walking & adventure holidays
thrills and spills
All the activities you've ever imagined in an action packed week!
For adrenaline junkies – we are pleased to offer non stop adventure weeks – where you get the chance to try out some of the best Via Ferrata around, then...
- -Test yourself with some rock climbing.
- -Swing high at the High Level Forest Adventure park
- -Launch yourselves into cold water canyoning
- -Test your nerves cross country biking or via ferrata
Then......
- -Take 2 days out for great walking and scrambling – staying over in a refuge.
The picturesque medieval town of St Martin Vésubie sits at the head of the Vésubie valley.
It is a quintessential French mountain village nestling amongst steep pine clad slopes and overlooked by the towering peaks of Cime du Gelas and Caires de Cougourde – two of the highest points in the Mercantour Park.
It is the perfect base for exploring this central area of the park. During your stay with us, we will spend time on the boulders and rock faces of Valdeblore, and will be exploring some of the main valleys that converge onto the Vésubie for scrambling routes.
The Vésubie valley itself has several deep gorges that run into it where well tried canyoning routes of various grades can be found.
On each evening, we will give a description of the following day’s activities, and the following is a short account of these.
It is impossible to be precise about what will be selected on any particular day, because it is highly dependant on prevailing weather conditions. More often than not we can keep to our schedule because of the predominantly clement weather, however the mountains have a funny habit of surprising us from time to time.
Season
June toSeptember
Departures to date
2010 : May 29; Jul 10
Pricing
Standard weekly package :
Gite based - £645
Hotel or Chambre d'Hote B&B - £730
Hotel or Chambre d'Hote half board - £940
For non-standard periods and programmes, contact us to discuss the options. Read about our flexible way of working.
How to book...
Grades
grade
| attributes | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| physical fitness | x | x | x |
| confidence with heights | x | x | x |
| technical ability | x | x | x |
| mountain experience | x | x | x |
Our grades are explained in "essential info"
Your Accommodation - On all our Mercantour based trips you will either stay in our gîte at La Zourcière, or if you choose our B&B or half board options we are very pleased to work with local hotels or chambres d'hôte in the area.
Gîte
Enjoy the beautifully secluded situation of La Zourcière in the small hamlet of Berthemont les Bains in the Vésubie valley. The gîte sits on the ground floor of the house and is fully self contained. There are shops about 10 minutes drive from the hamlet, and an organic farm just 200m down the road from the house. Follow this link for more details.
Hotel or Chambre d'Hôte
Le Grand Chalet is a homely chambre d'hôte run by Christine and Luc and is situated overlooking the small village of St Dalmas Valdeblore. A good week of outdoor activity is well fuelled by Christine's great cooking, crafted from home made (mainly organic and local) ingredients. Vegetarians are welcomed.
Hotel Saint Sébastien is situated in just outside the small town of Roquebilliere. Again, family run, with large airy rooms, and has a restaurant and outdoor pool.
Le Chalet or La Bonne Auberge are situated in the town of St Martin Vésubie, a thriving small community that has been the centre of life in the valley since the 12th century. There are plenty of local shops and restaurants to choose from, and the Bonne Auberge has its own restaurant.
What's included
Gîte Based : self catering, no meals or drinks included.
Hotel/Chambre d'Hôte B&B : Breakfasts only - evening meals can be taken at local restaurants, and packed lunches can be purchased at local food stores.
Hotel/Chambre d'Hôte Half Board : All meals, inclusive of packed lunches. Drinks at own cost.
Transport : To and from all venues. To and from Nice airport, aside from gite guests who decide to hire a car during their stay in Berthemont. We offer supermarket visits for self catering guests who do not wish to hire a car.
Activities : See itinerary below. All technical gear is provided. Entry fees where applicable
Itinerary
- Day 1 Arrive Nice airport transfer to hotel accommodation or arrive at the gîte at La Zourcière, Berthemont les Bains.
- Day 2 Mountain Bike day with Patricia. Start in the Valdeblore valley and climb over to Venanson, to end the day back in St Martin Vésubie.
- Day 3 Via Ferrata.Spend the day with Pierrot on one of the best VF’s in the district on Baus de la Frema.
- Day 4 Walk up to the Haute Boréon, and scramble on the superb granite above the refuge to gain the upper reaches of the valley. Descend and stay at the Cougourde C.A.F. refuge.
- Day 5 Return from the Cougourde and relax for the rest of the day, or take in some of the many other options available (at own cost).
- Day 6 The site d’escalade Guy Dufour – a day climbing with Pierrot on good limestone slabs with great short routes of various grades.
- Day 7 La Bollène, the valley that leads up to the Col de Turini has one of the best moderately graded canyons in the area – water slides, abseils, water jumps.
- Day 8 Transfer back to Nice for hotel guests, or leave the trip in Berthemont les Bains.
Suitable for
Your welfare & protection
As a small enterprise, it's very important to us that our guests are professionally looked after during their stay with us.
Your protection : our operational base is in France, and our company in France is registered as a tour operator (habilitation touristique) and holds business failure cover and public liability cover.
Your welfare : all our activities are led by fully qualified local Mountain Guides and International Mountain Leaders (Accompagnateurs), thus ensuring that you receive not only top professional care, but that you will also benefit from their in-depth local knowledge of the regions that we operate in.
Copyright : Spacebetween Alpine Adventures Ltd registered in England, company No : 5154532.
SARL Spacebetween registered in France, siret No : 47784956600013 Habilitation Touristique No : H.A. 006.06.0007