Walking Holidays
France

Alps to Med Trail

This independent walking holiday in France follows an extraordinary trail from the alpine mountains of the Mercantour National Park to the elegant Mediterranean town of Menton. Your trail passes through several delightful perched villages, full of charm with plenty of cultural and historical interest. They have a shared history with Italy which is evident in the architecture.

The Mercantour National Park is influenced both by the altitude of its high mountains and the heat and dryness of the Mediterranean. Indeed, it is the only French National Park that has all the different habitats from Mediterranean to alpine in character. Your 6-day walking tour will take you from the rocks and high-altitude pastures of the Mercantour through dense forests in narrow valleys and picturesque gorges, passing by historic villages clinging to steep mountainsides.

On the Mediterranean coast, the mountains plunge directly into the deep azure blue sea. Enjoy the amazing contrasts of the Cote d'Azur: its wild and rocky coastline, the pretty colourful fishing ports, and the historic old town at Menton.

Holiday Profile

7 nights/8 days: 6 days independent walking moving between guest houses

Dates

Every day of the week subject to availability from 21 March to 21 June & 1 September to 25 October

Walking Profile & Grade

This self-guided walking holiday in southern France for the most part takes place in upland or mountainous areas. The paths are well maintained. They pass through a range of types of terrain underfoot including mountainous. The walking days average about 5hrs 30. The maximum amount of ascent in a day is 860m, the average is 500m. The difficulty can be reduced on a few of the days by taking public transport for certain sections. In general, the walking days become easier as the holiday progresses and is well within the grade. This walking holiday would be suitable for those walkers used to mountain walking, as well as those more occasional walkers who are in good health and fitness.

This walking holiday is graded moderate to challenging. You should have experience of day walking in mountainous conditions and be in reasonable health. See more information about walking grades.

Accommodation & Meals

7 nights in 2 & 3 star hotels and guest houses in double/twin en-suite rooms. A mix of styles of hotels, auberges and guest houses. Evening meals in hotels serving tasty local cuisine.

When to Travel

Our self-guided walking holiday Alps to Med trail is available from March to June inclusive and in September and October. We do not run this holiday in the height of the summer due to the high temperatures and the difficulty in securing suitable accommodation. Even as early as April the hills are awash with wildflowers. Because much of the vegetation is evergreen on the lower slopes, the landscape remains relatively colourful the whole year round. Ideal walking temperatures are experienced up to mid-June, after which it can become very warm for the last few days of the holiday. Your first couple of days walking takes you to moderate altitudes where it may be cool, especially in the case of poor weather, during April and late October. Evening temperatures will be fresher during the first few days.

Daytime temperatures along the length of the walk should on average reach into the low to mid-twenties during the day. They could however climb into the low thirties during late June or early September or descend to single figures outside of these periods. Average daytime temperatures on the coast are for example about 21°C in mid-May and October and 26°C in mid-June and September. Temperatures at high altitudes will be much lower than these averages whilst inland at low altitudes they could be higher. You will therefore need to be prepared for both cool and warm conditions. The whole region is very sunny compared to the rest of France. Rainfall and low clouds are rarer than in the northern Alps, however, storms are fairly common in the mountains during late summer and autumn, especially late afternoon so please leave early and always check the weather forecast

Navigation, Walking Notes & Maps

Much of this walking holiday follows GR (Grande Randonnee) long-distance trails which are well, way-marked with red and white markings. There are also several signposts along the trail. The walking follows clear paths for its entire duration. Some sections follow local trails waymarked in yellow. Our walking notes are very detailed (more information here) and include some photos and plans to help orientation at junctions. The walking notes also include information about the sites that can be explored along the route. We supply one walking guide per person on this holiday. As well as the detailed walking notes we supply official walking maps produced by IGN at a scale of 1:25,000. Your trail is highlighted on the maps.

Luggage Transfers

On this walking holiday, your main luggage is transferred between guest houses so you only have to carry a day rucksack with picnic lunch (supplied by the guest houses and included in the holiday price), water and spare clothes, waterproofs, camera etc. On this holiday local taxi companies and the accommodation are responsible for transporting your main luggage. Please limit the weight of your bags where possible to 15kg. Some of the hotels and small guest houses are in historic buildings and some of the rooms are accessible by stairs.

Travel Info

Train:

Eurostar, TGV and TER French trains allow access to St-Dalmas-de-Tende. Your first hotel is a five minute walk from the train station.

From the UK, changes between the Eurostar and TGV are at Lille or Paris. TGV's run from Paris to Nice direct or via Lyon or Toulon. Change at Nice to take the line Nice-Cuneo and descend at St-Dalmas-de-Tende.

• From €1275 
• Price per person, based on 2 sharing