How do you plan a hiking trip in the French Alps?

I really like Chamonix and I won't say a single bad word about Mont Blanc or its surroundings. But the French Alps are much, much more than that. It is a kingdom that spans five declared parks.

(from north to south – Vanoise, Ecrin, Vercours, Queyras, Mercantur), and ten more smaller reserves that all have similar characteristics such as trail markings, hiking infrastructure, and easy access (in season), but each and every one of them has completely different character and landscape.

Where are the French Alps anyway? How can you build a great trip to the French Alps? What is the required budget? Where do you go? I will answer all of these and more in the next article.

Three important notes before we begin:

1. This is a “geographical” article in nature, intended to provide background for the independent traveler in the French Alps, with an emphasis on hiking. There is no need to be alarmed by the many names mentioned in the article, quite the opposite. Use them to continue your research and find the vast amounts of material available online about each region. Open Google Maps in another tab in your browser, and prepare for a great virtual trip. Throughout the article, I have included specific tips for planning trips in the Alps.
2. Thousands of travelers travel between June and September. Outside this season there is a certain charm, but the infrastructure and terrain are not really ready for most travelers.
3. The French Alps are a mountainous and wild area, and in order to hike there, strict safety rules must be observed. The French rescue unit will not respond to a call in every situation, and if it does, the rescue may cost a lot of money. At the end of the article, I will list some basic safety rules for hiking in the Alps, and if you have any questions about this, I will be happy to help.

Who are you French Alps?

The French Alps are a 403 km long strip, extending from Lake Geneva in the north, and mainly along the border with Italy to the Mediterranean Sea. To the east of them, as mentioned, are the Italian Alps (which are actually mostly connected to the French Alps) and to the northeast of them are the Swiss Alps.

The French Alps can be divided into three historical regions – the Alps of Savoy, Dauphiné, and the Provencal Alps.

The French Alps today are between seven departments – Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isere, Drome, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provance and last to the south are the Maritime Alps – Alpes-Maritimes.

The landscape in the French Alps is divided a little differently: to the north are the Alps on the Swiss border, which are very green and rich in the landscape of alpine meadows. To the south are the high Alps, and at their heart is the Mont Blanc mountain range, where the famous Chamonix is ​​located, many glaciers and pointed peaks. A little further south is the Vanoise park, which to me is a bit reminiscent of the high Alps, but is not as crowded with hikers and ski lifts as they are.

Southwest of Vanoise is the Ecrin Park, which in my opinion is the kingdom of alpinism and climbing. The park has many peaks not far from hiking huts, and the scenery is unusually dramatic, even more so than its “higher” brothers to the north. Between Vanoise and Ecrin is Mont Tabhor, a small reserve but full of wonderful lakes.

Now we come to my two favorite parks. Both are relatively less touristy, have far fewer ski resorts (hiking through sad ski resorts in the summer is one of my least favorite experiences), and are full of character.

The northernmost of these is Queyras, and it lies in the shadow of Italy's Mont Viso. It is a relatively small park, packed with tiny villages and some of the most beautiful Vauban fortifications in France. Last but not least, to the south, its ridges reach Nice In fact, it is Mercantur, a relatively less high Alpine ridge, but the only one that offers the wonderful experience of mountain views all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

Today, most of the inhabitants of the Alps are engaged in tourism. In the winter there is ski tourism, in the summer there is hiking, and throughout the year there is alpinism (more technical climbing to the peaks of the Alps). However, the Alps still have intensive grazing, honey production, mushroom picking, and of course the crown jewel of the Alps – cheese production.

Each of the parks I mentioned at the beginning has a visitor center and quality mapping.

Tip 1

Found a district/park that interests you? On the park/district's website you will usually find 90% of the information you need. Starting from hiking trails, accommodation options, and links to public transportation sites. Many of these sites have an excellent English version.

How do you hike in the French Alps?

The Alps are an amusement park for travelers, and the possibilities are endless. Each of the places I mentioned above is suitable for any type of trip. Whether hiking, by car, cycling, climbing, with children, and more…

The best answer to the question “how to hike in the French Alps” in my opinion is – like the locals do. I mean that the French Alps have been hiked intensively for many years. You won’t be the first to come there for any type of hike, and that’s the advantage. The Alps are full of excellent hiking infrastructure and I highly recommend that you give yourself to this infrastructure.

I will demonstrate: If you simplify the landscape in the Alps, you eventually arrive at wide glacial valleys with steep, high sides. Usually, if you want to hike between the valleys (where the accommodation is usually located, except for the alpine huts that are located on the ridges themselves), you need to ascend and descend the ridge. Ascent and descent usually involve daily elevation changes of about 1000 m in each direction.

If you do such a trip with a tent and full equipment for an overnight stay in the field, you must usually stay and sleep at high altitude (depending on the rules of the reserve) and you cannot camp in the valleys, so the trip actually becomes either too short for a day trip – or too long. And that's before I even talked about the great physical challenge that such a backpack entails on alpine climbs.

On the other hand, if we direct ourselves to the mountain huts or the lodges in the valleys, we will find much more reasonable days of travel. This is where the budget section comes into play – which we will discuss later.

Where do you sleep on a hiking trip in the French Alps?

In the Alps there are four accommodation options available to travelers:

1. Hotels – Here the intention is to sell and determine, and I will not expand too much on the subject here. There are many hotels in the Alps, at varying price levels. If you are looking for hotels in ski resorts, you are welcome to enter the article Recommended ski hotels in France.
2. Gite – This is actually a hostel, which can offer accommodation in dormitory rooms with bunk beds, hot showers, and dinner and breakfast for travelers. There are gites that also have double or family rooms at a higher price than the dormitory option. These hostels are spread throughout France, and each has its own character. The hostel is usually run by a family, and there are many gites that have been in the family for several generations. The evening menu will be simple but satisfying, and the atmosphere will be more relaxed and free-spirited than in hotels. A gite will be accessible by car and will usually be located in a village from which you can go on many trips in the area.
3. Mountain cabins – Refuge – These are a bit like the hostels in section 2, but the huts are usually located in much more remote locations, inaccessible by car, and cater exclusively to hikers. They also offer dinner/breakfast, a busy bar, and a great mountain atmosphere. The conditions are simple, but the view is worth it. Most of the huts are operated by the French Alpine Club.

Tip 2

Staying at the Jit for 2-3 nights, and going hiking in the area from there is a great vacation option. The Jit will have all the information you need, and the staff will be happy to explain and show you the various trails in the area.

Tip 3

By registering early with one of the international alpine clubs, you can receive full insurance for rescue in the Alps, and a discount of about 20% on the huts operated by the French Alpine Club. As Israelis, it is very convenient to register with the British Club, or the British arm of the Austrian Club.

Trails and maps in the French Alps

The trails in the Alps can be generally divided into two:

1. (PR (Petite Randonnee) which means “small trip” – will be marked in the area with a single yellow line, and will be a hiking option, for example, from one of the gites I mentioned above. So you can sleep in the gite, and go on as many PRs as you want. On the map it will be marked with a dashed red line.
2. GR (Grand Randonnee) – which means “big hike” – will be marked in the area with a red line and a white line next to each other, and here we mean a long hike that connects different huts/gites, and is a suggestion for a walking vacation of several days or more. For example, in the Queyras Park there is the GR-58 that actually encircles the park. On the map it will be marked with a continuous red line.

The trails will generally be less intensively marked than those in Israel, but will nevertheless be quite clear. There will be signage at key intersections.

Tip 4

The Government Mapping Company (IGN) has an excellent online map engine that will sometimes save you the need to buy maps in the field. To enter the site, click on theLink thisThere is also an app for phones or tablets.

So how do you structure a hiking trip in the French Alps?

I suggest the following steps:

1. Choosing an interesting space cell according to personal preferences and research onlineThe research must already include an understanding of where to fly, and what the best access routes are to the area.
2. The most important step – choosing the difficulty levelFor those of us who want an easier hike, you can reach one of the valleys by car, and stay there or in places where the cable cars operate in the summer and use them. Those of us who are looking for a challenge, and have experience in such hikes, can already look towards one of the GR or another hike between the mountain huts.
3. Preparing the budget: As with any trip (and all over the world…) time = money. Consider that the average cost of a night in a gite or cabin, without discount, is between 45-55 euros for bed and breakfast. To this, add about 5 euros for simple groceries for lunch, and we arrive at the formula that a day of travel will usually cost about 50-60 euros. To this must be added the costs of getting from the airport, and the flight of course.

To save money, keep in mind that in many areas in the Alps, you can sleep in a gite or cabin on the day of landing (assuming you landed at a reasonable time) and save on more expensive accommodation in one of the cities. Public transportation is very convenient in the summer, and serves the various trips well, but it is not cheap, and each way from the airport can cost between 20-60 euros.

And most importantly – a few safety rules

1. The Alps are an environment that we as Israeli travelers are usually not very familiar with. Snow, glaciers, and unpredictable weather are an integral part of the trip.
2. Snow can be a real danger, do not cross snowdrifts at too sharp an angle, and avoid climbing high, snowy mountain passes without appropriate equipment and the knowledge to use it (crampons/microspikes and an axe).
3. Never cross glaciers without the proper equipment and guidance. Glaciers have deep crevasses that you can fall into.
4. Keep an eye on the weather. There's no point in going hiking when there's heavy cloud cover or a storm coming into the area. It's no fun, and it's really unsafe.
5. Take routes that you can handle, the difficulty level of hiking in the Alps is high, and we are not usually accustomed to the large elevation changes.
6. Don't take heavy bags, it's tiring, difficult, and may change your balance in some places.
7. Make sure you take enough water. In June-July you will usually find many streams (just make sure there is no grazing around/above them), but by August-September many of them disappear.

And another important thing

Modesty – We as Israelis know how to hike well in the Negev or the Galilee. The Alps are a foreign environment to us, we didn’t grow up among glaciers and we don’t really know the nature of a snowdrift. Let’s be modest and not embark on adventures that could be dangerous, or simply too scary and certainly not fun.

See you at the peaks!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I'd be happy to help.