Walking Holidays
France

Beaujolais Traverse

This self-guided walking holiday in the Beaujolais explores the full range of beautiful landscapes found throughout this relatively quiet region of France. Starting in the north, the walk crosses the luxuriant High Beaujolais hills where fields of pasture give way to forest on the highest hills with breathtaking views. You'll then descend to cross some of the famous Beaujolais vineyards on the slopes of the Saone Valley, before crossing a series of deep valleys covered in vines. Despite the relatively gentle nature of their slopes, the scale of the peaks and the depths of the valleys create a landscape of great panoramas and rich contrasts. Your experience quickly changes from secluded intimate valleys to panoramic ridges and back again.

Further south and you'll pass into an area known as the “Golden stones country”, so called due to the colour of the limestone used in the buildings. Here you will find some of the prettiest villages in France, set in a sumptuous landscape of interlocking hills receding to the horizon. Wherever you look, you'll find fortified remains, chateaux or churches adorning the vine covered slopes. This picturesque wine growing area is often referred to as the local Tuscany due to the similarities in their expansive landscapes.

At the end of each day you'll be welcomed with open arms at your small, quaint guest houses where the hospitality is excellent and you'll be treated to great local food and wine.

Holiday Profile

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

Dates

Everday of week subject to availability during 1 April to 31 October

Walking Profile & Grade

This walking holiday is in the moderate to challenging grade, although the walking is never challenging. The days range from about 14km to 23km in length and have daily ascents ranging from 300m to 700m. The paths are generally good, although they vary greatly in character. Some sections of the trail are rough and stoney in places with the odd steeper section. This holiday includes parts of the trails used in parts of our other independent walks in the Beaujolais.

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

Accommodation & Meals

• 7 nights at a range of delightful small B&B style guest houses where you'll receive a genuinely warm welcome. Very comfortable with ensuite rooms. Great local cuisine and wine. Full board.
• At some overnight stops there are no alternative guest houses available, so please book early to avoid disappointment, if you have a specific date in mind

When to Travel

Our self-guided walking tour of the Beaujolais is available from the beginning of April to the end of October. From April to October the Beaujolais is generally warm, although it can be hot during the months of July and August. However, relative humidity is often low (except during unstable thundery weather.) Ideal walking temperatures (ie late teens to the low twenties centigrade) are generally experienced from late April to early June and from mid September to mid October. Rainfall becomes more and more sporadic and linked to thunderstorms as you move from spring to summer, and this continues into the Autumn. On average there is rain on one in every three days, but this is often for relatively short periods. Autumn is often characterised by warm sunny days. Sunshine totals are characteristic of its southerly position in France and the sun's strength means that you must protect yourself against the sun even on overcast days. 

Other things to consider are the fact that the leaves are often not the trees or the vines until at least mid April. The grape picking season is often during the first couple of weeks of September and although this provides added activity to the countryside, it also means that some of our first choice guest houses are not available. In October the Beaujolais takes on a different character with autumn colours.

Navigation, Walking Notes & Maps

Most of this walking holiday follows local trails waymarked in yellow. There are also a number of other waymarkings including red and white of the GR76, a long distance trail that follows some of the ridgelines in the Beaujolais. You'll follow this trail for part of three of the days. There is a fairly dense network of signposts from day 3 onwards, with place names and directions. The walking follows clear paths, tracks and minor roads for its entire duration. Our walking notes are very detailed (more information here) and include intermediate distances for sections of the trail. They also include information about the sites which 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 your guest houses are responsible for transporting your main luggage, so if you have any specific requests such as a lift to the next guest house then you can speak with the guest house where you are staying. Please limit the weight of your bags where possible to 20kg. We only use hotels and small guest houses in historic buildings and some of the rooms are accessible by stairs.

7 nights / 6 days walking between guest houses

• From €1430
• Prices are per person and based on 2 sharing a room
• Please contact us concerning single supplements