(Hill) Walking in France

Mark Manning said:

All being well, I shall be off to France for a week in July, base camping and walking. As a
keen fellwalker, I'd personally be looking for something of about Lake District standard; but
the friend I'm going with might prefer something a bit gentler.

Any suggestions of places to head for, not more than a long day's drive from the Calais
ferry?

Many thanks in advance for suggestions! Mark

Coast path around Brittany. North-east bit was enjoyable when I did it for a week, about a 12-15
miles a day for a week. However, its not fells :-) You might want to swap to a western channel
crossing to reduce the driving.

Inland areas might be a bit hot (for someone used to the UK) in July. The Vosges (have I spelt that
right ?) area (south of Strassbourg) is probably lake district height hills. Very well marked paths,
much of it in forest, so lots of shade to hide from the hottest parts of the day. Might be what
you're looking for.

--
NC - Webmaster for 2mm.org.uk2mm.org.ukOpen ↗ Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

Mark Manning said:

All being well, I shall be off to France for a week in July, base camping and walking. As a
keen fellwalker, I'd personally be looking for something of about Lake District standard; but
the friend I'm going with might prefer something a bit gentler.

Any suggestions of places to head for, not more than a long day's drive from the Calais
ferry?

Many thanks in advance for suggestions! Mark

Your query is very general, I would need to know how gentle can be "a bit gentler" and what is a
"long day's drive" from Calais.

If you are looking for real hills, Vosges can be a bit disappointing : they are reasonably high but
rather eroded, more similar to the Pennines in county Durham than to the Lake District. And there
are quite big crowds in summer at the highspots (at the finest part of the ridge, there is a road
along the hill crest...).

If you are looking simply for countryside, reasonably hilly, I would strongly recommend the Ardennes
along the Belgian border ; see an example of what can be found there at
lavaurs.com0521Open ↗

If you are looking for "real" mountains, the Auvergne is about 350 km south of Paris (Calais -
Clermont = 720 km) ; some steeper hillsides can be found there, though quite locally only, and the
countryside is great see an example of the place at lavaurs.com0359Open ↗

If you are ready to travel so long a distance, it would be worth to go to the Alps proper. I don't
know whether you have been there already, but it is really something else... Haute-Savoie must be
about 800 km from Calais, and there you will find places like lavaurs.com0849Open ↗
with opportunities of (relative) loneliness.

Pierre Lavaurs wrote:

...

Quoted message said:

If you are ready to travel so long a distance, it would be worth to go to the Alps proper.

....

Or to the Pyrenees. The only thing they lack is all the glaciers and 4000m summits, but from your
description it does not sound as if you were after these. Otherwise, they are quieter and the towns
and villages (st least on the Spanish side, where I have been) seem more traditional than many
alpine resorts.

However, this probably doesn't help you, because both the Alps and the Pyrenees are rather more
serious than the Lakes and a bit of a drive from Calais.

Stefan

Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I'm also grateful to Pierre Lavaurs for the Web
references. Time to sit down with a map and see where we want to go.

Many thanks again. Mark
--
Mark Manning [email hidden]

Mark Manning said:

Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I'm also grateful to Pierre Lavaurs for the Web
references. Time to sit down with a map and see where we want to go.

And one more suggestion: have a look at the Cantal, Massif Central. That's the sort of scale you
were looking for, smaller than the Alps and the Pyrennees, and more inhabitated/farmed, but with
some nice tops and ridges.

Roos

Brittany coastal path is good. The Masif Central is a great walking holiday
- get hold of the Lonely Planet Walking France guid

But try the Pyrenees and you won't need to drive. Fly Ryannair from Stansted to Pau and by train
and bus you'll be in the mountains by early evening. You can walk to your hearts content and never
use a car!