walking & adventure holidays
Parcs sans Frontières - cross border trek into Italy - on two legs
Frontière hop in the Mercantour National Park in France and Italy.
Fly out one afternoon, spend your first night in a chambre d’hôte in St Martin Vésubie, and then spend three days crossing the high cols into Italy and back, staying in CAF or CAI affiliated mountain refuges, before returning to to St Martin Vésubie for a well deserved rest!
The route will take us from the Salèse valley via the Pas de Prefouns on the Italian border, to the refuge at La Questa, we then circle back on the old trail built by one of the Dukes of Turin specifically for hunting via the Baisse de Druos and the Lacs de Terre Rouge to the private refuge at Mollières, where we can enjoy Fred and Maurice’s own brand of local cuisine.
From Mollières, we return via the Salèse again and back down into St Martin Vésubie.
Testimonials
What a come down to normality in the UK. We are all feeling a little low after such an excellent few days we spent with you. Many thanks for your hospitality; our holiday certainly had all the right ingredients and has left us wanting more next year.
Jo, Al & Helen - October 2006
Season
June to end September
Departures to date
2013 : Aug 24; Sep21
Pricing
Gîte and mountain hut : £450
For non-standard periods and programmes, contact us to discuss the options. Read about our flexible way of working.
How to book...
Walking 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 hotel or chambre d'hôte options we are very pleased to work with local establishments 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.
Other accommodation options can be found here
What's included
5 day break, 4 nights accommodation including 2 nights in our gîte, 2 nights in mountain refuges.
All meals included, drinks at own cost.
Transport : To and from Nice airport, and to and from all venues.
Activities : Three days guided trekking.
Itinerary
- Day 1 Arrive Nice airport, transfer to St Martin Vésubie or Valdeblore
- Day 2 Walk from the Salèse valley via Lac Negre, crossing the border at the Pas du Préfouns. Overnight at the C.A.I. refuge at La Questa.
- Day 3 Follow the old hunting track built by one of the Counts of Turin, past the Laghi di Valscura, and back over the frontier at Baisse du Druos. Continue down past the Lacs de Terre Rouge, over Col Merciere, and down to Mollières. Overnight in the private refuge in Mollières.
- Day 4 Return to Valdeblore via Col Ferrière and Lacs des Millefonts. Overnight back at your base on the first night.
- Day 5 Transfer back to Nice.
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.
parcs sans frontières
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Copyright : Spacebetween Alpine Adventures Ltd registered in England, company No : 5154532.
Spacebetween registered in France, siret No : 477 861 900 00025