Best time to visit Mercantour

Best time to go to the Mercantour

Best thing about hiking in May? When we got too hot we stripped off, stuck our clothes in the icy, glacial river, and put them back on again.

Unless you are snowshoeing in winter, the snows don’t really melt here until May but, when they do, the pastures and rocky slopes explode into a wildflower wonderland. Honeypots such as Vallée des Merveilles and Saint Martin Vesubie pack out with day trippers in summer, particularly on weekends. But a tour operator can create an itinerary that steers you away from these at peak times. Autumn is also when the trees come alive, with the sumac and larch leaves turning through the glorious gamut. Beware of lightning storms if hiking in the summer months.

Mercantour National Park Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

-6

FEB

-3

125

MAR

140

APR

191

MAY

127

JUN

257

JUL

145

AUG

133

SEP

OCT

NOV

226

DEC

-4

149

Mercantour National Park travel advice

Routes

Christine Kieffer, from our partner, Itinerance Trekking:

“Stay at least one week for walking because it is the best way to discover these mountains. The ways are very well marked and it is exceptional in France. Especially our paths are easy to find because every spring, we re-mark the way, dig and repair in order to be safe and secure. It means that even an inexperienced walker can do it due to the 25/000 maps and our advice.”

“Go with a donkey. These affectionate animals have been part of our family for as long as we can remember. They love the company of humans, especially that of children, who they will encourage to keep on walking without sulking. For people who want to hike from place to place, but don’t want a donkey, we can also organise luggage transport by car of course!”

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Mercantour tips from our vacation reviews

At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travelers are often... other travelers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do - and opinions about what not to.

We have selected some of the most useful Mercantour National Park travel advice that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your vacation.

If staying in the center of Nice you can catch the number 59 or 730 bus up to the mountains. Absolutely everything is provided.

- Katie Goodwin on our Mercantour National Park self-guided walking vacation.

“We expected our young children to grumble about the hiking but in fact they exceeded all expectations and walked 5 steep miles per day for 3 days in a row. It's easy to under-estimate what your kids (and you) can do. The most memorable part of our vacation was our 6 year old and 4 year old leading "Leonidas" our donkey through the French Alps, sleeping in a beautiful yurt in an Alpine meadow, and feeling like we'd done something completely different to the typical "bucket and spade" type of vacation” - Alison Godfrey on our Mercantour family walking vacation

“Don't worry about having enough snow! Mel is expert at finding a variety of stunning locations to walk in all conditions and we saw many more signs of wildlife and varied plant life (our other main interest) as a result…Having a great variety of walking experiences was wonderful - from full-on snowshoeing to walking over ice and snow with cleats/microspikes on our boots to gazing across from the mountain tops at the Med." - Angie Polkey on our Winter walking & snowshoeing vacation.

Walking poles are useful for long ascents/descents when knees start to get tired. Bring a warm layer in the evening as it can get a bit chilly.

- Patricia Grey

More relevant guides

Written by Catherine Mack

Best time to visit Mercantour