Tour du Mont Thabor

France’s mountains are not only places of dramatic landscapes and famous trekking routes. They are also living ecosystems where climate, altitude, and geology shape an extraordinary diversity of life. Walk through the French Alps, the Pyrenees, or the volcanic landscapes of the Massif Central and you quickly realise that every altitude has its own rhythm. Dense forests shelter deer and foxes. Open meadows buzz with insects and bloom with alpine flowers. High rocky ridges belong to chamois, ibex, and birds of prey that ride the rising thermals. Trekking in France means moving through these layers of life step by step. A quiet rustle in the grass, the whistle of a marmot, or a single edelweiss growing between rocks can reveal how complex and resilient mountain ecosystems really are. If you want to experience these landscapes up close, explore our hut-to-hut treks in France and discover the country’s mountains on foot.

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 gîtes 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. The Tour du Mont Thabor can be easily divided into segments, making it accessible and enjoyable for the entire family.

In France, culture is not something you visit. It is something you move through. Villages sit quietly between valleys, church bells mark the rhythm of the day, and daily life still follows patterns shaped by landscape and history. But France is not one single story. From the Alps to the Pyrenees, from coastal regions to rural countryside, traditions shift with the terrain. The paths you follow during a hut-to-hut trek in France often pass through places where local customs, seasonal rhythms, and regional identity are still closely connected to the land. To understand France, you have to look beyond its cities. In the mountains especially, traditions are not preserved for visitors. They are part of everyday life, shaped by generations of people living with the same landscapes you are walking through.