Alps Walking Holiday Route Samples

Walking in the French Alps varies from relatively gentle walks to extreme mountain walking and scrambling. Our mountain walking holidays are graded to allow you to pick one suitable for your level of hiking. The walks are graded as follows:

Discovery - scenic mountain walks on a fairly low level, normally 1- 2 hours in duration. Taking in village life and the local scenery - perfect for an evening stroll or a relaxing afternoon.

Explorer - more challenging alpine walks over mixed mountain terrain with some short but steep climbs giving rewarding panoramas over the surrounding mountains and villages. Normally 4-5 hours in duration.

Adventurer - advanced full-day high mountain walking in the French Alps, including narrow rocky tracks, scrambles and steep long ascents. You will experience a full range of amazing scenery from lower pastures to high alpine ridges with some stunning views.

St Jean de Sixt to La Clusaz

1.5hrs-2hrs return - Discovery

Leaving from the lodge, drop down into the gorge and climb a short steep hill through the forest. Come out past some interesting chalets, following a path back into the woods. Beware of some steep drops along here down to a racing river on the valley floor. Fun to go on Mondays - La Clusaz's market day.

Pointe de Beauregard to St Jean de Sixt

walking down Beauregard3-4 hours - Explorer

Leaving from La Clusaz take the Gondola up to the summit of Beauregard. Open clearings greet you with stunning views of the Aravis mountain chain and over to the snowcapped Mont Blanc on a fine day. Lots of descents (you descend over 600 metres in total), some fairly steep and stony, through the forest as you drop back to La Clusaz. Easy navigation and relatively easy walking, with pastures and meadows as well as forest tracks. Finish back at the Lodge. Several nice restaurants on the plateau for coffee whilst taking in the views.

 

Lac du Lessy to Chinaillon

5-6 hours - Explorer

A beautiful high mountain walk taking in meadows, forests, hamlets and ridgelines with stunning views of Geneva and Mont Blanc. There is quite a lot of climbing (about 1000 metre total vertical) which is fairly steep at times. Drop down to the hidden grassy hamlet of Lac du Lessy where you can eat your picnic by the lake, and maybe even have a paddle on a hot day. The walking requires stamina but the views are well worth it, particularly from the peak of the Aguille Vert, standing over 2000metres high. Finish in the old village of Chinaillon and we'll drive you back to the lodge.

Trou de la Mouche - circular walk

Trou de la Mouche from Coombe Pacally side6 hours - Adventurer

A steep mountain walk with scrambling at the top, this walk is only for experienced walkers with a good level of fitness. The walk is consistently up hill, starting from Lac de Confins, climbing over 1000 metres from base to top of the Coombe de Grand Cret. The surface of the steep path becomes more rocky as you ascend, ending by scrambling up the last hundred metres until reaching the top of the combe. Scramble through a hole - The Trou de la Mouche (2467metres) atthe top of the rock, with stunning views over the Mont Blanc range and descend Coombe de Pacally, the next valley over. Finish at Lac de Confins having climbed and descended a vertical height of over 1000 metres. It's likely you'll experiene snow pockets on this walk even in the height of summer.

Balcon des Aravis: Col des Annes - Lac de Confins

6-7 hours - Adventurer

We will drop you at Col des Annes from where you will traverse the foot of the Aravis Mountains. Steep ridgeline tracks will reward you with stunning views of the Aravis mountains as well as down over the Alps and towards Annecy. Remote trails, rocky slabs and some easy scree scrambling will take you to the Refuge de Gramusset for lunch. There is the opportunity to pre-book a guide to climb Point Percee from here on a good day. Pointe Percee is the highest peak of the Aravis range at 2750 metres and will take an additional 3 hours to climb. Moderate descent through meadows past farms where you can buy cheese. Nearing the bottom there are buvettes for refreshments. End at Lac des Confins, a lovely farming village on a plateau with views over to La Clusaz and Beauregard. We'll collect you here.

When you have had enough of walking in the French Alps, there are plenty of other things to do in the surrounding alpine areas - ranging from adrenaline fueled paragliding to gentle relaxing massages. See our Other Activities page for ideas.