The mountains of France in summer are a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life and from more obvious holiday destinations, offering a wonderful array of adventure opportunities for all ages, budgets and tastes. Summer 2017 sees the launch of new flights connecting London and the French Alps, a kaleidoscopic calendar of events to take part in and a Tour de France with a particularly strong mountain flavour.

Growing trends to look out for are the proliferation of e-biking options on and off-road, new ways to tackle the mountains on foot and a multitude of marvellous mountain accommodation options to give any holiday a truly original twist.  

TOP TRENDS FOR 2017

E-biking on the up and up

With the proliferation of electric-assisted bikes, gone are the days where biking in the mountains was reserved for ultra-fit experts. More and more resorts are investing in e-bikes, both for the road and e-MTB, along with the infrastructure cater to them. For summer 2017, La Plagne has 150km of dedicated e-MTB tracks with conveniently located recharge points. Val d'Isère and Les Gets meanwhile have a fleet of e-bikes for anyone to use.

Glacier walking

For a truly unique experience, clamp on your crampons and go hiking on one of the many glaciers in the French Alps. The breath-taking views, vast seracs and spectacular crevasses make for a wonderful adventure. The high-mountain resorts of Tignes, Val Thorens and Les 2 Alpes all have a variety of courses with mountain guides who will teach you about the formation of glaciers and how to travel safely in a glaciated environment at over 3000m altitude. A breath of fresh air!

Walking with four-legged friends

For 2017, walkers in the French mountains have ever more choice of furry friends to accompany them on their path- a development sure to delight kids and animal lovers!

• Tio, Tchupi and Tchupango are a trio of llamas in Valloire and wonderful companions for kids on short mountain walks.
• In Montgenèvre and in the Chartreuse Natural Regional Park, single and multi-day itineraries are offered with a donkey to carry your bags, while a wide variety of resorts across France offer husky-dogs to accompany enthusiastic walkers.
• In the Southern Alps not far from Nice is a 700-hectare safari park whose raison d'être is to reintroduce France's lost beasts. Roaming free across the park are over 500 species, including Europe's largest mammal- the European bison, wild Przewalski horses- the only horse that Man has never managed to tame, as well as lynx, wolves and wild boar haut-thorenc.com

Atypical Accommodation

In keeping with the huge variety of summer holiday possibilities in the French mountains, visitors' choice of accommodation is significantly broader in the summer season. Three growing trends are low-budget design hotels and hostels, nights immersed in nature, and treehouses. Here are three of the best:

• Moontain design hostel: Opening its doors in December 2016, this concept hostel marries contemporary boutique design-hotel styling with youth hostel pricing- a perfect place to crash for an active break close to nature in Oz en Oisans, part of the stunning Alpe d'Huez www.moontain-hostel.com/en
• Overnight in a tipi: Set off for a short hike from Le Grand Bornand in the Aravis range at sunset- the best time to spot marmots, the original affable mountain mammal! And as night falls, settle in for dinner around a camp fire before sleeping in a tipi on a mattress of straw. In the morning have breakfast at the neighbouring mountain farm with fresh milk and stunning views as the sun rises.
• Incredible treehouses: Do treehouses grow on trees? It looks that way. The mountain ranges of France are teeming with stunning variations on the treehouse theme. The pick of them has to be the Clarière aux Cabanes near La Bresse the Vosges mountains- a stunning collection of 15 individually themed and beautifully finished treehouses, cabins and even a hobbit house. bol-d-air.fr

DATES FOR THE DIARY

All five mountain ranges for the Tour de France

Intense mountain stages along spectacular routes are set to be the defining theme of the 2017 tour, with the Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, Massif Central and Alps all featuring. Highlights will include:

Stage 12, 13th July- a gruelling stage culminating in an agonising 16% climb to the resort of Peyragudes- site of Chris Froome's stage-winning attack in 2016, and training camp for Mo Farah for his historic double-defence at Rio 2016

Stage 17, 19th July- featuring a trifecta of iconic cols: Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier near Valloire, stage 17 is set to be a classic

Stage 18, 20th July- beginning at the UNESCO-listed fort town of Briançon and ending atop the Col d'Izoard in the gorgeous Queyras Natural Regional Park, stage 18 will showcase a particularly beautiful and rugged part of the Alps

Four fab French mountain events to get involved in

• 23rd-25th June, Pass'Portes du Soleil
  • A fun mountain bike event, open to all levels, is a great way to discover the MTB terrain of the legendary Portes du Soleil passportesdusoleil.com
• 1st-2nd July, Reebok Spartan Morzine Trifecta Weekend, Morzine
  • 5 “Spartan” races in Morzine over a range of mountain obstacle courses, ideal for endurance enthusiasts spartanrace.uk
• 12th-14th July, Haute Route Alpe d'Huez
  • The world's premier amateur cycling series launches in Alpe d'Huez- the iconic road-cycling mecca hauteroute.org
• 20th-25th August, Au Bonheur des Mômes, Le Grand Bornand
  • Europe's biggest kids' festival with a huge programme of children's entertainment, shows, educational workshops, outdoor activities and much more legrandbornand.com

NEW FLIGHTS

Ryanair are launching 3 new flights per week from July 2017 from Stansted to Grenoble. They will run Monday/Wednesday/Friday- perfect for a quick break to the French Alps! Prices start at £12.99 each way.

ENDS 

France Montagnes is an agency whose remit is to promote the mountains of France as a tourist destination. For further information about the French mountains in winter or in summer, please contact Matt Carr at the offices of Atout France in London, at matt.carr@atout-france.fr or on 0207 061 6623

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