We offer three superb walking holidays ...
* new ! Haute Savoie 7day - walking holiday more info...
Mt. Blanc - Lake Geneva & La Chapelle D'Abondance
per Person (2 per room) £679 - May June & September
£699 - July & August
Single Supplement £200 - (+ 3 in group) £150
a recommended tourist destination
* Rocamadour 7-night walking holiday more info...
Souillac> St. Sozy> Rocamadour> Padirac> Loubressa> St. Cere> St. Cere
Daily April through October
7 x Hotels with Breakfast and Dinner /
Luggage transfer between hotels
per Person ( 2 per room) £599
Single Supplement £200 -
(+ 3 in group) £150
* Auvergne 7night - walking holiday more info ...
Le Mont Dore> Super Besse > Egliseneuve d'Entraigues >
Lugarde >
Le Claux > Le Lioran > Murat
Daily April through September
5 x Hotels, 2 Hostels /
6 x Breakfast, 5 x Dinner, (1 night self-catering hostel)
Luggage transfer between hotels
per Person ( 2 per room) £679
Single Supplement £200 -
(more than 3 in group) £150
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Tour Details .....
Rocamadour 7night - walking holiday
South of the Dordogne valley lies the Quercy , a vast limestone plateau bisected by many rivers. The action of water has created strange natural phenomena here, with subterranean caves such as the Gouffre or chasm of Padirac, whose underground river reappears after 11 kms as a resurgent spring in the natural rock circus of Montvalent.
The Ouysse and Alzou rivers have carved canyons in the porous stone, and the dramatic site of Rocamadour is built into the side of the Alzou gorge.
On the plateau above, where sheep graze in tiny fields between crumbling dry-stone walls, are many megaliths and dolmens, and the towns and villages here are often fortified, a relic of the 13 th century suppression of the Cathars. The R. Dordogne was often the frontier between the opposing French and English armies during the Hundred Years' War, and stately chateaux still bear witness to those troubled times.
Gastronomically this is a land of plenty, the wiry stunted oaks in the stony ground conceal the buried black gold of truffles, (still sought in the traditional manner with specially trained pigs or dogs!), and these appear on menus, embedded in luxurious foie gras . Local lamb is also a delicacy, as are the tiny white goats' cheeses known as cabecous . The wines of Bordeaux are world-famous, but look out for the less well-known, but equally good Cahors, as well as Bergerac, Gaillac, and the local vineyard of Glanes, while the dessert wines of Monbazillac perfectly accompany many a local chef's exquisite desserts.
Day to Day Programme
Day 1: Souillac - Arrive in Souillac, a small town on the main Paris - Toulouse train line . Built on the site of a monastic settlement at a natural crossing-place on the Dordogne river, the old quarter is clustered round an 11 th C Romanesque church with a magnificent doorway, and an ancient ruined belfry.
Day 2: Souillac – St. Sozy 18 km. Leave by a tiny road following the Dordogne valley upstream, past the Chateau de la Treyne reflected in the river. Take a torch to explore troglodytic caves after the confluence with the R. Ouysse, where the Chateau de Belcastel towers on a cliff above you. Your night's destination is the sleepy village of St. Sozy .
Day 3: St. Sozy - Rocamadour 15.5 km. Crossing the Dordogne your path winds up through the interesting village of Meyronne, the former residence of the Bishops of Tulle, then South through pleasant woods and fields, with glimpses of the mountains of the Auvergne on a clear day, to Rocamadour, spectacularly sited in its rocky valley. The Quercy is famed for its many beautiful pigeonniers, tiny square half-timbered pigeon-lofts, standing on stilts.
Day 4: Rocamadour (distance variable) Circular walk (optional). This was a staging post on the pilgrim's route to Santiago da Compostella from the 9 th Century. Climb the steep way to the church, which some still follow on their knees! The ancient statue of the "Black Madonna" in the chapel has a timeless air and was a favourite patron-saint of mariners, hence many interesting tributes of model ships etc donated over the centuries.
Day 5: Rocamadour - Padirac 15 km. Leave Rocamadour via the vast panoramic viewpoint of l'Hospitalet, the old hamlet with a fortified gate, whose tiny ruined hospital once tended pilgrims on the road to Santiago. Walk across the limestone plateau, with many dolmen and megaliths, via the restored Art Deco building of a natural health-giving Spa at Alvignac, to Padirac and its famous chasm. Visit the subterranean galleries of the famous cave-system, which includes a boat-trip on the underground river.
Day 6: Padirac – St. Ceré 16 km. Cross the Causse (or plateau) de Gramat with its interestingly diverse flora to the dramatic cliff-edge village of Loubressac . Descend past a dramatic waterfall and the ruined mediaeval look-out point called the Chateau des Anglais to charming Autoire nestling in its valley, with many fine old manorial houses called Gentilhommieres . Then pass the Chateau de Presque and its superb cave and visit the elegant chateau of Montal with its poignant history, en route for the pleasant old market town of St. Ceré.
Day 7: St. Cere Rest day / Circular tour (optional) 12 km. St. Cere is a pleasant place to explore, with swans gliding on the pretty River Bave, which runs below humped-back bridges past the red-tiled houses and mansard roofs of this small market-town. The system of canals was designed by a Dutch engineer in 1611. It is a short 20-minute taxi ride the next morning to nearby Bretenoux, and trains North to Paris via Brive, or return by taxi to Souillac if you arrived by car.
Day 8: Return
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Auvergne 7-night walking holiday
A range of extinct volcanoes softened by subsequent glaciation stretches North / South along the backbone of France . Formed by the pressure created as the Alps and Pyrenees converged, some of these volcanoes, notably the Monts Dome near Clermont-Ferrand , were active as recently as 5000 years ago. Now classified as the “Parc des Volcans d'Auvergne” this is a possibly unique area in Europe for lovers of the countryside, and especially for walkers. “Although France is well supplied with excellent walking areas, few . . can match the diversity of terrain, the spectacular scenery and the great sense of space that forms part of the wonderful Auvergne .” Thus wrote Robin Neillands 20 years ago, and it is just as true today. Gentians, wild daffodils, crocus and rare insectivorous plants carpet the fields in late spring and early summer, the blue sky is reflected in high crater-lakes whilst chamois and mountain ibex crop the more isolated slopes.
This spacious landscape of rolling hills is punctuated by dramatic rocky outcrops and deep valleys of tumbling streams and waterfalls. It is "la France profonde", a largely forgotten area left behind by the Industrial Revolution which transformed the rest of the country. Today it remains an area of rugged, individualistic charm that will delight anyone enthusiastic about traditional values and unspoiled landscapes .
Day to Day Programme
Day 1: Le Mont Dore - The tour begins in Le Mont Dore, a splendid Belle Epoque spa-town, South-West of Clermont-Ferrand, and accessible by local train. Here you can visit the neo-Byzantine thermal baths, built on the site of Roman baths, and admire the ornate fin de siecle architecture.
Day 2: Le Mont Dore - Super Besse 10 or 16 km. Walk up the 1720m high Puy de Sancy, dominating the town, (or take the quaint 100 yr-old funicular railway, or the modern telepherique). Here the R. Dordogne is born from the twin streams of Dore and Dogne. The trail now heads South over grassy hills to the tiny ski-resort of Super Besse, and your hotel overlooking a lake.
Day 3: Super Besse – Egliseneuve d'Entraigues 23 km. Hike across a high plateau of hills and lakes, via Lac Pavin, an extinct volcano 300m. deep, whose wooded sides drop steeply to a calm surface, reflecting the sky. Picnic perhaps by a second crater-lake, Lac Chauvet, with views of the Massif du Sancy, en route for your small walker's hotel in the grey hill-village of Egliseneuve d'Entraigues.
Day 4: Egliseneuve - Lugarde 24 km. Shop in the village for your evening meal, (the Maison du Fromage sells the excellent local cheeses of the area), then stroll through a landscape of pretty green hills and valleys, the grey-stone houses roofed in overlapping granite “lauzes”, like fish-scales. Lunch in a restaurant in Condat, or picnic amongst the grassy ruins of the Abbaie de Feniers. Overnight in a self-catering hostel in Lugarde, sitting by an open log-fire in the enormous cantou or hearth, swapping stories with other walkers.
Day 5: Lugarde – Le Claux 25 km. Splendid views of the approaching Monts du Cantal as you stride through high pastureland, grazed by herds of horses and chocolate-brown Salers cattle. Lower down, mixed woods of chestnut, oak and beech contrast pleasantly with dark-green pine woods as you descend to the fertile valley of Le Claux .
Day 6: Le Claux – Le Lioran 18 km. Some serious walking today along the spine of the Cantal range of hills.
At the Puy Mary (1630m), a tiny restaurant is the HQ of the mountain rescue service. The “Brèche de Roland”, a 30m cleft in the ridge requires some very simple rock-climbing, or you can avoid it on a lower path.
Day 7: Le Lioran – Murat 15km. A steep climb up to the Bec de l'Aigle, a rocky feature on the very rim of an old crater. This gives a dramatic view of what was once a massive volcano with the solidified core forming an isolated peak 3km away. From here it is gentle downhill walking all the way to your night's destination in the little grey-walled town of Murat . There is a regular train-service North the next day to Clermont-Ferrand .
Day 8: Return
