Écrins National Park, seven valleys for walking beneath glaciers.

What is the park like?

A high-mountain massif between Grenoble and Briançon, with glaciers, peaks of over 4,000 m and deep valleys that surround it like the spokes of a wheel. There are no roads that cross it: each valley is a dead end that finishes where the footpaths begin, and to get from one to another by car you have to go out and round. That is why it pays to choose one or two valleys and stay in them.

The park is divided into seven sectors, each with its own character:

• Oisans, in the north-west, the Grenoble side: La Grave and La Meije, the Vénéon valley with Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans and Lac de Lauvitel.
• Briançonnais, in the north-east, with the fortified city of Briançon as a base.
• Vallouise, in the east, with Vallouise-Pelvoux and the road that climbs to the Pré de Madame Carle, at the foot of the Glacier Blanc.
• Embrunais, in the south-east, above Lac de Serre-Ponçon.
• Champsaur and Valgaudemar, in the south, greener and quieter.
• Valbonnais, in the west, the least visited.

Which route should I do?

The park maintains more than 700 km of trails in its core area, and its Destination Écrins portal publishes sheets with distance, ascent and time. A few to start with:

• Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne, in the Oisans: easy, 10.7 km, 425 m of climb and about 4 h 30, through high-mountain meadows at the foot of the glaciers.
• Cascade de la Pisse, at Champoléon (Champsaur): medium, 9.3 km, 468 m and about 3 h 30.
• Travers des lacs via l'Alpe du Pin, from Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans: medium, 7.4 km, 668 m and about 4 h.
• Lac de l'Eychauda, at Vallouise-Pelvoux: medium, 11.7 km, 823 m and about 5 h, to a lake beneath a glacier.

The best-known excursion in the park is the one to the Pré de Madame Carle, at the head of the Vallouise: the road ends on a plain of larches, and from there a path climbs to the Glacier Blanc hut, with the tongue of the glacier in view. For those with more days, the GR 54, the Tour de l'Oisans and des Écrins, goes right round the massif from hut to hut.

What rules do you need to know?

In the heart of the park the rules are strict, and it is worth knowing them before you arrive:

• Dogs are banned, even on a lead. Only working dogs are admitted: rescue, herding and assistance dogs.
• You cannot camp. Bivouacking is allowed from 19:00 to 9:00 and more than an hour's walk from the road and from the boundaries of the park's core.
• Lighting fires is forbidden, as is collecting plants, animals, minerals or fossils.
• Mountain biking is banned except on marked stretches, and so are boats on the lakes.
• Motorised overflights are banned below 1,000 m above ground. If you want to fly a drone, ask the park first.

What do I do, where do I eat and where do I sleep at La Grave?

If it is your first time and you are coming from Lyon or Grenoble, the most convenient side is that of La Grave and Villar-d'Arêne, in the upper Romanche valley, at the foot of La Meije. Everything is less than half an hour away by car:

• What to do: the Meije glacier cable car up to 3,200 m, the Jardin du Lautaret at the top of the pass, the easy climb to the Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne hut, the route to the lakes of the Emparis plateau facing La Meije and the Arsine via ferrata with a guide.
• Where to eat: La Cabine, at the 3,200 m station; Le Faranchin, in Villar-d'Arêne, open every day in summer, and the dining room of the Sérac, in La Grave.
• Where to sleep: the Hôtel Le Castillan, facing the cable car; the Auberge Edelweiss, in the centre of the village, and the Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne hut for a night at altitude.

How do you get there from Spain?

By car, on the A9 to Nîmes and the Rhône valley. For the Oisans you go up via Valence and Grenoble; for the Vallouise, the Champsaur and the Embrunais, via Aix-en-Provence and Gap, or via Grenoble and the Col du Lautaret towards Briançon. Without a car there are trains to Gap and Briançon, but the valleys are hard to get around by public transport: a car is almost essential for moving between them.