Tour du Mont Thabor

The Tour du Mont Thabor, the French Alps' best-kept secret. In Vallée de la Clarée you can find unspoiled Alpine scenery, away from the beaten track, the most hospitable gites and refuges, and to top it all off: The option for a family-friendly trek. Forget the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Walker's Haute Route, and the other big names. Around Mont Thabor you can enjoy quality mountain time without having to take too much time off and without breaking the bank. We wanted to keep it all for ourselves, but happiness is only real when shared. So, allez! Let's discover the Tour du Mont Thabor and the trails of Vallée de la Clarée together! 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 and thus allows an experience for the entire family.

Santiago de Compostela is well known to everyone. For over 1,000 years pilgrims have walked to this place to visit the tomb of the apostle James in the cathedral. The Camino Francés is the most popular route to complete this journey. The Camino Francés starts in France and has a length of 784 kilometres. To complete the trek in its entirety, you need a lot of time! That's why in this blog post we focus mainly on the last 100 kilometres of the route, the distance required for a compostela. Curious? Bookatrekking.com tells you everything you need to know about the Camino Francés!The Camino Francés is one of the routes to Santiago de Compostela and, as mentioned, the most frequently chosen variant. The route starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France and takes you across the Pyrenees to Spain. Along the way, you pass cities such as Pamplona and Burgos and walk along elongated paths. Surrounded by lavender and wheat fields and perhaps a snow-covered mountain peak, you can let your mind wander to finally bring your journey to a close in Santiago de Compostela.

At only a stone's throw from Nice and the Mediterranean coast, you can find a mountain range with the striking name Les Alpes Maritimes. In these mountains, you can find Mercantour National Park, one of the most beautiful national parks France has to offer. With peaks of over 3000m and valleys formed by ancient glacial streams, Mercantour provides the perfect backdrop for your next mountain adventure. It's in Mercantour where hikers of all ages and abilities will be able to find an unparalleled hiking experience. Are you ready to discover one of France's best-kept secrets? Allez! Some of the options in Mercantour National Park even take you across the border to Italy. From other destinations that we like so much, like the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Alta Via 1 or the Alta Via 2, we know it's always great to do a little Italian escape. The food in an Italian Rifugio is always fantastic. Before we get carried away by Refuge cuisine, let's take a closer look at our possibilities when hiking in Mercantour. What does this area make special? What hiking options are there? What about accommodation in Mercantour? We'll answer all your questions!