Tour des Écrins

Hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) is more than just an adventure through stunning landscapes. Along the way, you’ll cross paths with hikers from all over the world and sleep at local huts where you can enjoy the feeling of truly being in the mountains. I recently completed the Bookatrekking.com TMB hut-to-hut hike in early September 2024 as a solo female hiker. Over the course of 10 days, I trekked 176 km through three countries. The experience was amazing, with great weather and fewer crowds than in peak season. Continue reading for my personal experience and some practical tips I’d like to share with you.

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 if you want to go hiking in the Mercantour National Park. What does this area make special? What hiking options are there? What about accommodation in Mercantour? We'll answer all your questions!