Tour of the Oisans

This tour is also called the Tour of the Ecrins and is located in southeastern France very close to the border with Italy.  Ecrins is the name given to the mountains of this area and also to the national park located here, one of ten in the country of France. Oisans is the name of a region covering a good portion of the path of this circuit. I rate this route difficult primarily due to a few stages which are very, very long.  Hut-to-hut hikers may be more familiar with long distance routes that partially pass through France such as the Tour of Mont Blanc or the Haute Route.  But the Tour of the Oisans would be considered by many the premier all-French circuit.  The route visits several charming mountain hamlets and the distance and elevation are significant, allowing you to enjoy views of amazing mountains at many points along the trail.  Not least of these is the grand Meije, one of the most beautiful of all French massifs.  I prefer to hike this route in July even though you might encounter snow at the high passes.  The area is typically greener at this time of year and wild flowers abound.  If I had to pick my favorites of all my favorite tours covered on this site, this circuit would make the cut.

The Meije

Narrow streets of Briancon

Day 0     Briancon

Briancon is not actually ON the tour but is very near and it would be a shame to leave this region without a visit here.  This is the highest city in France (where the definition of city is anything exceeding 2000 in population).  Its historical center is an old walled town built in the 17th century to defend against the Austrians.  The newer town lies at the base of the walls and extends out into the plain.  The city walls and several buildings have been classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.  Stay right in the old city at Residence du Temple which is actually a building with several small but comfortable rental apartments.  It is run by a couple who own the bar/restaurant on the ground floor, the Spirit Bar.  The bar serves good food and wine in a casual setting.  For a more gourmet experience, head to Le Peche Gourmand in the new section of town.  It is very straight forward to catch an early morning bus from Briancon to Monetier les Bains where your hike begins.  If you prefer to stay the night at Monetier, Gite Le Flourou is a nice yet affordable choice and the restaurant Maison Alliey serves good classic French brasserie-style food.  

Day 1     Monetier les Bains to Vallouise

Some recommend a route from Monetier to a village slightly off the main circuit called Ailefroide which adds an extra day to your tour.  If your curiosity is getting the best of you, you might want to take this deviation.  I did not, however, find Ailefroide or the hike there to be particularly wonderful so I suggest instead making Vallouise your first day’s destination.  The day is not hard or steep but is very long so get an early start.  The first part of the path is a pleasant uphill through forest but later turns to ski terrain with its evident scars.  You arrive at and leave the pass via a gradual but uninteresting trail.  This is not the most beautiful stage of the tour by any means but rest assured that it is not representative of what is to come.  Later in the day you finally meet a road where you find a buvette and a small chapel.  Buvette in French means a small place serving refreshment (and sometimes food) and they seem to appear at just the right time.  The final two hours of walking are a slog so try to avoid them by either calling a taxi (the buvette listed a phone number at last passing) or by hitchhiking.  Vallouise is a charming village with a beautiful old chapel on the square.  Stay at Gite d’etape l’Aigliere.  There are many types of gites (basic lodging) in France but gites d’etape, which accommodate you for as little as one night, are usually the most appropriate for this kind of travel.  L’Aigliere is a particularly welcoming and comfortable one.  Eat at La Table de Nany. 

Refuge Pre de la Chaumette

Day 2     Vallouise to Refuge Pre de la Chaumette

 The gite can help arrange a taxi or minivan ride up the road to Entre-les-Aigues to cut off the first 6 miles of road walking.  You are still facing a long day but one that is attainable.  And a spectacular day it is, starting with a few hours of beautiful ascent through a long valley toward the Col Martin.  The last hour of ascent is slightly exposed and tricky if snow remains on the trail.  Keep your head down and continue step by step, hopefully with hiking sticks to help maintain your balance.  One summer we encountered a great deal of snow still surrounding the pass.  As the path got steeper towards the top around a cropping of boulders, I took a step that sent me sinking down to crotch level, tilting slightly backward in the snow. With my pack on and at the angle I was perched, I was stuck but good.  I decided not to risk the attempt to break free on my own as there was a steep drop of several hundred feet just below me.  I waited instead for my hiking partner to return and help free me.  No injuries, just a bit of excitement and two cold, wet legs.  After the first major pass, you contour around to another notch and begin your descent to the hut.  There are many welcome switchbacks to ease the downhill.  Refuge Pre de la Chaumette is one of those large, functional huts which you are glad to see but are not particularly charmed by.  Dorm rooms sleep 12 per room (hope you have your ear plugs) and the food is average.  Nevertheless, it is still an opportunity to enjoy a hot shower, a glass of wine, and hopefully meet some interesting people.

Day 3     Refuge de la Chaumette to La Chapelle en Valgaudemar 

This is an absolutely fantastic stage, starting high and never losing too much elevation as you pass over three cols.  Again, the day is long.  If you wanted to shorten it, you could stay at Refuge Vallonpierre which you reach soon after the third col.  The last 1 1/2 hours of your hike is on the road leading down the valley to La Chapelle.  Do yourself a favor and “faire stop” (hitchhike) the last part.  I rarely hitchhike in the United States for safety reasons but I can’t imagine a safer place to thumb a ride than in the mountains of western Europe.  In the Alps, it is common for hikers to complete a long stage ending with a bit of road by hitching a ride.  I have done it numerous times, usually get a ride in less than an hour, and enjoy the added benefit of interesting conversation with like-minded travelers.  La Chapelle is a nice mountain town with all the services you need, including a very good small grocery store.  There is a gite in town but it is not too inviting and doesn’t serve meals.  Stay and eat instead at at Hotel Mont Olan right in the center of the village.  It is a warm, old-style European hotel with excellent food.

Day 4     La Chapelle en Valgaudemar to Le Desert  

Yet another wonderful stage today and, yes, it is long.  You can save yourself about 45 minutes of road walking by catching the early bus down the valley (usually taking children to school) or by arranging a taxi to Villar-Loubiere.  Doesn’t seem like much walking to cut out but I’ll bet that you’ll be happy you did at day’s end.  Enjoy the long, pleasant hike to the pass with amazing views of the surrounding mountains.  You reach a small hut, Refuge des Souffles, after 2 1/2 hours.  The location is unbelievable and makes for a nice coffee break to enjoy the scenery.  Don’t stay long, though, because you have many steps ahead of you.  The descent is somewhat tortuous at 1300 meters.  A fellow hiker from Scotland appropriately termed it a knee-banger.  Le Desert is an okay little village but probably the least charming of the tour.  The gite here is cramped and a little on the dumpy side.  Stay instead at wonderful Auberge de l’Eterlou.  You might forget the pain in your knees as you partake of the food and wine at this charming little place with two rooms. Reserve ahead as always.

Valsenestre

Day 5     Le Desert to Valsenestre

It’s nice today to have a relatively short and gradual hike which just happens to be sandwiched in between two hard days.  Take in the views and enjoy the good trail beneath which is often soft underfoot.  You will be rewarded in Valsenestre with a superb gite, Gite de Valsenestre.  There is not much else in this small village but you will not need much else.  The gite owners provide warm hospitality, clean and comfortable rooms, and excellent food.  

Day 6     Valsenestre to Bourg d’Oisans

This is an extremely long day and some consider it to be the most difficult of the tour.  That being said, there is nothing technical about it.  Be sure to get an early start and pay attention to the weather.  The last 45 minutes of the ascent are very steep but quite doable in good weather.  I would not want to tackle this pass in bad weather though, especially coming from the other direction which would require doing the steepest section on the descent.  The downhill going our direction is not as challenging as the ascent, just long. Much of it follows a beautiful, cascading stream.  You descend to the villages of Bourg d’Arud and Venosc where you can hitch or take the early evening bus to Bourg d’Oisans.  Bourg d’Oisans is the largest town of the Ecrins and many choose to make it their starting and ending point.  It’s nice and certainly has all the services you need, but depending on the season, you might find it a bit hectic and crowded compared to the more serene villages in the region.  The B&B I like the best is Les Petites Sources.  The only drawback is that it is a bit more than a mile from town in the quiet suburb of Le Vert.  If the distance puts you off, look into Chalet La Source which rents a nice studio apartment right in town.  The best restaurant by far is La Muzelle.  If you are spending more than one night, I would eat here every night.  If you are in the pizza mood and must have a change of pace, Chez Les Filles is not bad.  There is an alternative to staying in Bourg d’Oisans which is well worth considering, especially if you prefer smaller, quieter villages.  Grab a taxi and head on up to Alpe d’Huez which is part way along your next stage.  This is a charming hamlet with a wonderful gite, Le Florineige.

View of the Ecrins mountains from Alpe d’Huez

Day 7     Bourg d’Oisans to Besse  

You have now arrived at the famous hairpin turns which take you northeast from Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez, route of many past Tours de France.  If you were cycle touring, you would absolutely have to ride the hallowed ground from Bourg to Alpe d’Huez, even if it meant some trudging and pushing of your bike.  But since you are traveling by foot, your best strategy is to take the bus up to Alpe d’Huez. I chose to hike the path which follows along next to the road one year just because I had to see what it was like.  It’s not that it is so difficult, just uninteresting. You will want to invest your time and energy on more beautiful sections of the tour.  Today’s walk is not terribly demanding, and weather permitting, there will be nice views of the Meije massif after the col.  Your destination is the sweet and authentic hamlet of Besse.  There are no cars allowed here.  It is the most wonderful village of the tour and there is a nice gite to enhance your stay.  Gite Le Sarret is more like a small hotel with good beds and very good food.  Look for the tiny traditional bakery not far from the gite.  If you hit it lucky, they will be open the next morning and you can stop in for a treat as you leave for your hike.

Day 8     Besse to La Grave

You absolutely must do all that you can to ensure good weather for today’s hike.  Make offerings to the gods, do a yoga sun salutation, or hang prayer flags.  Whatever it takes because today will present spectaular views of the glorious Meije pinnacles and glaciers as you hike along a high balcony route.  The mountain will be far away but it will appear close enough to reach out and touch.  You may encounter a few day trippers along this section, each photographing endlessly as they walk.  You reach the small village of Chazelet on your way down.  It is your sign that there is not much farther to go and perhaps it will call out to you as a fine place for a break and a little refreshment.  La Grave is your resting place for the night.  This village is famous in its own right as a mountaineering and skiing center.  For decades it has offered access via gondola to some of the most challenging off-piste ski terrain in the Alps.  It still wonderfully maintains a mountain-town feel about it.  Don’t consider staying or eating anywhere else except Au Vieux Guide, a small gite in the center of town which was established years ago by a famous local guide and is, at time of this writing, still managed by his wife.  The atmosphere in the cozy dining room with community tables is as warm and charming as it gets.  I hope the original owner/manager is still there and serving her delicious scalloped potatoes of which I had three servings.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will say again that you must reserve ahead.  The place is small and the overflow sleeping room is not as nice as the others.

Day 9     La Grave to Monetier-les-Bains

Would it be any surprise to you to learn that your final day of this circuit is a long one?  Probably not.  If you wanted to shorten it by an hour or so, you could catch a taxi from La Grave to the next village of Villar-d’Arene.  The route today is absolutely wonderful.  For a while you are walking very close to the river Romanche, later in the day through woodland and also through areas strewn with boulders.  A bit past your half-way point for the day, you reach Refuge de l’Alpe du Villar-d’Arene (quite a mouthful).  Treat yourself to lunch here to celebrate the completion of your tour.  Monetier-les-Bains is a ski town and one of the larger villages in the area.  It has lost some of its charm but it still has a lot to offer.  Settle in at Gite Le Flourou and make a toast to the French and their wonderful Tour of the Oisans.

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