Vanoise Explorer

Vanoise Mountains

This self-guided walking holiday in the beautiful Vanoise National Park of the French Alps is a centre-based trip which allows you to combine the high mountains with the comfort of a 3 or 4-star hotel in the pretty village of Pralognan-la-Vanoise. The holiday includes walks of varying lengths and difficulties with the majority of hikes situated around grades 3 or 4 on a scale of 5. This equates to day walks with altitude gains of 500m – 1000m. As you are based in a hotel you can choose to have rest days when you wish.

This independent alpine walking holiday allows you to be at close quarters with elegant high mountain peaks and stunning alpine glaciers. Less frequented than the Mont Blanc range, this stunning alpine region in the Savoie (Savoy) known as the Vanoise offers a quieter but no less spectacular alternative. Designated a National Park, the Vanoise offers an ideal natural, unspoilt wilderness for walking and trekking holidays where souring alpine peaks with pristine glaciers rise majestically above wild, remote valleys.

The Vanoise National Park is home to a great many alpine peaks over 3400m including a few that rise above the Vanoise glacier, the largest glacial plateau in western Europe. The walks take you past some outstanding mountain scenery, including the sheer Aguille de Vanoise, the Grande Casse, and La Dent Parrachée. The highest mountain in this part of the Alps is the resplendent Grande Casse which sits at the head of the valley from Pralognan, a traditional alpine village, unspoilt by modern development. It’s an amazing location surrounded by immense rock walls which glow pink in the evening sun.

Don’t forget your binoculars, as there are a host of protected species including the famous alpine bouquetin (ibex), chamoix, bearded vulture and the golden eagle. Among the nationally protected plants in the Vanoise National Park are about ten species of androsace, the Alpine aquilegia, different sedges, Alpine Bells, Queen of the Alps, various mountain primroses and the last French stronghold of the twinflower.

Accommodation & Meals

Seven nights in a comfortable hotel in the centre of the pretty alpine village of Pralognan-la-Vanoise The exact hotel will vary according to availability but will be 3 or 4 star quality. Traditional meals will be served in the hotel restaurant. Your holiday is on a half-board basis. There are shops and bakers in the village to buy lunch or you can order from your hotel.

Navigation, Walking Notes & Maps

This walking holiday has trails following a mixture of long-distance trails, which are waymarked with red and white markings and other trails marked in yellow. On the whole, the trail are easy to follow and signposted but because you are in the Alps and the terrain is rocky you may need to pay attention when crossing scree slopes and streams to make sure you follow the best line. In addition, you need to pay particular attention during poor visibility to make sure you stay on the trail.

We provide you with detailed walking guides and maps at a scale of 1:25,000. You should know how to read the map and have some orientation skills.

Travel Options

By Air

There are scheduled flights to Geneva, Turin, Lyon, Chambery and Grenoble. Lyon, Geneva and Turin have the most regular services. The airlines Easy jet, Flybe and British Airways have scheduled flights from the UK – Luton, Birmingham, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Heathrow – to Lyon St Exupery airport.

All have rail links with Modane and Moutiers via Chambery. There are bus services running from Moutiers to Pralognan la Vanoise. You will need to take a taxi from Modane to near the refuge Orgere if you wish to start the tour in the south.

By Train

Eurostar and the TGV provide a relaxing journey from London to Lyon Part Dieu direct and changing at Lille or Paris. Local services then run to Modane or Moutiers via Chambery. Please use Rail Europe’s train finder in our travel store to organise your train journey. There are bus services running from Moutiers to Pralognan la Vanoise. You will need to take a taxi from Modane to near the refuge Orgere if you wish to start the tour in the south.

Self Drive

Channel ferry crossings from Dover are provided by several operators including P&O Ferries & DFDS seaways. Crossings are also provided by train with Eurotunnel.

Once in France, the journey from Calais to the Vanoise area takes about 9 hours (excluding long breaks).

Tolls amount to about 60 euros each way. Free parking is available in Pralognan and near the refuge Orgere above Modane.

More information can be provided at the time of booking and we would be happy to help you make your travel arrangements.