Lonely Planet Best Day Hikes France

By Oliver Berry

Lonely Planet’s Best Day Hikes France is your passport to 60 easy escapes into nature. Stretch your legs away from the city by picking a hike that works for you, from just a couple of hours to a full day, from easy to hard. Explore the Pyrenees, hike the Alps, and marvel at beautiful Corsica. Get to the heart of France and begin your journey now!

 

Inside Lonely Planet’s Best Day Hikes France Travel Guide: 

Color maps and images throughout

Special features - on France’s highlights for hikers, kid-friendly hikes, accessible trails and what to take
Best for… section helps you plan your trip and select hikes that appeal to your interests
Region profiles cover when to go, where to stay, what’s on, cultural insights, and local food and drink recommendations to refuel and refresh. Featured regions include:
The Pyrenees; the French Alps & the Jura Mountains; Provence; Central France; Corsica; Lille, Flanders & the Somme; Brittany & Normandy; Languedoc-Roussillon

Essential info at your fingertips - hiking itineraries accompanied by illustrative maps are combined with details about hike duration, distance, terrain, start/end locations and difficulty (classified as easy, easy-moderate, moderate, moderate-hard, or hard)

Over 60 maps

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet’s Best Day Hikes France, our most comprehensive guide to hiking in France, is perfect for those planning to explore France on foot.

Looking for more information on France? Check out Lonely Planet’s France guide for a comprehensive look at what the country has to offer.

 

About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveler since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travelers. You’ll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 

 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781838696351

Book preview

Highlights

MARCADAU VALLEY & THE CARDINQUÈRE LAKES, THE PYRENEES

A symphony of beautiful lakes, a frosty mountain pass, idyllic valleys and views that stretch forever. This is the walk that just keeps on giving.

POINTES DU RAZ & VAN, BRITTANY & NORMANDY

Catch ocean breezes while walking over white-sand beaches and watch storm swells unleash their anger on the cliffs at the end of France.

GRAND BALCON NORD, FRENCH ALPS & JURA

Experience the best of Chamonix en famille: cable-car magic, France’s largest glacier, a mountain train ride and big bold Mont Blanc views.

THE BLANC-MARTEL TRAIL, PROVENCE & THE CÔTE D’AZUR

One of the most iconic walks in France rumbles beneath the textured walls of the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Europe.

CASTLES OF THE DORDOGNE, CENTRAL FRANCE

A quiet ramble along the banks of the River Dordogne that takes in hilltop castles, cliffside villages, and beautiful oak and chestnut woodlands.

BRÈCHE DE ROLAND, THE PYRENEES

Welcome to the high mountain world of glaciers and snow fields. This breathtaking walk takes you to a fabled rock gateway between France and Spain.

MONT AIGOUAL, LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON

A tough, full-day hike up to one of the best viewpoints in the Cévennes – with a historic observatory included too.

BEAUMONT-HAMEL NEWFOUNDLAND MEMORIAL, LILLE & THE SOMME

Pay your respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This melancholic trail through WWI battlefields is as much a pilgrimage as a walk.

GROUIN: UP TO A POINT, BRITTANY & NORMANDY

A walk up this stunning headland is the ultimate Brittany experience, with spectacular coastal views, glimpses of Mont St-Michel and seabird life in spades.

LAC DE MELO & LAC DE CAPITELLO, CORSICA

Twin lakes thrown up against sky-high rocky mountain fingers. This is the Corsica you never knew existed.

Best For...

ALESSANDRO CRISTIANO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

fWildlife

France is blessed with an incredibly rich diversity of plants and animals, and observant walkers have a good chance of spotting some exotic creatures.

WETLANDS OF THE CAMARGUE

The greatest wetland wilderness in France is home to white horses and very pink flamingos.

POINTES DU RAZ & VAN

Scan the ocean waves for seals, porpoises and dolphins, plus a bevy of different seabirds from these high cliffs.

LAC DU LAUZANIER

Cuddle up to the tame marmots in this alpine valley and watch the choughs circle in the breeze.

LAC D’AYOUS CIRCUIT

The western Pyrenees is renowned for its raptors: griffon vultures, golden eagles and even formidable lammergeier can all be seen.

CHALETS DE BISE TO LAC DE DARBON

Spot majestic ibex on this wild alpine walk where wildlife is as much an attraction as scenery.

mESCAPING THE CROWDS

Clear the mind on these walks that take you far from the madding crowd.

ROC DES HOURTOUS

Deep in the heart of the Parc National des Cévennes, this walk veers on the quieter side of life.

PILGRIMAGE AROUND ROCAMADOUR

Follow this trail to Rocamadour and you’ll likely have only the ghosts of pilgrims past to walk with.

LAC DES VACHES & COL DE LA VANOISE

Spectacular lakes and gargantuan glaciers are the reward for those who venture out here.

GIVERNY IMPRESSIONS

Who would have thought that busy, touristy Giverny could hide such undisturbed countryside?

CAP ROUX

From this silent coastal massif, peer down on the glam crowds of the Riviera.

MARGOUILLAT PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

vBRINGING THE PAST TO LIFE

Walk on routes where the past is ever present.

OMAHA BEACH

Site of one of the bloodiest WWII D-Day battles.

THIEPVAL LOOP

The Thiepval Memorial is the most moving tribute to the tragedy of the Battle of the Somme.

CIRQUE DE BAUME-LES-MESSIEURS

Visit a 7th-century abbey.

BEYNAC CASTLE LOOP

When this fairy-tale castle swings into view, you can imagine knights going into battle.

STEVENSON’S JOURNEY

Retrace the route of Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson.

JON NICHOLLS PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

pCOASTAL VIEWS

Some of the best walks in France are by the sea.

CIRCLING THE ÎLE D’OUESSANT

Feel the raw power of the Atlantic Ocean on this remote, weather-beaten isle.

SENTIER DES DOUANIERS

Walking this route takes you from beach to headland to beach.

PORT-MIOU, PORT-PIN & EN-VAU

Be stunned by lucid clear waters and butter-coloured cliffs.

GROUIN: UP TO A POINT

This nature reserve juts out on a windblown promontory.

LA CÔTE DE GRANIT ROSE

Secluded bays and a milky-blue sea linked by orange-pink granite boulders.

STUART BUTLER/LONELY PLANET ©

XPRETTY VILLAGES

Mother Nature is a great artist, but some French villages can give her a run for her money.

GORDES LOOPS

The village of Gordes might be the most heavenly in southern France.

DINAN: UP & DOWN TOWN

Dinan is one of the loveliest old towns in northern France.

CAPU PERTUSATO & BONIFACIO

Snap that perfect shot of Bonifacio huddled onto the side of high coastal cliffs.

THE CHEMIN DE HALAGE

Walk through oak woodlands to magical St-Cirq-Lapopie.

BRANTÔME CIRCUIT

The impressive abbey is the centrepiece of enchanting Brantôme.

STUART BUTLER/LONELY PLANET ©

With Kids

SEBASTIENDUPONT/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Walking with children can be incredibly rewarding for both you and them. It’s time together as a family without the distractions and pressures that day-to-day life brings.

TRAILS & TRIBULATIONS

As wonderful as walking with children can be, it does bring challenges and requires careful planning. The most important thing is to pick your route wisely.

It’s important not to be over ambitious. If your children consistently find the walks you choose too difficult, then they’ll quickly be put off walking for good. On the other hand, the shortest and easiest walks are not always the best ones for children either. If it’s too easy then many a child loses interest. Throw in some boulders to climb up, summits (achievable ones) to conquer and streams to jump across, and you’ll probably find your kids can’t get enough of it.

It’s a good idea to go through the different trail options with your children the night before and let them know what’s in store. When it comes to walk times, keep in mind that the times written in this book are for walking only and don’t include stops. With children, you’ll stop much more than if you were only with adults. It’s best to double all walk times. For most children under the age of 12 a five-hour walk will take most of the day. Start early and take a torch just in case it takes more than all day!

Don’t take a risk with the weather. Trudging up the side of a mountain in sheets of rain will not endear you to your children. Ideally, choose only dry, sunny days but ones that aren’t too hot either. If it is hot then choose a walk that involves a lake, stream or beach and let them cool off in the water.

BEST WALKING REGIONS

There are good walks for children in every corner of France, but the coastline of Brittany and Normandy has some real kid-friendly classics. Another great region for family walking holidays is Central France. The Dordogne and Lot region has the scenic variety to keep mums and dads happy as well as castles and rivers to keep children’s minds inspired.

All the mountain areas can be superb, but it’s important to pick the right walk and not attempt something too ambitious.

& Walking with Babies & Toddlers

Walking with children below the age of about four or five presents a unique set of issues.

If your child is still a baby and hasn’t yet found their feet, then walking with them is generally pretty easy. You just need to wrap them up warm and put them in a baby backpack (on most walking trails you can forget about pushchairs) and off you go.

Toddlers and young children are a different matter. Chances are they’re not going to want to spend too long strapped to your back. But they can’t generally walk very far either. You might find that getting more than a few hundred metres from the car park is something of a struggle. But don’t let that put you off entirely. Instead, try and find a walk that has interest within the first kilometre (such as a beach or a river). If children start associating walking with fun outdoors then you’ll have them hooked for life. La Côte de Granit Rose in Brittany and Lac du Lauzanier in Provence both have a lot of interest within a few hundred, easy, metres of the parking area.

WHAT TO PACK

Make sure your children have good-quality, comfortable walking shoes. You really don’t want them getting blisters because of ill-fitting shoes.

Bring plenty of warm clothes as well as spare clothes (because if there’s a stream they will fall in it). Most importantly, bring lots of food, snacks and water. Bring at least twice as much as you think they might want. You’ll be amazed at how much children can eat while walking.

TOP TIPS

Make things a little easier for all of you by following these tried and tested tips.

• Let the kids map-read or use a compass (but keep an eye on progress yourself!).

• Take a plastic container to collect identifiable wild berries, including blueberries and raspberries. In many mountain areas, there are lots of unusual things for children to collect.

• Ask them to find their own walking stick.

• Bring or download a field guide to the animals, birds and flowers of an area and see how many they can identify. Searching for animal footprints is also a good way of keeping children interested.

• Bring a friend for them. It’s amazing how much better children walk if they’ve got friends along.

• In the Alps (and occasionally elsewhere), it’s often possible to combine a walk with a cable car or mountain train (to both kill off some of the steep climb up and inject some extra fun into the day).

bBest Walks

Plateau de Bellevue Stunning scenery and just the right amount of child challenge.

Lac du Lauzanier Friendly marmots and a mountain lake to play in.

La Côte de Granit Rose Beaches, boulders and boats.

Grand Balcon Nord Cable cars, glaciers and a mountain train home.

Accessible Trails

OKSANA.PERKINS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL IN FRANCE

On the whole, France presents constant challenges for those with mobilité réduite (reduced mobility) and visiteurs handicapés (visitors with disabilities) – cobblestones, sidewalks crowded with cafe tables, a lack of kerb/curb ramps, budget hotels without elevators/lifts. On the plus side though, the French government is making significant strides to improve the situation.

When it comes to travelling across France to reach your chosen destination, many SNCF train carriages are accessible to people with disabilities. If you use a wheelchair, you and a person accompanying you may qualify for discounts. For information in English on all aspects of accessible rail travel in France, see www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/travel-for-everyone/accessibility.

Tourisme et Handicaps issues the blue ‘Tourisme et Handicap’ label to tourist sites, restaurants and hotels that comply with strict accessibility and usability standards. Different symbols indicate the sort of access afforded to people with physical, mental, hearing and/or visual disabilities.

Further general information on accessible travel in France is available on the following sites:

• Jaccede.com (www.jaccede.com) is an excellent interactive accessibility guide; before arrival download the phone app to search for accessible hotels, cinemas and so on.

• Gîtes de France (www.gitesde-france-var.fr) can provide details of accessible gîtes ruraux (self-contained holiday cottages) and chambres d’hôte (B&Bs); search the website with the term ‘disabled access’.

• The French Government Tourist Office website (www.france.fr) has lots of info for travellers with disabilities.

Download Lonely Planet’s free Accessible Travel guide from https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/categories/accessible-travel.com.

CHOOSE YOUR REGION WISELY

Although many trails in France are challenging for people with reduced mobility or for the older or less fit walker, there are some routes that are at least partially accessible, and highly rewarding, to everyone. Throughout this book, any of the walks marked as Easy can be conquered by almost anyone, although some are still on partially uneven paths or involve gentle climbs and descents. Note that a walk marked as Easy in the Alps or the Pyrenees is not the same as a walk marked Easy in Central France.

Less fit walkers should add plenty of rest time to the standard walk times listed (the walk times in this book do not include any stoppage time). Walking poles are useful for walkers of all abilities in mountain regions, but less fit walkers will also appreciate them on flatter walks as well.

It’s always worth contacting the local tourist board of your chosen region and asking their advice on accessible trails.

The following gives a rundown on the plus and minus points for every region of France included in this book.

I Resources

The following websites have useful information on accessible-for-all routes.

The best adapted hiking routes in France (www.sunrisemedical.fr/blog/randonnees-adaptees-france)

Vanoise National Park (www.vanoise-parcnational.fr/fr/des-decouvertes/un-parc-accessible-tous/nos-partenaires-pour-le-tourisme-et-handicap)

Mercantour National Park (www.mercantour-parcnational.fr/fr/des-actions/sensibiliser-eduquer-et-accueillir/accessibilite-et-handicap/randonnees-accessibles-tous)

BRITTANY & NORMANDY

Brittany and Normandy are a pretty good choice for less fit and less experienced walkers. Most of the walks here are coastal and follow obvious cliff-side trails. However, these trails can be rough and narrow, which makes them difficult for wheelchair users. Elevation gains are not generally enormous, but there’s still plenty of up and down.

LILLE & THE SOMME

This is a great area for less fit walkers, and some trails are at least partially suitable for wheelchair users. There’s very little in the way of elevation gain and many routes are at least partially on quiet country roads. Route marking can be less clear here though than in some popular mountain areas.

FRENCH ALPS & JURA

It hardly needs stating that the Alps and Jura Mountains are not friendly to wheelchair users, and stiff climbs and big elevation changes on narrow trails can be difficult for less fit walkers.

CENTRAL FRANCE

This is another good region for less fit walkers. Many routes are at least partially along quiet country roads or fairly smooth farm tracks. There’s a reasonable amount of up and down but most climbs and descents are fairly short. Trail marking can be a bit unclear in places.

PROVENCE & THE CÔTE D’AZUR

With everything from coastal rambles to high mountain trails, there are lots of options in this sun-soaked region – some of the trails are suitable for older or less experienced walkers and wheelchair users.

LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON

There’s a lot of variety in this region including some lower level village walks that can be accomplished by most people.

THE PYRENEES

The mountainous terrain in the Pyrenees means that there are very few options for wheelchair users, and only a couple of routes are suitable for less fit