Start: Modane, France
End: Modane, France
Season Dates: 15 July to 15 Sept 2024
Length: 7 days' walking, 8 nights
Typical walk: 12.5km, 700m ascent, 660m descent
Total distance: 88km or 55 miles
Highest altitude: 2,796m at the Col de la Chaviere
Grade: Purple 3 (Walking grades)
Group size: 4-8 people
Our Tour of the Vanoise South trip is a 1-week walking holiday following the Southern circuit of our longer 11-stage Tour of the Vanoise. This particular loop is the most popular hiking circuit in the Vanoise National Park, and is more well known by its French name Le Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise. It is a spectacular high-level route in the French Alps, encompassing the many glaciers, lakes and mountain passes of the Vanoise National Park. It runs along sections of the GR5 and the GR55 long distance trails to create its own circuit. Located between the Mont Blanc and the Ecrin Massifs, the Vanoise is home to 107 peaks over 3,000m, providing the mountain backdrop to this trip.
Our 7-stage tour is primarily a hut-to-hut circuit, staying in 5 traditional mountain huts with 1 night in the bustling town of Pralognan-La-Vanoise at the end of stage 5. This trip will take you on an immersive journey past the Vanoise glaciers, glistening lakes and over the rocky terrain of high mountain passes. Look out for marmottes, ibex, eagles and even shy chamois as you walk through the protected national park. The combination of environments, wildlife watching cosy huts, and delicious food makes for a great walking holiday.
Hike in the company of one of our International Mountan Leaders (IML). Our IMLs are fully qualified mountain professionals who are extremely experienced on this route and other treks around the world. This allows you to relax and enjoy the walking, not having to think about logistics, whilst benefitting from their extensive knowledge; be that mountain flora, fauna, glaciers, the history of the area, or simply where does the best coffee! Our guides have vast experience in managing groups on the hill, which helps facilitate a full and challenging trip for each and every person.
Arrival day: Arrive in Modane
Your trip starts on arrival at your hotel in Modane. Easily reached by road and rail, Modane is also well placed on the trail for a practical start to the hike. There are supermarkets to stock up on supplies before an evening meal in a local restaurant.
Hotel in Modane (1050m) (breakfast)
Stage 1: Modane to Refuge de l'Orgere Blue 2 (grade) 5.8km with 885m ascent, 0m descent
Find your mountain legs with a sustained climb out of the valley and into the mountains proper. The day is short so you have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the walking. Most of the ascent is in trees; however, your hard work is rewarded by the views which open up as you ascend. Once at the top, there is a real mountain feel and a fantastic taste of what’s to come!
Mountain hut (1935m) (breakfast and dinner)
Stage 2: Refuge de l’Orgère to Refuge de Plan Sec Red 3 (grade) 12km with 770m ascent, 395m descent
A climb through trees leads to a traverse across open hillsides, and the best distant views so far. Having sighted the day’s destination across the valley, the second half of the day involves a circuit high above two lakes to reach the hut. Enjoy the views from the cosy Refuge de Plan Sec at the end of the day, perched high on the hillside.
Mountain hut (2316m) (dinner and breakfast)
Stage 3: Refuge de Plan Sec to Refuge de l’Arpont Red 3 (grade) 16km with 670m ascent, 540m descent
A day of gentle ups and downs, and long traverses across the hillsides. Today’s stage makes significant progress around the National Park with views ahead, behind, above, below and out across the valley. The second half of the day sees rougher country, until the final combe with the Refuge at the far side.
Mountain hut (2309m) (dinner and breakfast)
Stage 4: Refuge de l’Arpont to Refuge Entre Deux Eaux Red 3 (grade) 11.5km with 510m ascent, 690m descent
Another day of stupendous views, possibly better than the previous stage. Rough and rocky terrain gives way to grassier combes and glacial valleys. The day’s destination can be seen for much of the first half, but the route takes a long loop around the head of the Doron gorge.
Mountain hut (2120m) (dinner and breakfast)
Stage 5: Refuge Entre Deux Eaux to Pralognan-la-Vanoise Red 3 (grade) 14.4km with 415m ascent, 1150m descent
A day spent going from wild mountain scenery to a traditional small town typical of the Vanoise. The mountain views around the Col de la Vanoise are superb, and the long descent passes quickly with the help of the Lac des Vaches. Arrive at the lively village of Pralognan which has all that's required without the modern architecture of the previous stage. We love Pralognan!
Hotel in Pralognan-la-Vanoise (1418m) (breakfast)
Stage 6: Pralognan-la-Vanoise to Refuge de Péclet-Polset Blue 3 (grade) 13.6km with 1070m ascent, 0m descent
A relatively relaxed day today despite the height gain as most of the day is spent on good tracks and paths. The route traverses pretty countryside before climbing steadily up-valley and into the mountains with Pointe de l’Echelle in view ahead. The route feels wilder as you continue to climb to your home for the night: the futuristic refuge of Péclet-Polset.
Mountain hut (2474m) (dinner and breakfast)
Stage 7: Refuge de Péclet-Polset to Modane Purple 3 (grade) 14.4km with 320m ascent, 1750m descent
This stage traverses the Col de Chavière, the last and highest col on the Tour of the Vanoise South, and also the highest col crossed by any of the GR routes. And a grand setting it is. Once beyond, it is downhill almost all the way to Modane. Enjoy this final stage.
Hotel in Modane (1050m) (breakfast)
Departure day: Depart from Modane
Relax over breakfast and maybe visit the l'Entree Monumentale - a monument with a life-sized steam train recording the history of the first tunnel through the Alps. Depart for the airport or your further travels.
Scheduled Guided Trip Dates
Please join our guided Tour of the Vanoise South trip in 2024:
Our scheduled guided Tour fo the Vanoise South trip follows our normal schedule of 7 stages and 8 nights accommodation. We use our classic mix of accommodation for our scheduled guided trips. The maximum group number at any one point will be 8 clients to 1 Alpine Exploratory Inernational Mountain Leader.
Although the walking dates on our scheduled guided trips are fixed, we'd be very happy to book extra nights in Modane before or after your trip for you to explore the area a little more. Please do just ask for more details.
Private Guided
We would be delighted to plan a privately guided trip for your family or group of friends at any time within our walking season. We will find you a guide and book your accommodation on the dates you choose. You will have full flexibility over the length of your trip, your choice of accommodation and your dates. Please see our self-guided page for full details of the options available.
Join us any time in our season from: 15 July to 15 Sept 2024
Prices
Tour of the Vanoise South
15 July to 17 Sept 2023
Classic
Comfy
7 stages
(8 nights)
GBP 1,690
Singles 90 Main Trip
Private trips only
Baggage transfer
Not availabke on this route
Accommodation
Where we stay
Our classic mix of accommodation aims to give the best of both worlds; rustic huts in the mountains and friendly hotels in the towns. As standard our classic trip includes 5 nights in huts, and the remaining 3 nights in 3* hotels. Please note that Modane is more of a practical place to start the trip, rather than a quaint Alpine town.
Huts
Our classic 7-stage trip stays in 5 mountain huts. Private rooms are available at only 2 huts (Refuge Plan Sec and Refuge de L'Arpont), depending on the availability at the time of booking. Please note that Refuge Arpont only has 1 private room (1 double bed). Then the other 3 huts only offer the option of domitory accommodation in bunk beds. The dormitories are all of small size (4 to 8 people), except for at the Refuge Peclet-Polset which only offers large dormitory places in 12-person rooms.
It is impossible to avoid dormitories entirely on the Vanoise tour, given that this is foremost a hut-to-hut trip. We suggest staying in all 5 huts, as they contribute to the overall Alpine experience and are the natural stopping points along the route. They also offer a wonderful communal spirit, and are situated in the best locations.
Comfy
Due to the hut-to-hut nature of the trail and the limited number of hotels in the towns and villages, a comfier schedule is hard to achieve. We can offer a hotel upgrade to a 4* hotel in Pralognan-la-Vanoise, and to make your trip comfier, we can offer to book private rooms at 2 huts (Refuge Plan Sec and Refuge de L'Arpont) if they are available at the time of booking.
Hutty
Our trip is already quite 'hutty', meaning that we do not offer a dedicated 'hutty' option for the Vanoise. It may be possible in the towns and villages to swap hotels for auberges or to book a more basic hotel. Please ask us if you'd like to explore the more basic accommodation options.
Single Room Supplement
The single room supplement covers the higher cost of single occupancy of a room at the hotels (3 on this trip). The huts do not offer any single rooms, so we will book shared dormitories on the other nights.
The futuristic hut of Refuge de Péclet-Polset
Route
Looking back down at the steep ascent to Col de la ChaviereOur approach to the Tour of the Vanoise South
The Southern circuit follows the typical 7-day Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise circuit as advertised by the Vanoise National Park. Alpine Exploratory's version offers some differences in our stopovers points whilst sticking to the main route. The Tour of the Vanoise South is a popular trail in Summer, especially with French people on holiday in the mountains.
Latest research on the Tour of the Vanoise South by Alpine Exploratory's Claire.
The Terrain
The Tour of the Vanoise trail is made up of sections of the GR5 and GR55 long distance trails which results in clear trails throughout. The terrain can be steep and rocky on some sections, particularly on the rocky ascent to the Col de Chaviere on the final stage. This is complemented by the more relaxing sections of contouring hillside paths and tracks with some rockier sections to keep you entertained.
There are some small sections of steep, loose ground requiring care and also short sections of exposed ground with chains to hold. These should not present a problem to most mountain walkers and there are no via ferrata or climbing sections. In early or late Summer, there is a good chance of snow patches lying on the higher paths which will require care, but the lower paths are likely to be snow-free. We provide information on snow in our Season Update each July.
Is it for me?
The Tour of the Vanoise South is a wonderful trail and often cited as one of the best multi-day hiking trails in the Alps. It provides outstanding views throughout and is less busy than the neighbouring trails of the Tour du Mont Blanc to the North and the Tour de l'Oisans (Ecrins) to the South. The trail is a mix of challenging days on rough mountain paths and easier days on solid tracks. The route also includes a great mix of accommodation with 5 characterful mountain huts giving a remote mountain feel to the trail and 2 friendly hotels in the towns allowing for rest and relaxation.
This route suits those with good overall fitness and experience of multi-day hikes in the mountains. You will also need the ability to walk for up to 6 to 8 hours per day over rocky ground. If you are very fit and active day-to-day, then the Vanoise can also be suitable for those relatively new to multi-day trekking, although previous mountain walking experience is still necessary. The main challenge of the Vanoise, aside from the daily distance, is the amount of ascent and descent with just over 7,000m of ascent over 7-stages.
The route is generally well signposted and waymarked by yellow signposts, aiding navigation, although a map and compass is needed for navigation in case of bad weather such as low cloud. This is particularly important on the higher rockier sections such the Col de Chavière on the last stage. It is important that at least 1 person in each group can navigate with a map and compass. We provide you with our routecards, providing detailed descriptions of each days’ walk, along with the topographical maps for the full route.
A level of self-sufficiency on the Vanoise is necessary as transfer bags (an optional extra) cannot be delivered to the huts. On hut nights you’ll need to carry everything you need for that days’ walk and the day after. But with plenty of huts and chalets along the way, delicious food is easy to come by. All of the huts also offer the option to buy a packed lunch for the following day too. Our routecards also point out refreshment stops.
Difficulty
We grade the Tour of the Vanoise South as a Purple 3. This trail is first and foremost a walk and there are no glacier crossings, via ferrata or rock climbing. There are however a few sections of steep and rocky ground which require steady foot placement. There are also a number of sections such as the Col de Chavière on the last stage where the route becomes rocky and crosses a number of scree slopes requiring steady foot placement.
Your holiday starts and ends in Modane, which is a medium-size working town in a major valley linking France and Italy. It has solid road and rail links. The most convenient airports are Lyon and Turin; Geneva has many more Summer flights but is a longer rail or coach journey. Be prepared to travel 2-4 hours to reach Modane depending on the route. Train and bus connections are also possible from Chambery, Grenoble and Paris. We describe the various options in our Trip Notes and please ask if you'd like earlier advice.
Travel to and from the trip is not included in the holiday price, and we leave you to arrange your transfers individually. We do however take care to give the most useful notes possible about all travel options. We supply these both on booking in your Trip Notes, and in your info pack which we send out prior to your trip. We also offer personalised tips based on our extensive travels across Europe; please ask us for advice and we'll be happy to help!
Included
Bespoke accommodation itinerary - tailored to suit your preferences
Dinner and a packed lunch at the huts (5 nights on our standard trip)
The 2 French topographical maps (1:25,000)
Expert advice and local information
Full support during your trip from the Alpine Exploratory team (9am until 9pm in the Alps)
Not included
Travel to and from Modane
Local transport during the trip
Travel insurance
Lunches, snacks, drinks and evening meals in the towns (2 nights on our standard trip)
Got questions about the Tour of the Vanoise South?
Feel free to ask us any questions you have about any aspects of your planning and preparations! Lucy, Steph, Nicky, Rob, Evie, Ben and Amy will reply with expert advice. We spend a lot of time walking our routes and more broadly exploring ski and hiking trails around the world so do feel free to ask anything at all.
Enquiry Form Tour of the Vanoise South Guided
If you prefer, please feel welcome to email or call us. Thanks!
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Since Alpine Exploratory started in 2005 we have loved getting to know our clients from around the world. Along with the UK, our best-represented countries are the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Please use our national-rate numbers for a cheaper call to contact our office in Edinburgh.
The Alpine Exploratory team in Edinburgh
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Tour of the Vanoise South
TMBg1 3 to 10 August 2024 
Walking Guide to the Tour of the Vanoise - our detailed guide
Lac des Vaches
Alpine Exploratory
+44 (0)131 214 1144
