> Forest paths, waterfalls, and sweeping views
> Spend the night in two iconic Gran Paradiso huts
> Hike from shaded woodland to a high-alpine lake
There’s a moment early in the hike that catches you off guard. One step you’re deep in the forest, and the next you break above the treeline: light floods in, the air feels thinner, and the whole valley opens up below you. Ahead, the sharp ridges of Gran Paradiso rise in quiet majesty. It’s a moment that sticks. For many, this is when the journey becomes something more than a walk in the mountains.
What follows is a beautifully paced route through broad alpine terrain. The trail leads you up to Rifugio Chabod, perched with a front-row seat to the glacier, then on to Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II, where a green lake stretches below and a hidden tarn rests behind the hut. These are classic rifugios, surrounded by silence, rock, and sky. The final descent back to Valsavarenche takes you through flowered meadows and back into the larch woods. This is a short, beginner-friendly trek — but with all the emotion, drama, and wildness of the real Alps.
The walk begins at the bus stop in Pravieux on a wide, comfortable track through open meadows with a few small farm buildings. The ground is flat at first, and you gently follow the valley toward the forest at the base of the mountain, with the first hints of the climb ahead.
Once you reach the trees, the ascent starts in earnest. A long series of short, steady switchbacks winds through light larch forest on a clear path of dirt and small stones. Higher up, the trees thin out and the slopes open. The trail makes wider bends across grassy and rocky ground, then turns more alpine, crossing a mix of grass, gravel, and small rocks while remaining easy to follow.
Near the end, the terrain grows rockier, with only small patches of grass left and a slightly steeper but still straightforward climb. Soon the refuge appears on a flat platform above you. The path leads directly to the terrace where Rifugio Frédéric Chabod stands, a natural place to pause and look back over the valley.
Today's stage begins at Rifugio Frédéric Chabod on a clear path that first drops gently over open high-alpine terrain. You walk across a mix of grass patches, rock slabs and scattered stones, with the trail keeping a steady, obvious line away from the hut before turning into a gradual climb.
Higher up, you move over wide, smooth rock plates and loose stones, then onto a broad rocky plateau with stone fields and small strips of grass. The trail winds lightly through this open landscape, passes several natural viewpoints on rock ridges with wide views toward the Nivolet valley, and never becomes technical.
Closer to Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II, the path softens into a gentle descent onto the plateau. You walk above Lago di Moncorvé, the long green-blue lake below the hut, while the track stays wide and stable. At the hut itself, a second, smaller lake appears just behind the building on the upper side of the plateau.
The route starts at Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II and follows the same wide path you used on the way up. It begins as a gentle descent across open alpine terrain with scattered rocks and grass patches. The ground is mostly even, the trail is clear, and the view slowly opens toward the lower valley.
The path then drops steadily over rock slabs and compact dirt above Lago di Moncorvé before easing onto softer ground with more grass and soil. Long traverses lead to a series of well-built zigzags that bring you down toward the tree line. Lower down, the route passes a small waterfall just off the trail, then continues through denser woodland on a clear, steady path.
As the trees open, the trail joins a wider track near the Torrent Savara riverbed and briefly crosses open meadows. The ground levels out and you follow a broad gravel road toward the valley floor. The stage ends at the parking area near Albergo Gran Paradiso, where a bus stop next to the hotel marks the end of the walk.
