In the Tarentaise valley, only a few miles from Courchevel and Méribel, the Huttopia Bozel en Vanoise campsite is ideally located for experiencing all that the Vanoise National Park has to offer with family or friends.
Between the Maurienne and Tarentaise valleys lies a 535km2 protected nature site, the Vanoise National Park. A remarkable environment combining mountain pastures and peaks, which you can explore on 400km of signposted trails.
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Created in 1963 to protect the ibex, then threatened with extinction, it’s the oldest of France’s national parks and a place of endless wonder and discovery.
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From Alpine grasslands to the highest peak in Savoie – the Grande Casse (3855m) – the Vanoise National Park boasts a huge variety of landscapes and an abundance of plants and wildlife that hikers will love! The Vanoise massif contains nearly 1,700 species, or a third of France’s plant life, despite covering less than 0.5% of its territory!
Marmots can be seen amongst the heather and gentians. Herds of Tarentaise and Abondance cattle graze in the pastures. With a bit of luck, you might even spot an ibex, a black grouse, a bearded vulture, a chamois or perhaps even a golden eagle. Keep an eye out for their movements and look up to admire the glacial peaks.
Head to Champagny-en-Vanoise for a day of walking, good food and culture. The Refuge du Bois at the edge of the Vanoise National Park, open summer and winter, is somewhere you simply can’t pass by, with its idyllic surroundings, set menu of local specialities and selection of utterly irresistible desserts. Factor in the warm welcome from a manager who has been running the place for 25 years, and you’ll never want to leave! But first, what better way to work up an appetite than with a bit of walking? Head to the picturesque hamlet of Friburge, testament to an old, traditional style of rural architecture with its thirty or so tightly packed-in houses, built on a rocky scree, sheltered from avalanches.
And those who’d like to learn about the secret lives of glaciers, from their history to their evolution, can continue the day with a visit to the Espace Glacialis, an interpretation centre on the mountain glaciers.
The old salt road, used as far back as the Middle Ages to transport the salt produced in Moutiers to the Maurienne valley then on to Piedmont, is the ideal route for discovering the Vanoise National Park. Along the way, you’ll see almost all of its different types of landscape and learn about its religious and agricultural heritage. You can admire spectacular views of the Grands Couloirs glacier and the summits of the Grande Casse and the Aiguille de la Vanoise… Salt, a precious commodity needed to preserve food and produce cheese, was transported along these steep paths lined with low stone walls that protected the pastures from the appetites of the mules! A major restoration project was carried out on these walls, which are clearly visible on the first section before Pralognan-la-Vanoise, using materials found in the area and following traditional techniques. A distance of 17 miles separates Pralognan from Termignon, giving you plenty of opportunity to get your fill of wide open spaces and stunning scenery.
In the Tarentaise valley, only a few miles from Courchevel and Méribel, the Huttopia Bozel en Vanoise campsite is ideally located for experiencing all that the Vanoise National Park has to offer with family or friends.
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