Tour du Vieux Chaillol - Self Guided Walking Holiday in the Alps

This is a beautiful refuge to refuge alpine walking tour in the Ecrins National Park in the Southern French Alps. During this trip you will pass through many different types of landscapes. There are dramatic valleys lined with 3000m+ peaks, high mountain passes, gentle rolling alpine meadows with the characteristic bocage - fields criss-crossed with hedgerows, mountain streams, waterfalls and interesting rock formations and geology.

You are sure to see plenty of wildlife too - golden eagles, rock partridge, vultures, chamois, ibex, wild boar, roe deer, and lots of marmots. Wolves have also made a comeback to the area.

There is a huge diversity of wild flowers and depending on which season you come in you might see wild daffodils, gentians, orange lilies and orchids (there are 60 different species in the area!)

We will make all your accommodation reservations for you and give you the walking maps and GPX tracks of the route. The route is well-marked and easy to follow. We also shuttle your baggage where possible between refuges so you only have to carry your day backpack. The longest you will be without a baggage transfer is one night. To ensure your safety, we'll be following your route and calling the refuges each night to make sure you have arrived.

The days are long and it is recommended you have a good level of fitness and walking experience before attempting to do this tour self-guided. There is one quite tough day where you cross a high mountain pass of 2607m which takes you from the Valgaudemar valley into the Champoléon valley. Although this is done over two days, staying in the Vallonpierre refuge, you will still have to climb about 1150m in one day.

Have a look at the map to see the classic self-guided route. Most of the tour traverses along the valleys on the GR 50 and GR 54 long distance trekking paths, so the paths are well marked and easy to navigate.

This classic route is five days / 6 nights long. If you are planning a week's holiday, and would like to include a rest day or take in one of the many variations, that's no problem, please just let us know when you make your enquiry.

Have a look at our walking kit list for help with packing!

Itinerary

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The nearest train station is Gap. Gap is on the SNCF train service which has links from Paris (overnight sleeper), Valence, Grenoble or Marseilles.

We can arrange local transfers from Gap train station to your accommodation for 50€ per transfer (up to 8 people per transfer).

The nearest airports are Marseilles and Grenoble. From Marseilles airport there is a regular transfer to Gap train station directly from the airport every 2 hours. Nice, Lyon, Geneva and Turin are also drivable distances.

You can also hire a car, either at a nearby airport or directly in Gap, the main city in our area. Check out our partner's hire car rates.

Please ask us about getting here when you enquire - we have all the local knowledge to help you plan your journey!