The Beaufortain is a mountain as we imagine it: green alpine pastures, clear lakes, sharp peaks, long ridge paths and small hillside villages with their timeless bell towers. You can go from pasture to scree slope in less than a day, all with the feeling of being constantly surrounded by formidable peaks. On the one hand, the Beaufortain massif has many mountains over 2,000 metres (6,560 ft), including the Mirantin, the Grand Mont, the Crêt du Rey, the Mont Coin and the superb Pierra Menta. On the other hand, it’s surrounded by the giants of the Aravis, the Bauges, the Lauzière, the Vanoise and the Mont-Blanc. It’s a real postcard landscape.

The GR de Pays du Tour du Beaufortain is designed to help you discover this exceptional territory. Over nearly 110 kilometres (68 mi), you walk along incredible paths, sometimes forested, sometimes rocky, but never boring.

Here, I present a seven-day itinerary. On stage four, I suggest that you take one of the official variants of the route to discover the fabulous Gittes ridges. Those who wish to do the Beaufortain Tour without including this variant will find the GPS track of the official route here: komoot.com/tour/687880276.

Each stage ends at a refuge and wild camping is also allowed on the entire route. Many refuges allow you to pitch your tent on their grounds and use their showers and facilities at a very reasonable price. In any case, I strongly advise you to book in advance, especially if you’re hiking between 14th July and 15th August. There’s lots of accommodation on the route, which allows you to organise your walk how you like.

Bus line 21 takes you from Albertville station to Queige, the starting and finishing point of the GRP. You can find more information on the timetable here: tra-mobilite.com/line/ligne-21. Albertville is easily accessible by train from Paris, Chambéry, Grenoble and Bourg-Saint-Maurice.

To avoid encountering snow at the highest points of the route, it’s best to plan your Tour of the Beaufortain between late June and late September. Finally, the Ultra-Trail du Beaufortain takes place every year on a weekend in July (the 16th and 17th in 2022). If you’re a long-distance enthusiast, you’re in for a treat! If you want to stick to hiking, you should know that the village of Queige and part of the GRP are taken by storm that weekend.