From medieval hamlets to mountain trails, the best wilderness spots to discover in France this summer
No country inspires quite like la belle France. Its positively indecent smorgasbord of chateaux, markets, honeypot hilltop villages and devilishly tempting cuisine is really quite dizzying – as are the not-so-magnifique tourist crowds that have made France the most visited destination in the world.
Thankfully for Britons considering a summer holiday abroad, especially for those now keener than ever to escape the masses, the French countryside squirrels away some gloriously remote wildernesses where you can spend days without seeing a soul bar the occasional shepherd, wild chamois or walker on a slow restorative journey through some of the most seductive landscape in Europe.
Volcanic trails: Gourmet Auvergne
The French learn about their country’s infamous diagnole du vide in geography lessons at school and for those seeking a quiet spot to lap up French joie de vivre, this nationally ridiculed – but bewitchingly empty – stretch of land traversing France from northeast to southwest has infinite appeal. Lizard-lounging in splendid isolation midway along this lengthy, sparsely populated diagonal is the gourmet Auvergne.
Well off the main tourist radar, in the low-lying Massif Central mountains in central France, this is an inherently pastoral region where herds of flame-red Salers cows constitute the only crowds and newlyweds faithfully consummate their marriage as tradition demands over a shared wedding night bowl of feisty soupe au fromage (Cantal cheese soup). Stopping at dairy farms and geranium-festooned farmsteads to stock up on picnics of creamy bleu d’Auvergne cheese, tangy home-cured beef and the occasional fiery nip of herbal liqueur is the essence of any road trip here. Car, bike, e-bike or foot is the way to do it.
The Auvergne’s natural showpiece is a hypnotic sweep of eye-popping, conical pea-green hills and lake-filled craters blasted by volcanoes 10,000-odd years ago. Hypnotic and surreal in equal measure, the 18-mile-long Chaine des Puys forms part of the protected Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d’Auvergne. Hiking, mountain-biking and admiring the spectacular volcanic landscape afloat a hot-air balloon or hang-glider is exhilarating. To avoid any tourist din, skip the main towns Clermont-Ferrand, Le Mont Dore and Le Puy-en-Velay, and base yourself in the teeny volcanic grey-stone village of Orcival, or find yourself a treehouse.
Alpine Crossings: Lake Geneva to the Med
For mountain purists craving Alpine adventure, this is the summer to forego Chamonix, Morzine and other busy ski resorts for a trip along the spectacular – but easily accessible – Grand Traversée des Alpes (GR5) hiking trail or Route des Grandes Alpes driving route instead.
Both itineraries start on the scenic southern shore of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie and traverse the entire French Alps on their breathtakingly beautiful journey south to Nice on the French Riviera. This really is Alpine splendour at its most ethereal. Picture-book flower-strewn pastures, sky-high cols (mountain passes), snow-capped peaks, glaciers and mind-blowing panoramas are a constant along both routes. The tantalising white dome of Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, is rarely out of sight and in the south both trails wind tantalisingly through the protected Vanoise and Mercantour national parks. Navigating remote footpaths or perilously serpentine hairpins under the beady eyes of shaggy ibex or wheeling eagles, it is not hard to imagine warrior Hannibal marching his men and 40 elephants across the Alps to fight the Romans in 218 BC or, centuries later, mule trains heaving up salt from the coast to isolated mountain villages here. Then there’s the occasional farm you come across where a warm welcome of ice cream made with creamy goats milk and pearl-white rounds of fresh brebis cheese awaits. This is French heaven on earth.
Both long-distance itineraries can be easily chopped up into bursts of one to several days, with rustic accommodation in refuges (mountain huts) and village hotels. Handy start/stop points for walkers on the GR5 (about 420 miles, 32 days) are Thonon-les-Bains, Les Houches and Tignes. Motorists tackling the complete 425-mile drive can expect encounters with Europe’s highest and most handsome mountain passes, including Col d’Iseran (2764m) near Bourg Saint-Maurice and Col de la Bonnette (2802m) in Haute-Provence.
Green Venice: Marais Poitevin
If it is water your summer soul yearns for, switch a seaside break with the jet set in St-Tropez for a serene wetland escape with Mother Nature in the Marais Poitevin or ‘Venise Verte’ (‘Green Venice’). Count about an hour's drive from La Rochelle on the Atlantic Coast or two hours from Bordeaux. The tranquil web of fairy-tale waterways, carpeted in emerald duckweed, exude a hypnotic stillness hard to find elsewhere. The only real noise is the soothing ripple of kayak paddles and wooden boat oars slicing languidly through the water interlaced with a rousing symphony of dragonflies, frogs and birds. Playful otters in the shallows and purple herons fishing for their lunch provide entertainment while boating. Cycling along shaded riverside paths is another laidback delight.
When golden sands beckons, mooch west to the Baie de l’Aiguillon to learn about local mussel farming at the small museum inside the Maison de la Baie du Marais Poitevin in Esnandes. Buy freshly shucked oysters from huts on the seashore and gorge on enchanting island views of Ile de Ré across the water. Back inland, the quaint waterside villages of Coulon and Arçais are ideal bases.
Pyreneen tradition: Ossau Valley
Sharing a similar population with the UK but twice the geographic size, it is no wonder that France feels decidedly roomy for us Brits. Some 60 per cent of the French hexagon furthermore is cloaked in forests and mountains – a priceless luxury that packs a particularly powerful punch in the Parc National des Pyrénées in southwest France. All six valleys in the national park really are authentic wildernesses, but the Ossau Valley is a favourite for its evocative name recalling the native brown bears that once roamed here and dolly-mixture scattering of forgotten medieval hamlets. The only tourist attraction to speak of is a dinky red-and yellow mountain train that chugs from lake to lake: Lac de Fabrèges (1950m) to Lac d’Artouste (1997m) is among Europe’s highest train journeys.
Picturesque hiking trails lace the valley – the villages of Bielle, Béost and Laruns are all beautiful spots for picking up trailheads. Mountain biking, white-water rafting and wild swimming in glacial mirror lakes are high-octane adventures sans crowds. Those seeking more bucolic pastimes can observe rare griffon vultures nesting in limestone cliffs, watch cheesemakers craft summertime rounds of amber-crusted AOP Ossau-Iraty tomme and, towards summer’s end, accompany shepherds and their flocks on their traditional transhumance from high to low pastures.
Going local: the Cévennes
Parisians adore talking about ‘a France profonde’ (deep France) and for many there is nowhere quite so profonde or provincial and off-grid as the sun-baked Cevennes in the upper Languedoc, southwest France. Vast expanses of dense forest, desolate limestone plateaus and walking trails blazed by Robert Louise Stevenson and his donkey Modestine in 1878 make it a natural choice for outdoor types. But there is also something eminently pleasurable about bunkering down in a gîte and going local. Smouldering hot days are bookended by food shopping at morning markets in Anduze, Florac and other villages (sweet chestnuts, syrupy figs and local goat or Roquefort cheese alert) and lazy afternoons cooling off over bracing river swims and waterfall dips in the dramatic Tarn gorges or a tributary of the Gardon.
