The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of sailing is the ocean or the sea – but sailing is one of the many water sports activities you can do in the mountains too, far away from the thick and loud crowds of the seaside resorts.

For beginners or children, the mountain lakes are very well suited for an easy and stress free discovery of the basics of sailing: winds and currents are not as strong as in the ocean, and you have a land border all the way round in relative close proximity so there is no risk of being swept out to sea! Calmer water with smaller waves will also make the learning process much more manageable. 

The activity is great fun for people of all ages and provides great sensations even on a beginners’ level. No matter how confident you feel on the water, you can quickly get familiar with the basics of manoeuvring of your boat. 

You can book a sailing course as part of any of our customisable summer activity holidays in the southern French Alps.

On some of the larger inland lakes, like the Serre Poncon Lake in the southern French Alps, there are also commercial mini-cruises you can experience for a real taste of yacht sailing but in the mountains!

Lake sailing is also gaining momentum on the world stage and for the first time in history in 2020, the Tour Voile, the French Sailing Tour de France will be using the Serre Poncon Lake for one of the acts on this world famous sailing race. Have a look at our Tour Voile Sailing Holiday if you would like to see this historic event!