Gourmet alpine walking vacation, France

Planet

We respect and support local conservation / erosion projects by following guidelines issued by the Ecrins National Park and ensuring our clients are made aware of any specific guidelines that may affect them. E.g. carrying rubbish down from refuges / high mountain walks. All accommodation suppliers are vetted according to their professionalism and their approach to responsible tourism (using local produce, respect for the environment and promoting the culture of the region).

The two accommodations for this trip use locally produced food and no single use plastic unless absolutely necessary.

All our guides are fully trained in environmental sustainability as a part of their diplomas and they educate our clients about the mountain habitat during the activities.

We don’t print brochures and keep paper use to a minimum in the office preferring electronic distribution as our main means of communication with clients. We provide detailed information on how to behave within the park such as carrying out all litter and adhering to the rules of the park.

People

We use local guides rather than imported ones and pay them the going rate in France.

For accommodation, we favour independent locally run accommodations rather than big chains to ensure your money goes straight back into the local community.

We also choose local suppliers who match our environmental values. We are committed to promoting the food of the region and have chosen our gourmet accommodation suppliers with care to ensure they use locally produced or home grown food.

During the tour your guide will tell you about the local culture and and stories of the evolution of the landscapes and forgotten villages and general life in the Alps to help you gain an insight into this fragile community which in turn helps engender respect and appreciation for it.

We believe that the better you know and understand places and people the more you respect them. The accumulated knowledge over time helps to nurture conservation values.

We offer this trip from May to October to encourage a tourism season outside the busy winter and summer vacations to help develop the local economy towards a more sustainable all year round activity.

We work closely with the Tourist Office and support their projects for sustainable tourism and in particular the impact of tourism on local agriculture (the traditional way of life in the area).

We are committed to promoting the culture of the region and ensuring that tourism has a positive impact. Through supporting local accommodations and local guides and visiting mountain refuges and giving clients detailed information about how to behave when in the national park we try to ensure that people behave with respect for the environment and local people.