Walking and Rafting Weekend in the Alps

A spectacular refuge to refuge guided walking tour into the Ecrins National Park in the Southern French Alps. After two and a half days in the rugged mountains, the grand finale of this short break is a trip down the Severaisse river in a small raft or inflatable canoe. Everyone says you should have an ice bath after a marathon, well how about a dip in glacier melt river after a long distance hike for your recovery!

Your trek begins in the valley of Valgaudemar, known as the Himalayas of the Alps, thanks to its dramatic 3000m peaks dominating the 20km long valley. Your guide will guide you through the alpine pastures up to the Souffles refuge, perched high up in the mountains above the valley.

The Souffles refuge has been recently renovated and provides an interesting contrast with the Olan refuge, your next stop, which is still pretty much as it was when it was first built!

The highlight of this walking tour is the route from the Souffles refuge over to the Olan refuge which you do on day two. It is a spectacular walk over high mountain cols and lakes through a dramatic rocky landscape.

Then you head down for your roller coaster ride on the river before heading back.

If you have never stayed in an Alpine refuge before this is a fabulous experience. You will discover a whole new world of restauration and hotelerie that you never thought possible in such a remote location. It is sometimes hard to remember that these are refuges and there is an etiquette that must be followed! Resources are scarce in the mountains and need to be used sparingly and no bin lorry is going to drive up and collect your rubbish so you need to be respectful and responsible. Read more about refuge etiquette.

This holiday is bookable directly online on any dates between mid June and mid September for small groups or couples. Please just click the 'Get Prices for My party' button and follow the instructions. We can also adapt this hike as self guided walking tour if you prefer or extend it to include a longer trek or more activities. Please just ask us about this via our enquiry form and we'll get back to you with suggestions.

Itinerary

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You need to get to Gap for this trip which is where we pick you up from. Gap has a train station with links to the major TGV stations of Aix-en-Provence or Grenoble and an overnight train from Paris. There is also a regular direct bus service from Marseille airport which is worth looking into if you prefer to fly.

Coming from London or any other city with easy access to Paris, it is possible to do this trip with just one and a half days off work. If you take the Eurostar at around 16h30 on Friday to Paris and then hop on the night train from Paris to Gap, you will be in the mountains on Saturday morning ready to start your adventure. Then on Monday night you can get the same night train back and be back at your desk on Tuesday morning!

For those wanting a more leisurely break, you can travel down the day before and add on an extra night before and have an extra night at the end of your stay. Just ask us about this when you enquire.

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