes. If you’re into wine: check out all the wine-related activities at Rue des Vignerons.
- Attractions and museums. Book museum and attraction tickets with Tiqets and get a 5% discount with this code: KIMOPREIS22.
- Car rental. Want to compare prices? Check out Discover Cars and Rental Cars.
- Flights. Definitely compare prices! Try Skyscanner and Kiwi.
- Package deals. Rather go on a catered trip? Maybe Expedia or CheapOair has a good option.
- SIM card. Beware of unexpectedly high calling and internet costs. Buy a local SIM card when you arrive, or arrange one online via Airalo.
- Train and bus. Travel by train to France with NS International, or plan your trip via Trainline. Or find deals on trains and busses in France via Busbud, Omio, or 12Go.
- Travel guides. I love the practical travel guides from Lonely Planet, buy them at Amazon.
- Yoga retreat. And what about a yoga retreat in France?
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I visited the three villages at the invitation of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourisme. They gave me complete editorial freedom.
