A short guide to go mountain hiking in the French Alps

How to get there

By plane (map above)

For the Northern French alps, the western parts are reached via Lyon Satolas while the eastern parts best via Geneva. Grenoble also has a small airport, but it’s half way to Lyon with few flights.

The southern parts are best reached via Marseille and train towards Briancon or Nice with lots of bus connections into the alps.

By train

If you come from the western part of western Europe head to Paris (Gare de Lyon) or Lyon, where you change to trains to the alps.  From here you will find access via the fast TGV trains that you see on the map to areas such as Chamonix, Albertville, Modane for the Tarantaise, Grenoble and the southern alps via the Mediterranean. Briancon can be reached via Valence or Marseille.

By car

A car may be less environmentally friendly, but gives you max freedom to bring what you need for your holidays and to move around. Google maps will tell you the best routes. But if you go for a multi-day hike I recommend to pack as light as possible and use public transport to get to the start and end.

What do you really want ?

There are 23 mountain ranges in the French alps. Here is a selection of a few great ranges to go to based on what you are looking for….

1. High mountains and glaciers: Chamonix, La Vanoise, Les Écrins, Tarantaise, Grandes Rousses

2. Mediterranean climate: Mercantour, Chambeyron/Ubay, Queyras

3. Visit a hikers paradise: Vercors

4. A great lake: Annecy with hiking in the Bauges

High mountains and glaciers

If you want to experience the highest mountains and glaciers the obvious choice is Chamonix. For decades it has been considered the capital of alpinism. Many famous mountaineers learned climbing and ice walking here. Feel the unique high mountain atmosphere. See the mountaineers and elite climbers. It is worth visiting just for that, but there are also many fantastic hikes and easy climbs in the area with beautiful views to Europes highest peak Le mont Blanc.

If you want less people around you, but still want to hike around the highest mountains and glaciers other fantastic options are

1. La Vanoise with its famous tour of the glaciers and many day-hikes with stunning scenery

2. Les Écrins with it’s famous 4.000’er peak La Barre des Écrins and La Meije in the National Park of the same name. La Bérarde is an ideal place as a base either via camping or in the mountain hut.

3. Tarantaise with its many but more scattered peaks and glaciers

4. Grandes Rousses with its own glacier and stunning views to Les Écrins to the west, Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso areas to the east and Monte Viso to the south..

Mediterranean climate

You start feeling the Mediterranean climate from around Briancon and down south. With its warmer and drier weather you are less at risk of getting soaked, but the vegetation changes character becoming more arid. The mountains are not quite as high as the northern French alps, but there are still plenty of 3.000’ers around at all difficulty levels. Four of the best southern areas are:

Mercantour – the southern most of the main French alpine ranges. Hike in the National Park far from crowds of people, see the 5.000 year old engravings in the Vallée des Merveilles, visit the wolf-centre in xxx to discover this animal that re-emerged in 1992 and has grown to about 500, but I have never seen one in the wild, climb the Mont Gélas, the highest point with its 3.143 meters.. A favorite area of mine, where I often go early June while the snow melts away and there is nobody around.

Ubay north of Le Mercantour with its cross-border hiking into Italy and high mountains such as Aiguille and Brec de Chambeyron that invite to nice multi-day hikes staying in mountain huts in both France and Italy.

Queyras is a relatively small peaceful valley with its protected natural park where you will experience lots of mountain lakes, streams, 3.000 meter peaks, mountain ridges, a few smaller glaciers and a few villages such as the highest ‘commune’ in europe, Saint-Véran. The GR 58 offers you a complete tour of the Queras in 4-5 days.  – Tour du Mont Viso

Visit a hikers paradise

Le Vercors south west of Grenoble is a true gem often overlooked by non-French hikers in the Alps. Having lived in Grenoble it is one of my favorites. With its protected natural reserve, high plains and prairies, picturesque small villages, steep dented cliffs and ridges, un-guarded huts and plenty of trails, it is a true hikers paradise. The highest point is the beautiful Grand Veymont at 2.341 meters that you see from the east on the photo. A great hike is the 18 km 1-2 day round-trip of le Mont Aiguille at 2.087 meters that was first climbed in 1492. If you want to climb the Mont Aiguille it is rated PD.

A great lake

Lake Annecy: Here you find everything for a wonderful family water and mountain holiday with plenty of camp sites, motorhomes and places for hire. Visit the old town of Annecy. Go hiking in the Bauges, which have plenty of both steep challenging trails and easy gentle ones, 14 peaks above 2.000 meters and plenty of lake views. Chamonix is not far, neither is Grenoble nor Geneva. La Tournette at 2.350 meters offers stunning views over the lake and to Mont Blanc. Drive to Chalet de l’Ulp at 1.426 meters to start your hike and finish with their great lunch and beautiful views of your accomplishment.