Tour of the Vanoise - France - A Trekker's Guidebook

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Reviews
• Further Reading

Surprisingly little has been written in English about the Graian Alps – the proper name for the Vanoise region – so the literature is sparse. A few accounts of mountaineering ascents appear in various journals, and an occasional article appears in the outdoor press of interest to walkers, but little in comparison with certain other Alpine districts. However, the following books contain material that is both informative and entertaining for walkers planning a visit to this delightful range.

Walking in the Tarentaise & Beaufortain Alps by JW Akitt (Cicerone Press, 1995) – a guidebook for walkers which details 53 day-walks and four mostly short tours (including the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise) in these neighbouring mountain areas. Useful for trekkers planning a return to explore the region further.

Walking the Alpine Parks of France & Northwest Italy by Marcia R Lieberman (The Mountaineers, Washington, 1994 – distributed in the UK by Cordee) – contains a chapter on the Vanoise National Park, with a number of day-walks and a few short tours described.

Walking in the Alps by Kev Reynolds (Cicerone Press, 2nd ed 2005) – with the whole Alpine chain described, from the Alpes Maritime to the Julians of Slovenia, a section is devoted to the Graian Alps with both the Tour of the Vanoise and the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise described.

Walking in the Alps by Helen Fairbairn, Gareth McCormack et al (Lonely Planet, 2004) – includes a section devoted to the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise.

The GR5 Trail by Paddy Dillon (Cicerone Press, 2008) – an excellent guide to a classic long-distance route which passes through the region covered by the present book on its way from Lake Geneva to Nice. Accurate and inspiring, with many fine photographs.

Walking the GR5: Lake Geneva to Mont Blanc translated by Simon Knight (Robertson McCarta, 1990) – this is a direct translation from the French Topoguides produced by the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (FFRP). The guide contains full-colour extracts from IGN maps, but in places the route is incorrectly marked. As with the Cicerone guide to the GR5, this particular book covers the Vanoise region well, but is long out of print.

Classic Walks of the World edited by Walt Unsworth (Oxford Illustrated Press, 1985) – a large-format ‘glossy’ book which has a chapter by Martin Collins describing the GR55 Traverse of the Vanoise from Landry to Modane – nicely illustrated in colour and black and white. This book is now out of print, but may be ordered through local libraries.

The Outdoor Traveler’s Guide: The Alps by Marcia R Lieberman (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 1991) – lavishly illustrated with colour photographs by Tim Thompson, this is a good primer by an American devotee to the Alps. A brief chapter is given to the Vanoise National Park.

Alpine Points of View by Kev Reynolds (Cicerone Press, 2004) – a collection of 100 colour photographs and essays describing the rich diversity of the Alpine chain, with several landscapes experienced by walkers on the Tour of the Vanoise.

Vanoise Ski Touring by Paul Henderson (Cicerone Press, 2003) – making the most of winter in these mountains, this guide describes 11 ski tours and a selection of the best ski-mountaineering ascents.

Michelin Tourist Guide: French Alps (Michelin, 1998) – a standard tourist guide covering the French Alps from Lake Geneva to the Alpes Maritime, it includes several items of interest to visitors to the Vanoise region.

Mountain Holidays by Janet Adam Smith (JM Dent, 1946) – in this minor classic of mountain literature the author describes the delights of active pre-war holidays spent in Scotland and the Alps, including several references to the Vanoise region.