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Walking
Tours in France, why there?
The
geographical location and spread of the country is such that it
has one of the most diverse landscapes
in
western Europe.
The food and wine are some of the best in the world so calorie burning
will be well worth the effort and the TGV train system is a very
fast way to link up the longer distances between hikes.
There are over one hundred thousand miles of footpaths which are
generally very well marked.
Downside: some of the French are notoriously
stuffy about tourists and visitors who don't learn their language
or at least make a very big effort to speak it to them. English
may get you by, especially in the more metropolitan areas and with
tourism professionals but the locals probably won't appreciate it
in the more rural areas.
Where
to go hiking in France:
There are 22 regions covering a big land mass with numerous
possibilities, but here are the more popular destinations for walking
tours.
For Weather and War embattled Beaches and Coastline:
Normandy
- a landscape not dissimilar to that of south and south east England,
very green and with similar broadleaf trees, hedged farmlands and
quaint villages. The climate is mild.
Beaches have important wartime interest, so the coastline has a
unique attraction.
Beaches of the Normandy landings were Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword,
though related visitor centres and museums will probably need to
be checked to help with historic appreciation.
There are ruins of an artificial harbour created by allied forces
in two weeks to be seen at Arromanches, and Pointe d'Hoc, scene
of a famous battle, is reached by a cliff top walk.
US citizens may see their fallen forbears at the American Cemetery
in Saint Laurent for a real perspective on the sacrifices that were
made for freedom here.
The weather as in England can be disappointing though hiking is
usually comfortable when not wet, and it is generally a very pretty,
quaint region.
Walk here June-September. Camp out if you want to risk the weather,
otherwise stay in self catering 'gites' and farmhouses.
Brittany
- similar to Normandy but the landscape, including the coastline,
turns more rugged - akin to the South West of England. More visually
interesting than Normandy perhaps, especially if you have little
interest in modern history.
No tours of Brittany would be complete without a stroll out to the
impressive Mont St Michelle, a monastery on a granite island.
For
Wine Culture:
Alsace
- if you are considering walking tours in the Black Forest in Germany
then Alsace is the French equivalent and is right next door. Mediaeval
timbered buildings with coloured paint, grand chateaux and hill/valley
vineyards; this could start or end a particularly woody trek combining
the two countries.
La Route du Vin 'The Road of Wine' is considered to be one of the
finest walks in the country. Sample the fine vintage Riesling, Pinot
Gris and regional specialty Munster cheese.
Stay in half timbered buildings 'en route' - which runs for 112
miles, beginning at Marlenheim in the north and ending in Thann
in the south, and meandering through vineyards and villages on the
way.
The region lies between the Vosges mountains and the Rhine Valley,
and the Black Forest can be seen from the heights of the Haut Koenigsbourg
castle near one of the finest medieval towns of Riquewihr.
Local culture here has been greatly affected by a thousand year
old tug-of-war between France and Germany, but the locals are determinedly
French.
Strasbourg is a must see city if you are in the area.
Bourgogne
'Burgundy'
- another unmissable region for the walking wine lover offering
some of the very best vintage wines in the world. Consider Vezelay,
a village once a gathering point for the pilgrimage to Santiago
[see below]; Auxerre a medieval and Roman town of great beauty with
its Cathedrale de St Etienne on the Yonne river; Beaune, wine centre
of the region; and of course Chablis.
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Pays
de Loire and Aquitaine - the Loire valley and Dordogne valley
are real wine country with a plethora of vineyards and many superb
chateaux.
Do vineyard tours May-June and September, sample some of the best
wines in the world direct from the hands of those who understand
them best, admire the chateaux and stay in them if the budget allows.
For
Sun and Warmth:
Provence
and the Cote d'Azur
- avoiding the busier parts of the French Riviera allows walking
tours both on the less frequented coves of the gorgeous Mediterranean
coastline as well as around the clifftop villages of the region
that inspired work by great artists such as Cezanne and Van Gogh.
Walk here and stay in a villa, preferably with a pool for relaxing
aching muscles.
For
Mountains:
Auvergne
- just south east of the centre of France is the Auvergne region
of extinct volcanoes. It offers a unique area of old craters and
rich mineral water sources such as the Volvic and Le Monte Dore,
home to the Parc des Volcan d'Auvergne National Park.
Walking is moderately easy with no high altitude.
Pyrenees,
picture top left [Alpes, Rhone-Alpes, Franche Comte] - in the south
east there is a dramatic transition of the land into this striking
mountain range of the Alps where the France meets Switzerland and
Italy. See Walking Tours - Alps
Aquitaine,
Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc Rousillon
- in the far south west of France the land rises once again, this
time into Spain. See Walking Tours - Pyrenees
Corsica
[picture top right]
- in the far south east, France splashes in the Mediterranean off
the beaches of the Cote d'Azure, then scrambles ashore onto the
island of Corsica a hundred miles and 4 hours by ferry off the coast.
This is a relatively undeveloped and dramatically mountainous island
of high granite peaks dropping into deep forested valleys, where
villages perch surrounded by chestnut trees.
Hikers will be delighted with hundreds of stunning and well marked
walking routes, from short but perfectly formed trails through the
red rocks of Calanches de Piana to the gorge walks around Porto
and Corte and the challenging 200 km [125 miles], cross-island Grand
Randonée of GR20.
Corsica
Hiking | Corsica
Pictures | Travel
Guide
Way
of St. James - France has been a staging area for millions
of pilgrims who have been making their way to Santiago for over
a thousand years, see Walking Tours - Way
of St James
Official
Footpaths
- France has a particularly extensive system of footpaths which
it splits into three types relating to distance.
Grandes
Randonnees or 'Great Walks'
are long distance routes that often cross into adjacent countries,
such as the GR5 and GR10 which follow the Pyrenees into Spain, and
these are marked by red and white signs.
Randonnees de pays are walks within regions and marked with red
and yellow signs.
Promenades or Petits Randonnees are short walks marked by yellow
signs.
Official
Parks
- France has 7 National Parks and 40 Regional Nature Parks or 'Parcs
Naturels Regionaux' which include some of the best areas mentioned
above.
For
more information on Walking Tours in France see:
Links | France
Hiking | European
Europe
Map | Pyrenees | Alps | Spain
More
European Walking Tours:
Iceland | Germany
| Greece | Italy
Also,
see New
Zealand, Canada,
UK
walks
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