3-Day Multi-Activity Adventure in the French Alps

Three very different Alpine adventures:

We have chosen three of our favourite activities in the Southern French Alps, each offering a different way to experience the mountains. The activities are spread across three days, with a free half day to relax at Lake Serre-Ponçon or try an optional watersport.

During your three-day adventure you will:

• Go canyoning: Follow a mountain stream through a natural canyon, sliding down smooth rock chutes, jumping into clear Alpine pools and abseiling beside waterfalls. Your guide will adapt the route and challenges to the group and conditions.
• Climb a via ferrata: Make your way along an equipped mountain route using fixed cables, ladders and footholds, cross airy bridges and finish with an exhilarating series of Tyrolean zip lines.
• Explore by e-bike: Discover the mountain tracks, forest trails and easy singletrack around Gap by electric mountain bike. The motor takes some of the effort out of the climbs, giving you more energy to enjoy the riding and the surroundings.
• Enjoy a free afternoon at Lake Serre-Ponçon: Spend some free time by the lake to swim or relax on the beach, with the option to hire a kayak or paddleboard, or book activities such as waterskiing or tubing at an additional cost.

Each guided activity takes around half a day and is spread across the three days. You will be collected from your hotel in Gap and returned afterwards, leaving your evenings free to enjoy the town's restaurants, bars and outdoor terraces.

Your base in Gap:

Gap is an excellent base for an active break in the Southern French Alps, with several mountain areas and Lake Serre-Ponçon within easy reach.

Your hotel is in the town centre, a short walk from the pedestrianised old town, where narrow streets, small shops, squares and café terraces create a lively atmosphere in the summer evenings. There are plenty of restaurants and bars to choose from, as well as regular markets, concerts and events during the warmer months.

We will give you our local recommendations for places to eat, drink and explore so you can make the most of your time in Gap between activities.

Your Guides: 

For the via ferrata and canyoning your guide is a fully qualified and highly experienced UIAGM high mountain guide local to the area, who speaks French and English. For the e-biking, your guide is a fully qualified and experienced local mountain bike guide who know the tracks and trails like his back garden and who also speaks French and English. Your safety and enjoyment are our top priority for all the activities.

You also have a free afternoon at the lake where you can choose to do your own thing. You can sunbathe, swim or choose one of the many water sports available at the lake  (supplement to pay for any additional activities). 

Who will love this trip?

This trip is ideal if you enjoy being active outdoors, like trying new things and want to experience several different mountain activities during a short break.

For canyoning, you need to be able to swim and be comfortable putting your head under water. For the via ferrata, you should be reasonably comfortable with heights and exposed situations. You do not need previous canyoning or via ferrata experience.

For e-biking, you need to be confident riding a bicycle and have some previous experience riding on unsurfaced tracks or easy mountain-bike terrain. The riding includes forest tracks, trails and some accessible singletrack, but it is not designed for experienced technical mountain bikers.

You should also have a good general level of fitness. None of the individual activities is especially demanding, but with three active days in succession, you should be used to regular exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, running or going to the gym.

Sustainable Tourism:

We are a Travelife-certified tour operator and aim to ensure that your trip benefits the local community while keeping its environmental impact as low as reasonably possible.

For this holiday, we work with local guides and independently owned accommodation so that more of the money you spend stays within the local economy. We also choose partners who share our commitment to responsible tourism.

Your hotel is taking practical steps to reduce its environmental impact, including using environmentally friendly cleaning products, introducing water-saving measures, improving energy efficiency and giving guests the option to reduce unnecessary linen and room cleaning.

Our local guides use modern, well-maintained vehicles and have a strong connection to the landscapes in which they work. They will help you enjoy these environments responsibly and minimise the impact of the activities on the places you visit.

We have also designed this trip so that you can travel to Gap by train and enjoy the holiday without needing your own car. You can find more information in the Getting Here section.

We have used a carbon calculator tool called Carmacal. Have a look at the full carbon report for this adventure weekend or look at the summary below. We will also plant a tree on your behalf to help offset your carbon footprint for this trip.

Itinerary

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You need to get to Gap, in the Hautes Alpes department of France for this trip. Gap has a train station on the French SNCF train network and there are also buses from various other transport hubs to Gap.

From Gap train station, you can walk to the Mon Hotel accommodation option (about 5 - 10 minutes walk). 

WE OFFER A 3% DISCOUNT TO ANYONE TRAVELLING BY TRAIN INSTEAD OF PLANE TO GAP FROM OUTSIDE OF FRANCE. To claim your 3% discount, you will need to show us proof of train travel for an international train route of over 3 hours that could have been taken by plane. Please ask when you book.

BY TRAIN / BUS: 

Have a look at our blog on getting to Gap by train

There is a regular coach service which operates from Aix-en-Provence TGV directly to Gap. Plan your journey here

There are also direct train links to Gap from Grenoble TGV station and there is also an overnight sleeper train from Paris to Gap.

You can plan your train journey using the Oui SNCF website. This works from all major European cities.

BY PLANE:

The nearest airports are Marseille and Grenoble. From Marseille airport there is a regular coach service directly to Gap every two and a half hours.Plan your journey here. From Grenoble you would need to get the airport shuttle to the train station and then a train from Grenoble to Gap - this is a bit more faffy than the links from Marseille which are direct and regular.. 

Please ask us about transport options when you enquire as we have become pros on getting people to this beautiful region!