Walking in the Haute Savoie: South
Walking in the Haute Savoie: South
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Walking in the Haute Savoie
Most people associate the French Alps with the town of Chamonix, dominated by Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe, and the dazzling array of challenging peaks that surround it.
Visitors flock to the Chamonix area to walk and explore, but they do not always realise that the Mont Blanc range is only part of the Haute Savoie region. Not far away there are dozens of other interesting villages and mountains to discover, less frequented, steeped in history, and crisscrossed with delightful walking trails.
If you look at a detailed map of France, you will see that the Haute Savoie is in the southeast, below Lake Léman (also called Lake Geneva). To the east is the mountainous Valais area of Switzerland and to the west the Rhône valley. The gentler mountains of the pré-Alps to the north give way to the high mountain ranges of Mont Blanc in the southeast and the beautiful, mountain-ringed stretch of water to the southwest that is Lake Annecy. Until quite recently many of the local paths (as opposed to the long Grande Randonnée walks) were badly signposted, but this has changed in the last few years as smart new signposts have been erected and the tourist offices have marked out local walks, and in many cases issued maps to attract the summer visitor.
Originally published in one volume, the 60 walks have now been split into two books.
Book 1
- Northwest Haute Savoie – the Salève and Vallée Verte.
- Northeast Haute Savoie – known as the Chablais, which is just south of Lake Léman.
Book 2
- Central and east Haute Savoie – the Faucigny and Haut Giffre.
- Southwest and central Haute Savoie – Lake Annecy and the Aravis/Borne range.
Walks in the Mont Blanc region of the Haute Savoie are not included. They are impressive and worth doing, and are covered in Cicerone Press’s Mont Blanc Walks, by Hilary Sharp.
When describing each area more fully, the towns and villages where overseas visitors might want to stay are given, but most walks are within easy reach of a central base. Under Accommodation and Refuges (later in this introduction) a description of the choices available is given, but without specific names, as each town and most of the larger villages has a tourist office or syndicat d’initiative (see Appendix 2, List of Tourist Offices) where up-to-date information can be found. The choice is usually wide ranging, from first-class hotels to camping sites in the bigger towns, though smaller villages may have only one hotel. For years the Haute Savoie has been a tourist area, so there are usually plenty of restaurants and cafés, with no lack of good shops and supermarkets.
Using the Guide
Walk Grading
Walks are graded Difficult, Medium and Easy, and there are comments after each grading to give the walker a good idea as to whether the walk is suitable.
None of the walks described is at very high altitude (usually below 2500m) and all are possible during the summer months. Many are even low enough to tackle in the springtime, but it is worth remembering that snow may linger on the higher northern slopes until the beginning of June and sometimes longer, so it is wise to either watch the weather forecast or speak to the tourist office before you set off. It is very difficult to estimate how tough a walk is, but I have tried to give an honest assessment with extra details, such as ‘steep and over scree’ or ‘not for those who suffer from vertigo’, etc. One important indicator of the walk difficulty is the overall gain in altitude, and any walk that has a height gain of over 800m is graded either difficult or difficult/medium, regardless of the timing.
Timings
The timings correspond to the average walking pace of a reasonably fit person, but this is very approximate as everyone has a different rhythm. It is also important to leave plenty of time for looking at views, taking photos and stopping for a picnic. As a rough guide you can expect to walk 3km in one hour if there are no steep gradients. Four centimetres on a 1:25,000 scale map equals 1km (for quick measurement put three fingers sideways on the map – this equals roughly 4cm, which is 20 minutes walking).
Height Gain
When reading the walk details, look carefully at the height gain. Extra altitude equals extra walking time, and steep gradients can tire you rapidly if you are not used to them. As a rough estimate, with a light rucksack (6 to 7kg) you should be able to climb 400m in one hour (250–300m with a weight of 15kg). The descent is quicker, approximately 500m in one hour.
Maps
Although each walk is accompanied by a sketch map, it is recommended that you buy the 1:25,000 IGN maps listed in the information box at the beginning of each walk. These show the paths in detail.
The 1:50,000 maps, though useful, only show the main paths. The Didier & Richard IGN 1:50,000 maps which were used for the original book have now been phased out and are unobtainable in the shops, although they are still perfectly usable, as little has changed – on the maps anyway! They have been replaced by the IGN orange series, which are also quite difficult to find. There are also new IGN 1:60,000 maps, which are available in local shops. A good map that gives an overall picture of the Haute Savoie region is the Cartes IGN No. 45 Annecy/Lausanne–Parc Naturel Régional du Haut-Jura, Série Verte 1:100,000.
A complete list of maps can be found in Appendix 1, together with details of where you can buy or order them in the UK. However, it is easier to buy them in the region, and they are sometimes cheaper in local supermarkets.
The numbers on each sketch map show key reference points, especially where there are major changes in walk direction, and correspond to a numbered section in the text. However, please read the route instructions carefully, as there may be additional turnings that are not numbered and where the path is not indicated on the IGN map. Bear in mind that things are still changing in this region, and you may find that there are new ski-lifts, roads and jeep tracks which are not yet on the maps.
Access to the Walks
Access to the walks always starts from Geneva. Since the publication of the first edition of this book, a ring road has been built around Geneva that makes it easier to avoid going through town if you live outside it. I have also given the nearest village or town to the start of the walk to help those coming from other directions. Where possible the walks start from points where there is a car park or good roadside parking.
Signposting
Most of the walks in the Haute Savoie, as in other areas in France, have been newly signposted with smart white signs clearly showing the various destinations and time taken to get there (the latter depending on who did the signposting!). There are also green plastic squares with yellow arrows, either nailed to trees or on posts and/or yellow splashes. In many places the original signposting remains, though the splashes are somewhat faded. In some cases the local tourist office has gone overboard with their signposting, but better than nothing at all.
If you see white and red horizontal paint flashes on trees, rocks or posts, this means you are on a long-distance Grande Randonnée path. Said to be the finest walking network in Europe, it consists of over 40,000km of footpaths crisscrossing the country. For example, the GR5 starts from the small town of Gingolph on Lake Léman and travels all the way to Nice. The GR4 starts from Nice and goes all the way to the east coast, south of La Rochelle, and so on. However, there are also long regional walks, coloured yellow and red, such as the Balcon du Léman, a path round the mountainous crests of Lac Léman (also called Lake Geneva).
On some walks you will see tree trunks painted with a red stripe in a white square, or with numbers. This may confuse you into thinking they are different GR signs, but in fact they are indications to the foresters that the tree has to be cut down, or else they serve as boundary marks. When following a GR route, it is useful to know that a white/red cross means you are about to go in the wrong direction.
All the hikes included in this guide have been done at least twice, and some more often than that. However, routes and paths do alter, mainly because of the constant foresting that goes on in many of these mountain areas, so some signs or paths may have been altered since this guide was written. If you are walking late in the season, it is also worth remembering that in ski areas the walking signs are normally taken down in mid-September.
Excellent maps giving explanations (sometimes also in English) of the walks that can be done in the immediate area are on sale in many local tourist offices.
Observations
The observations at the start of each walk give useful additional information that is intended to help the reader decide whether or not he or she wishes to do the walk. In this mountainous region some of the walks entail rocky scrambling, hanging on to chains or going down ladders, all of which require dexterity and a head for heights and it is helpful to be aware of this before you start. You will also find anecdotes about the countryside and places of historical interest to visit...
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