12 Geological Formations to Explore in France

Checkout places to visit in France

France

France, including its overseas territories, has the most number of time zones with a total of 12 time zones. France has long been a global center of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually.

Activities Around

Geological Formations to Explore in France

Calanque d'En-Vau

It is one of Marseille's most beautiful creeks, but also one of the most remote place in the National Park of Calanques.

Cap Canaille

Cap Canaille is the highest sea cliff of France located in the Bouches-du-Rhône département of southern France. The rock consists of layers of ochre-colored sandstone, conglomerate, and limestone from the Turonian age. The site features beautiful viewpoints.

Formica Leo

It is a small volcanic crater on the french island Réunion located at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island.

Luberon

The Luberon is a massif in central Provence in Southern France. It has a maximum elevation of 1,256 meters and an area of about 600 square kilometers. It is a favourite destination for French high society and British and American visitors because of the pleasant and picturesque towns and villages, comfortable way of life, agricultural wealth, historical and cultural associations, as well as hiking trails.

Mafate

The Cirque de Mafate is a caldera on Réunion Island. The cirque is entirely enclosed by mountains, especially tall cliffs, save for the sole river exiting, the Rivière des Galets. The name "Mafate" comes from the Malagasy word "Mahafaty", which means lethal, an allusion to the difficulty of accessing the Cirque.

Massif des Calanques

The Massif des Calanques is a wild and rugged terrain stretching from the ninth arrondissement of Marseille to the east towards Cassis.

Plaine des Sables

Plaine des Sables is a beautiful landscape, which was created from the eruption of Piton Chisny.

Sainte-Baume

The Sainte-Baume is a mountain ridge in southern France. It is one of the hiker's paradise and a major pilgrimage site in France.

The Provençal Colorado

The Provençal Colorado is a magnificent geological structure located in the Luberon massif. The site includes a whole array of ochre sculptures and cliffs varying from pale yellow to bright red.

Trois Salazes

The Trois Salazes are a set of three rocky peaks forming a natural curiosity of the Piton des Neiges seen from the center of Cilaos on the island of Reunion.

Trou de Fer

The Trou de Fer ("Iron Hole") is a canyon on Reunion Island, off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The primary river flowing through the gorge, which is up to 300 m deep, is the Bras de Caverne River. The canyon has two distinct parts: a large crater, which is fed by six prominent waterfalls, and a narrow slot canyon at its outlet, which constitutes most of the canyon's length.

Verdon Gorge

The Verdon Gorge is an inspiring canyon in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region of France. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named for its turquoise-green color, one of the location's distinguishing characteristics. The gorge is very popular with tourists, who can drive around its rim, rent kayaks to travel on the river, or hike.

Map of Geological Formations to explore in France