Roadtrip Mountaineering villages
A spectacular high-mountain roadtrip
This itinerary, whose common thread is the high mountains, marvels at its grandiose landscapes. Discover the mountaineering villages of the Écrins, in the heart of the National Park, with the added bonus of a stopover in Italy for a change of scenery.
Day 1
La Grave → Briançon
The BriançonnaisBriançonnais is a region with an exceptional heritage, with a town that has been awarded the Ville et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire label, the mythical Lautaret, Izoard and Galibier passes, the Lautaret alpine botanical garden and, of course, the Meije glaciers, which you can discover by taking the cable car from the village of La Grave. It’s also the proximity to Italy and its wild high valleys.
Day 2
Briançon → Italy
Briançon, the “upper town fortified” by Vauban, and the Clarée valley, which preserves the biodiversity of some of the most remarkable natural areas in the European Union. Italy, in the Piedmont region, with the town of Clavière, a winter junction between the Italian and French slopes.
Briançon, fortified city of the Briançonnais region, protected by Vauban’s ramparts
Day 3
Italy → La Vallouise
Back to France, on the roads to Vallouise and Pelvoux in the Écrins massif Écrins massifthe gateway to the high mountains, with frontiers bearing evocative names (Glacier Blanc, Aiguilles d’Ailefroide), where nature offers unparalleled scenery. Head for the highest peaks with the Pré de Madame Carle and its view of the Glacier Blanc.
Day 4
La Vallouise → Serre-Ponçon
Two outstanding cultural heritage sites. Mont-Dauphin, France’s most beautiful village, and its Vauban stronghold, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, perched on a steep rock between the Guil and Durance rivers, and Serre-Ponçon, described as the “sea in the mountains”, with its lake and art treasures such as theAbbaye de Boscodon, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, and the church at Savines-Le-Lacchurch, listed as a 20th-century heritage site.
Day 5
Serre-Ponçon → Valgaudemar
Departure from Serre-Ponçonhead for the Valgaudemar in the center of the Écrins massif, with its high mountain landscapes. Of glacial origin, narrow and steep, it is dominated by mythical peaks such as L’Olan and Les Bans, and is one of the massif’s great valleys. When the snow melts, waterfalls roar down the valley, giving this photographic tip of the world an Icelandic feel.
des Écrins
Roadtrip Mountaineering villages
From my home, I can see the Meije from morning to night. The sharp contours of the ice towers in the early morning light, the brilliance of midday and the redness of the fading day; I never tire of these infinite nuances. My village breathes high mountain air. It’s a world that takes us away from our everyday worries and brings us face to face with the grandiose, which we must approach with humility. My daughters are growing up alongside these disappearing glaciers. They are already keen rock climbers, and the eldest took her first steps on the Râteau Ouest at the age of 12.
Organizing my roadtrip
Déesse Voyage,
your local ally
Déesse Voyage, the agency marketing this roadtrip, will answer all your questions.
17 rue des Balcons, 05230 Chorges
by appointment only
