France Ecrins High Mountain Tour

Overview

The Tour of the Ecrins (GR54) circles the highest massif entirely within France - around 176 kilometres and more than 12,000 metres of ascent looping the Barre des Ecrins, 4,102m, through country that makes the Tour du Mont Blanc feel like a promenade. Ten days link deep, dead-end valleys over a ladder of high cols - Col d'Arsine, Col de la Muzelle, the scree haul of Col de l'Aup Martin at 2,761m - with nights in refuges where the gardien's soup arrives by mule or helicopter. The detour that lifts the trek: the walk up to Glacier Blanc's snout, the massif's great ice stream pouring off the north face of the Barre. It is a walker's route throughout - no glacier travel required - but the cols hold snow into July and the descents are long and rough, so poles and genuine fitness matter more than technical skill. La Berarde, the historic climbing hamlet at the massif's heart, was devastated by the 2024 floods and is rebuilding slowly; check current route variants through the Veneon valley before you commit. Refuges must be booked ahead for July-August, the only reliably snow-free window. Around £1,200 covers ten nights half-board in the huts - and far fewer people than any comparable Alpine circuit.

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Prefilled for 1 July 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.