Scenario One: You wish to hike in the French Alps at Altitude, but can go only in the second half of September. \u00a0In France allmost all the refuges near Mt. Blanc or in the Vanoise will be closed. \u00a0In the Mercantour Park, however, almost all refuges will be open.<\/p>\n
Scenario Two: \u00a0You will be in or near Nice for other reasons, and wish to start a hiking trip from there. Here are the possibilities that I am aware of in 2023 (check bus schedules):<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A). A one or two day trip: \u00a0Take the train to Sospel from Nice (less than 1 hour trip). \u00a0Consider overnighting there. \u00a0Then hike the GR52 back to the Coast at Menton. \u00a0This gives a spectacular descent from altitude that won’t be forgotten, with views up the coast to Monaco and beyond. \u00a0It is a 6 to 8 hour hike. The initial section of the descent is stony and requires care. \u00a0Return to Nice by train or stay an extra night in Menton.<\/p>\n
B) A 5 or 6 day trip hiking on the GR52.: \u00a0Take Ligne d’Azur bus #90 from the main terminal to Saint-Martin-Vesubie at 8:00 AM (all days) or 16:30 (M-Sa) ~ 1h 45m. \u00a0Take the shuttle, if running, or a taxi, or walk 1 hour to Bor\u00e9on. \u00a0Possibly overnight in Boreon. \u00a0Walk to the Madonna-de-Fenestre Refuge. \u00a0Walk to the Vall\u00e9e-des-Merveilles Refuge (Consider taking a guided tour there). \u00a0Walk to Refuge L’Estive at the Camp d’Argent. \u00a0Walk to Sospel. \u00a0Walk to Menton as per (A).<\/p>\n
C). A 6 or 7 day trip: \u00a0Take Ligne d’Azur bus 92 \u00a0departing at 10:17 (check) but only during the school vacation period. \u00a0Trip of about 1h45. \u00a0If this is not running, then bus 91 departing at 8 am to Isola Village, and a taxi from there to Isola 2000 (perhaps 15 Euros). \u00a0Possibly overnight. \u00a0Walk to Bor\u00e9on. \u00a0Continue as per (B).<\/p>\n
D). A 9 to 11 day trip: Take Ligne d’Azur bus 91 to St-Etienne-de-Tin\u00e9e (trip about 1h45). \u00a0Possibly overnight. Climb from there to Refuge de Vens, Walk to the Refuge de Rabuons,. Walk to Refugio del Laus in Italy. \u00a0Walk to Sant’ Anna in Italy. \u00a0Walk to Isola 2000 or on to Bor\u00e9on. Then as per B)<\/p>\n
E). \u00a0A 11-13 day trip, expensive unless group of 4. \u00a0Take the bus as per (D) above to St-Etienne-de-Tin\u00e9e. \u00a0Hire a taxi to cross the Col de Bonnette (the highest road pass in Europe at 2,700 meters), an exciting ride, to arrive at Larche (94 km one way). \u00a0Overnight. \u00a0Follow one of the routes to the Refuges du Vens and Rabuons — 2-3 extra nights.<\/p>\n
A) A 4 day trip: \u00a0Take Ligne d’Azur bus 91 to St-Saveur-sur-Tin\u00e9e (1h15) (Depart 8:00 \u00a0every day 16:30 and 18:00 M-S. . Walk to St-Dalmas- Valdeblore and overnight. \u00a0Walk to Utelle. \u00a0Walk to Levans or Aspremont. \u00a0Walk to Nice.<\/p>\n
B) A 6-7 day trip: \u00a0Take the Ligne d;;Azur bus 91 \u00a0to St-Etienne-de-Tin\u00e9e or Auron (1h45). Possibly overnight. \u00a0Walk to Roya. \u00a0Walk to Lognon. Continue as in (A).<\/p>\n
C). \u00a0A 9 day trip. \u00a0Access as per (E) above. \u00a0 Night in Larche. \u00a0Continue to Bousi\u00e9yas. \u00a0Continue to St-Etienne-de-Tin\u00e9e. \u00a0Then follow (B).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scenario One: You wish to hike in the French Alps at Altitude, but can go only in the second half of September. \u00a0In France allmost all the refuges near Mt. Blanc or in the Vanoise will be closed. \u00a0In the Mercantour Park, however, almost all refuges will be open. Scenario Two: \u00a0You will be in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-472","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632,"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472\/revisions\/632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grfive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}