The Way of St James hiking vacation in France

Planet

We believe that walking trips are the best way to experience a destination. This slow style of travel not only affords you more time to appreciate your destination, but can positively contribute to the regions that host you.

Pretty villages, rolling countryside and strong gastronomic traditions make this an interesting part of France to discover. By walking this pilgrimage trail, it will give you time to appreciate this landscapes, explore the history and get to know locals in settlements you pass through that would otherwise be overlooked. Traveling on foot has minimal impact on your environment, but we encourage you to stay on the marked trails at all times to avoid erosion.

We are aligned with “Leave No Trace”, an international organisation that has set the global standard for outdoor ethics. Through targeted education, research and outreach, its mission is to ensure the long-term health of our natural world while maintaining sustainable recreation in nature.

Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travelers to take their own reusable water bottles, coffee cups and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our office as well as on the trail, in our London office we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles. We use recycled paper in our office, and are working towards reducing the amount of paper we use, and we recycle all our paper and plastic waste.

People

Our preferred accommodations we use on this trip are locally owned small hotels, Inns and B&Bs; this way we ensure your tourist spend is staying within the area and benefiting local people. We select our properties for their warm welcome; and also favour those that offer local produce in their breakfast and dinner menus.

For example, when available we use the Gîte la Cabourne in S'-Privat-d'Allier. They work with Masison Chabnon, a local supplier which offers the best quality of meat from nearby farms, and the local Boyer Bakery.

During your tour we encourage you to purchase your lunch/snacks from local shops; it will give you a chance to meet the local people, and can encourage genuine cultural exchange. For example you may like to visit the patisserie close to the hotel in Saugues, to stock up on delicious snacks for the days hike. And during the day you may be lucky and find a farm cafe in Contaldes open.

In 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018 The Thoughtful Traveler booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travelers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveler ebook before departure.