Snowshoeing Queyras, St Véran
In the heart of the Alps & Queyras Natural Park, at an altitude of over 2000 metres, the traditional Alpine village of St Véran is your destination on this snowshoeing holiday in France.
With 5 moderate snowshoe walks through the slopes & high valleys of the Alps, snowshoes provided and a local guide at your side, as well as accommodation and evening meals in a traditional chalet hotel, this snowshoe holiday is the ideal way to get away from it all this winter.
Known as the “highest village in Europe” – the church at the village centre is at over 2000m altitude, and the highest point of the commune is at 3175m – St Véran is one of the most beautiful villages of the southern French Alps, located in the protected natural setting of the Queyras Regional Park. A traditional mountain village, the local heritage is very much in evidence in the local houses or “fustes” that were traditional farmhouses built in larch wood, with it’s characteristic reddish colour, where people and cattle shared the living space together! The stone- and larchwood-built village has a wealth of other discoveries in its narrow lanes : houses with grey stone rooves, communal ovens, antique sundials on the facades of the houses, and a 17th century stone church. The village is closed to all but local’s cars, which makes the experience all the more authentic.
Airport: Fly to Turin. group flight transfer organised at around 1 pm.
Hotel: Le Grand Tetras Hotel in Saint Veran.
Included:
– Local transports during the trip. Turin airport transfers.
– 7 nights in the family run hotel Le Grand Tetras in Saint Véran.
– 7 breakfasts & 4 dinners in the hotel Le Grand Tetras in St Véran
– 5 Guided snowshoe walks, including snowshoes, sticks, and safety tools with qualified international mountain leader. -Transceivers, probes and shovels.
Not Included:
– Single room Supplement: 235€ for the week.
– The flights.
– Individual insurance.
– Beverages.
– All extras not included in the itinerary.
– All picnic lunches – 3 dinners
Check lit:
-Walking boots, (leather boots).
-Gaiters, warm pair of socks, some lights too.
-Winter hiking pants, long johns, and waterproof Goretex overtrouser.
-Goretex jacket/ Waterproof jacket breathable.
-Fleece jacket. Duvet jacket.
-Micro fleece and mountain tee shirts for base layer, if possible avoid cotton tee-shirts.
-Hat and cap, Buffs.
-Sun protection, eye protection (sun glasses and goggles can be handy if you have some).
-Gloves two pairs, one light and one warm.
-For snowshoeing no need to bring your walking sticks as we provide them, unless you prefer to use your own.
-Rucksack 30 Litres with straps to carry the snowshoes when necessary.
-Water bottle 1L to 1.5 Litres preferably. A small thermal flask so you can drink hot in the mountain.
-Camelback not so recommended (tend to freeze in the winter).
-Don’t forget your own medication (if any)
-Blister treatment (second skin, etc,..).
For Huts:
-Zip lock bags handy to pack light. Small waterproof bags can be handy in your rucksack.
-Camping towel, slippers (unless provided by the hut), head torch, small soap, tooth paste / brush.
-Long johns for the evening. Bed linen
Mary –
Great to be back in the snowshoeing in the mountains. Vincent adapted our planned programme to the snow conditions so we had brilliant walks in varied locations each day.
Our local hotel welcomed us back each day after our exercise with endless hot water and fabulous food. I’m looking forward to our next trip.
Rosemary –
Fantastic to be in the Alps again with France Outdoors. Always well organised , staying in interesting places with lovely food and great walks.
Gill Whittaker –
Just back from an excellent week’s snowshoeing in the Queyras Alps. Vincent was a great guide and checked that we were all safe while also making sure that we got to challenge ourselves on the daily walks. He pointed out amazing views and landscape and taught us about any wildlife we spotted as well as finding slopes for us to have fun snowshoeing on.
The hotel was ideal for our trip and the food plentiful and tasty. I definitely hope to go on another trip with France Outdoors next year.
Christine –
A fantastic week’s snow shoeing in winter sunshine and a backdrop of mountains and blue skies. Good accommodation with superb meals, excellent location and a first class guide. Vincent was friendly, professional and encouraging – with a good sense of humour. He adapted our days out to suit the weather and the snow conditions and looked after us really well. Excellent local knowledge and passionate about the area and snow shoeing.
Angela –
A very enjoyable snowshoe holiday made even better by an experienced & knowledgeable guide. Yves looked after the group really well – always finding good snow walks + helped us all discretly with our various needs.
I am very pleased that Yves alterned the walks to reflect the group’s capabilityas this worked out great.
Yves is an attentive safety conscious guide who takes very great care of everyone.
Elizabeth –
Yves has been very attentive. He has a number of stories and anecdotes that keep us all interested and his knowledge of the area & nature & wildlife is impressive.
I feel safe with him as our guide.
The walk we did on Monday was hard but gave us a great sense of achievement.
The walk on Tuesday offered wonderfull views but was less challenging.
Thursday walk was tough on the way up and the pace a bit fast. The views were spectacular.
Friday was the best in my opinion.
I have had a thoroughly enjoyable week.
Many thanks.
Teresa –
As well as being an excellent guide, Yves is also a very good teacher of the techniques of snowshoeing. His knowledge of wildlife and history etc is also huge.
I came on this same holiday last year and enjoyed it just as much this time.
John –
This was my first holiday of this type. I think the whole week has been excellent and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
The guide was excellent in all respects. His planning to meet changed weather conditions enhanced the trip.
His guidance/instruction on snowshoeing enabled me to complete the week with a strong feeling of pride and satisfaction.
His leadership on the walks was very good providing relevant information about changes due to the weather, the environment and pointing out points of nature etc…
My thanks for providing an excellent trip !
Lesley –
The whole experience has been truly marvellous. St Veran is a wonderful base for a holidays – charming and alpine, like the hotel Tetras. Nothing “plastic” or over commercialised. Yet everything needed was provided.
A special mention must be made about Kevin. His assesment of the group and resulting sympathetic treatment and concideration of each and everyone of us was exceptional. We simply could ,ot have had a better group leader/guide.
Colin –
C’était un voyage super! Notre guide Kevin était très utile et professionel.
Son anglais est excellent.
Le Hotel Grand Tetras était confortable avec du personnel très génial.
Ronald –
Snowshoeing was a completly new experience for me and I was persuaded to come by a friend.
Our experience of France Outdoors has been brillant. We arrived in the Alps too late to meet up with the group which flew into Turin airport. Transport was chaotic as a result of a very heavy covering of snow. But Florence and Kevin arranged to pick us up from Oulx train station and take us to St Veran. We own a lot to them for their kindness.
Kevin was a great leader very knowledgeable and communicative but the best of all was the individual attention he gave to me and to make it a memorable holiday.
Penelope –
Our guide Kevin was exceptional. He could not have been better. I loved the design of the trip. It was fab coming back to a small friendly hotel after a day snowshoeing. I enjoyed the set menu dinners provided.
Dave –
Kevin had a very difficult job because the group had a very mixed abilities. He managed to balance this very well so everyone got something out of the walks.
It would habe been ideal if he could have had an assistant so there could have been a slow and a separate faster group.
Katherine –
Yves was an excellent guide and instructor who took great care with our safety and also liked to offer us new challenges.
The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and Le Grand Tetras is in a prime position to enjoy the mountains. Valerie and her family provided everything with generaous care
Unnit –
Yves is a real credit to France Outdoors and having already had the pleasure to meet him in Provence last year he was yet again proved to be a gem. I knew prior to going that I would be unable to take part in the daily trips due to a weak knee however Yves suggested I participate in half day on first day – Excellent !! As snowshoeing for me felt easy on the tracks I enjoyed being able to snowshoe and trek 5-15 km each day and absorb the magnificent scenery. The Southern Alps with France Outdoors will be a very fond memory. THANK YOU