Valence.—A large modern town on the Rhone; Cathedral dating from 1095; Maison des Têtes and another Renaissance house.
St. Péray.—A small town near the fine ruins of the Château of Crussol, built in the twelfth century.
Châteaubourg.—A medieval castle on an isolated rock close to the road.
Tournon.—A picturesque little town with castle, now the Hôtel de Ville; old walls; narrow streets; church of thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; the Lycée is one of the best known in France; early suspension bridge across Rhone.
Arras.—A village, with a conspicuous castle in ruins.
St. Cyr.—A village among the Northern Cevennes.
Annonay.—A grey manufacturing town in a valley of the Northern Cevennes.
Bourg-Argental.—Another manufacturing town, producing stuffs and ribbons; church with eleventh-century doorway.
The Northern Cevennes reach their greatest height at Mont Pilat (4,705 feet), about 5 miles north of the road; the scenery and the distant views are exceedingly fine.
Valence is beautifully situated on a raised site above the Rhone, and the view across the river from the cathedral towards the Cevennes, and to the Vivarais Mountains to the north-west, is given a flavour of romance, owing to the prominence of the twelfth-century Château of Crussol. It is one of the biggest ruined castles on the Rhone, and its great height of 1,055 feet is unusual.