Hiking in France
Savoie and Haute Savoie organised by Esprit Montagne!

Esprit Montagne hiking trips are organised to respect our mountain environment

• We organise hiking trips departing from major stations in the Alps, to reduce transport;
• We find unusual circuits to get away from the classics;
• Unload your bags, we will eat local thanks to the hut keepers and your Guides;
• Help save mountain bees, the Esprit Montagne team works to preserve Black Bees, the local bee species that best withstands the cold of mountain winters ...

Hike a week around Chamonix with a Guide - Mountain Guide in the Mont Blanc massif

Discover the Chamonix valley with Esprit Montagne, during an all-inclusive stay with a Mountain Guide: you walk on the most beautiful trails in Chamonix, we take the wildest paths, so that you can make the most of your mountain holidays.

Lac Blanc in the Aiguilles Rouges reserve

Discover the Lac Blanc (White Lake) by the ladder path, we will leave Argentière early to enjoy the sunrise over the Mont Blanc massif or a little later if you prefer to sleep a little more. By this path we reach the lakes of Chéserys, which are magnificent. At the Tête au Vent, we will take the path that goes up to Lac Blanc and we will come back down by making a loop through the Col des Montets.

The Mer Glace and Montenvers

We will leave from the hamlet of Les Bois to get to the Mer de Glace, we will see how the glacier has retreated since the Little Ice Age. We will then climb to Signal Forbes to enjoy the view of the Grandes Jorasses, the Drus and the Aiguilles de Chamonix. We will return either by Montenvers or by the paths that go down to Chamonix.

The Nid d'Aigle (Eagle's Nest), above Saint Gervais

Discover the paths that lead to the normal route of Mont Blanc, it is a fairly magical place that your Mountain Guide will make you discover, we will meet mountaineers who go up or down Mont Blanc with their equipment (ice ax, crampons and rope) . Many hikers will also be on the trail.

The Bossons Glacier Junction

Walk in the footsteps of Jacques Balmat, who made the first ascent of Mont Blanc by climbing to the Junction, the place where the Taconnaz glaciers and the Bossons glacier meet! The view of the Mont Blanc glaciers is magical!

Hike for a week in Haute Tarentaise around Bourg Saint Maurice with a Guide and enjoy the Vanoise National Park and the border mountains between France and Italy

The Lake of La Plagne

Above Peisey and Rosuel, the gateway to the Vanoise National Park, we will be taking a path that climbs through a larch forest, before going out into the pastures at the feet of Mont Pourri and the Dôme de la Sache glacier. La Plagne Lake is a beautiful mountain lake: many mountain fish inhabit the lake, such as Brown Trouts and Cristivomers!

The Refuge de Prariond and the Col de la Lose

Above Val d'Isère, we will walk on the Gorges de Malpasset to reach the valley of Prariond, a paradise for marmots who play in the pastures near the sources of the Isère torrent. In summer chamois and ibex live on the mountains that border with Italy, hiding in rocks and cliffs a little higher at altitude.

The Lac du Retour

This is a great hike near the Rosière de Montvalezan: we will be walking on the path that smugglers and travellers, who went to Italy by feet, used to take. The Lac du Retour is a lake where you can swim, if the weather has been warm the previous days: with a little courage you can enjoy this lake above the Haute Tarentaise and the Vanoise.

The Col du Petit Saint Bernard

Above the Col du Petit Saint Bernard, many hikes and walks are possible: the trails are quite wild and you can easily admire the southern slope of the Mont Blanc massif. Just across the border we will be able to enjoy an air of Italy and eat Italian specialties in the restaurants! We can also visit the Hospice du Petit Saint Bernard and the Chanousia botanical garden. The pass has a rich history with the Celtic tribes in Tarentaise and Aosta Valley who occupied these regions b.C., then the Roman era characterised the history of these mountain valleys for several centuries ...

Lake Mya in the Valley of the Glaciers

A day at the southern end of the Mont Blanc massif: we will walk on the Tour du Mont Blanc path and, as often, we will be on a variant which is inevitably more beautiful. On a farm in the Ville des Glaciers, we will discover how mountain farmers make Beaufort and Sérac, which are among the best cheeses in the French Savoy.

Hike a Weekend in Chamonix with a group accompanied by a professional Guide

Esprit Montagne offers short stays so that you can come regularly to the mountains and discover, in just two days, beautiful hiking trips, and spend one night in a mountain hut.

The Buet and the Lac Blanc

The Buet, also known as Mont Blanc des Dames, is the perfect summit for your first altitude trip, during a mountain weekend. The first day we will climb to the Lac Blanc (White Lake), one of the most beautiful belvederes in the Chamonix valley, before sleeping at the Pierre à Bérard refuge, and climb Buet the next day!

Weekend hike in Annecy

Annecy is one of the most beautiful towns in the Alps and its lake is one of the largest in the Alps. This is why Esprit Montagne has chosen to offer you various weekends and hiking and trail courses in this beautiful city.

You can enjoy the Venice of the Alps and ice cream that has a scent of Italy. You can see at first glance that the old town was built and projected together to Italian artists and craftsmen. Indeed, the Italians came very easily from the other side of the Alps, at the time when the Duchy of Savoy reigned from Nice to Chamonix and that the Aosta Valley, with Chambéry, was the first residence of the Dukes of Savoy.
If you wish, you can also easily extend your stay to go paragliding or many other activities on the shores of the Lake.

You can enjoy the Venice of the Alps and ice cream that has a scent of Italy. You can see at first glance that the old town was built and projected together with Italian artists and craftsmen. Indeed, Italians could come very easily from the other side of the Alps, at the time when the Duchy of Savoy reigned from Nice to Chamonix and when the Aosta Valley, with Chambéry, was the first residence of the Dukes of Savoy.
If you wish, you can also easily extend your stay to go paragliding over the lake or any other activity on the shores of the Lake.

Les Dents de Lanfon - Roc de Lancrenaz

The Aravis massif overlooks the Annecy lake, we are going to do one of the most beautiful hikes above the lake. The limestone rock of the Dents de Lanfon is a great barrier of cliffs where paragliders look for thermals to climb up and fly. We can also go to the Roc de Lancrenaz, for a slightly longer stay and enjoy this beautiful limestone massif!

La Tournette or Crêt des Mouches

La Tournette is the highest peak above the Annecy lake. It is the most beautiful hike that can be done starting from the heights of Annecy, it is a summit that is already aerial and it is very easy to see ibex. The view of the Aravis range is great: we are in the land of reblochon, the tartiflettes will surely heat up our evenings!

Discover the most beautiful hiking trips in Chamonix, at the feet of Mont Blanc

Lac Blanc

Departing from Chamonix, your Mountain Guide takes you to Argentière to take a path in the Aiguilles Rouges reserve. The trail climbs up through the forest, we will then pass the Aiguillette d'Argentière, well known for its pretty summit facing Mont Blanc, and the Argentière Basin with the Aiguille Verte and the Drus. We will continue to the Chéserys lake, before reaching the magnificent Lac Blanc. We can have a pastry at the Refuge du Lac Blanc to reward us after the climb. This path is much wilder and more technical than the climb by the new Flégère cable car, but the view of Mont Blanc is magnificent. We will continue the walk above the lake to eat in a small quiet corner, on one of the many granite blocks that surround this glacial lake: the water is white because of mineral deposits. We will enjoy one of the most beautiful views of the Alps!

The Mer de Glace

We will start from a small village near Chamonix, to go up by a path and join the small Cabane des Mottets, which is very cozy. We begin to see the Mer de Glace, which has well receded since 1860, when glaciers began to recede at the end of the Little Ice Age. The start of the walk was where the Bishop of Savoy was called to roll back the glacier, which was destroying houses in the village in the 1820s!

We will walk up the long moraine: it is a very little used but magnificent path, with a wonderful view on the Paroi des Drus and the Aiguille Verte.