Hiking in Mercantour National Park

The train from Nice winds its way up through the Roya Valley and drops you off in La Brigue, near the Italian border. The village has centuries-old stone houses with colourful façades, and until 1947 the Italian flag flew here. The valley retains its own blend of French and Italian in language, food and culture. Take an evening stroll among the alleys and soak up the atmosphere, poised between the Mediterranean and the Alps.

The day is a warm-up at lower altitude, and you can choose one of two circular routes or do both. The longer route goes up a narrow valley scented with wild lavender, thyme and savory. You pass ruins of old stone houses and reach the Col de Boselia pass. From there, a long descent with panoramic views takes you to Tende, the last town before Italy. Treat yourself to a café there. You can walk back to La Brigue on an excellent trail or take the train. The shorter route climbs high up the slope behind the village and continues on a forest track down to the Notre-Dame des Fontaines chapel, known for its 15th-century frescoes. A forest path takes you back through the valley after a fine first day on the trail.

Today you move up into the mountains. Between June and September you take the local shuttle bus to Castérino with your luggage, and for the rest of the season you book a private transfer with us. Pick up a picnic already in La Brigue, so you can leave your bags at the hotel and head straight out on today's circular route. The trail climbs through coniferous forest until the last larch trees give way to open pastures and bare rock. From the crest you see the jagged peaks of the Mercantour to the east. Then a gentle descent leads back to Castérino, where dinner awaits at the inn.

Collect your packed lunch and take the shuttle bus from the village to Lac des Mèches (about €2 per way, purchased on board). The path goes through the Vallon de la Minière and into the national park. Step by step you leave the forest behind and are surrounded by wildflowers, crystal-clear lakes and bare peaks. Keep an eye out for chamois, ibex and marmots, which are common here. The wolf, too, has made its return to the area but is rarely seen. At the Refuge des Merveilles you can have a drink in the alpine surroundings before walking back to the bus. Guided tours of the 6,000-year-old rock carvings in the Vallée des Merveilles, Europe's largest open-air museum, also depart from the hut. The area is protected and may only be visited with an authorised guide.

With your packed lunch in your backpack, you walk straight from the hotel up through the lush Fontanalba valley and into the national park again. At the fabulously beautiful Lac Vert, the area begins with some of the park's up to 100,000 rock carvings, some over 6,000 years old. Long before the written word, various farming peoples carved their history into the rock here. Fontanalba has more carvings than any other part of the park, and many lie right along the marked trails where you can see them without a guide. The longer variant continues to the untouched lakes of the Valmasque valley. Then you trek home to Castérino for the last evening in the embrace of the Alps.

After breakfast you take the shuttle bus down to Tende or La Brigue and then the train back to Nice. If you want to keep hiking, you can extend the trip with the hike from Sospel down to the Mediterranean in Menton. We are also happy to help you add some pleasant extra nights by the sea in the lemon town of Menton.