7 days - 6 nights: 5 days of snowshoeing

With access to Mercantour National Park at our doorstep, we will have no trouble getting comfortable in our cozy, little Castérino inn at 1,500 meters up! Our curiosity will expose our senses to new highs not only in Mercantour National Park and the Vallée des Merveilles, but also just over the border in the Italian town of Cunéo.



Thanks to our guide, our first snowshoe tracks will encounter those of antelope and ibex in the valley of Fontanalba out of wind's way and that of avalanches.

The next day, we will cross over into Italy to take in the sights and sounds of the Cunéo market before heading off in the direction of Tetti's mountain pasture villages tucked away and halfway buried underneath the snow as well as that of Pinocchio's draftsman featuring nearly a hundred wall drawings. We will also spend a night in the Refuge des Merveilles where a hearty meal comprised of tartiflette, an oven-baked potato, cheese, cream and ham specialty, and chocolate fondue awaits your palate and appetite in a Great Northern fur trapper setting. The isolated ambiance is bound to mesmerize from a singular, 360°, awe-inspiring angle on immense frozen lakes around which we'll be taking a stroll and ridges whose view will span the 3,000-meter high Alpes Maritimes with an ocean backdrop.

-Supervised by a government-qualified mountain guide,

- Technical equipment supplied: Snowshoes and poles

- Safety equipment supplied: ARVA, shovel and probes

- Civil responsibility insurance

- Lunch from D2 to D6 with the snack package

- Half-board with the Marie-Madeleine Inn

- One night in the Refuge des Merveilles with a more elaborate meal

Level: Easy. Beginners welcome!