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The Vallée de la Clarée - Family Friendly

Duration: 3 days

Trails: T2 trails

Distance: 0 - 10 km per day

Ascent per day: 250 - 500 m ascent per day

Hut-to-Hut

Families

Alps

Overview
Itinerary
What's Included
FAQ
Reviews

> Hike our 3-day alternative of the Tour du Mont Thabor itinerary together with your children!
> Short and crisp but long enough for everyone to take it all in
> Don't worry about booking the accommodations, we got that covered

The 3-day Vallée de la Clarée trek is perfect for some family-friendly hiking adventures and a short alternative for the Tour du Mont Thabor and GR57. The Grande Randonnée (GR57) is better known as the Tour du Mont Thabor. This is a loop around the lesser known but still very prominent Mont Thabor, in Vallée de la Clarée in the Hautes-Alpes. Vallée de la Clarée is a sheltered, dead-end valley north of the fortified town of Briancon, on the border between France and Italy and forms part of the unspoilt Massif des Cerces. There are no ski slopes or other large-scale tourism, this valley is there only for hikers, cyclists, and other nature lovers. When doing the full circuit, you can expect a total distance of around 85 kilometers and more than 5,000 meters of elevation gain. You don't have to, though. Tour du Mont Thabor is easily broken up into pieces thus allows an experience for the entire family.

Itinerary

Day

From Névache to Refuge du Chardonnet

Duration: 03:05 h

Distance: 7.25 km

Ascent: 660 m

Descent: 30 m

Today, you depart from Névache to your first refuge for the night, Refuge du Chardonnet. It does come with a nice steep climb to get the legs moving. Over a distance of about 7 kilometers, you are tackling over 600 meters of vertical gain. If you start early, you are likely to have most of the afternoon at Refuge du Chardonnet to yourselves. You can use this time to discover the area and enjoy the views surrounding the refuge.

Refuge du Chardonnet

Info

Day

Refuge du Chardonnet - Refuge de Ricou

Duration: 01:55 h

Distance: 4.2 km

Ascent: 240 m

Descent: 370 m

What goes up, must come down. Today you descend via partly the same trail from yesterday. In the valley, you walk parallel to the stream Clarée through a beautiful larch forest. The water of the stream may look tempting, but it can get really cold. On your right, you will find the small hamlet of Fontcouverte. From here, it is a steady uphill walk to Refuge de Ricou at 2,115 meters.

Refuge de Ricou

Info

Day

Refuge de Ricou to Névache

Duration: 04:30 h

Distance: 11 km

Ascent: 250 m

Descent: 770 m

We ascend a little further before we make a gentle and long descent back to Névache. Today, you have two options. Either you go see the Lac Laramon, or you make a few extra steps out to Lac Serpent, further up the slope. Both offer stunning views. It's as if you're at Lac Blanc at Mont Blanc! The way back to Névache offers an undulating descent back to the starting point.

Included

Booking the huts

We will take care of arranging accommodation on the Tour du Mont Thabor for you. We will also provide you with a detailed itinerary for every stage and instructions on how to get to the trailhead.
Full travel guide

We will send you on your way with a digital travel guide that includes a route description for the Tour du Mont Thabor, interactive hiking maps, and the most important information applicable to your trek
Half-board

Accommodation at the huts includes dinner and breakfast. We will arrange this for you as well. This allows you to travel lighter and have one less thing to worry about. Bear in mind that lunch is not included, but it can be purchased at the huts. Here you can also buy an array of snacks and bottled water.
Accommodation

During your Tour du Mont Thabor, you will spend your nights in mountain huts. You'll sleep here in dormitories, as the booked mountain huts don't have any private rooms.

Excluded

Traveling to and from

You have to make your own way to the starting point. The total amount does not include personal transport.
Transfers

Should you need any form of (public) transport on location, this is not part of the trekking package. This includes the use of taxi, bus, cable cars, gondolas etc.
Lunch

Half-board is included in the price of this trek. Lunch, however, is not. You can get something to eat at the mountain huts along the way.
Travel Insurance

Your international travel insurance is your own responsibility. Discuss your itinerary with the insurance company before your trek.
Personal expenses

Personal expenses on such as souvenirs, drinks, and other similar expenses are for your own account.

Destinations

Trekking Type

The Vallée de la Clarée - Family Friendly