Eco-tours France [L&M]

Tour Highlights

Key Facts

• Four-night tour, with arrivals any day from April to late October.
• Self-guided, light [L] or moderate [M] walking trails, with options to suit.
  
• All-inclusive transport tour, which commences in Villefort and finishes in Langogne - convenient rail access;
• Responsible travel in France using the Cévenol train
• Independent walking, with full and discreet support.
• Best access from Nimes via Ales. Alternative access from Avignon, Montpellier or Marseille airports.

Please click the headings below or scroll down.

1. Theme
2. Model 4-night Eco-tours France
3. Accommodation
4. What's Included
5. Prices
6. Booking

1. Theme

Eco-walking in France is a fascinating criss-cross journey across valleys and over viaducts on the "line of 100 tunnels." This is your chance to enjoy an eco-friendly walking holiday complemented by stimulating short train-rides along a mountain railway line. This standard-setting experience in responsible travel in France offers a multitude of hiking options that can be customised to your needs and interests once booked.

Le Cévenol is a diesel train linking Nîmes to Clermont-Ferrand. For those that want to get away from the car, there isn’t a better way to enjoy your walking than to participate in an eco-tour of a lifetime. Enjoy the picturesque scenery from your modern and comfortable SNCF seat, delight in the changing Cevennes landscape and get a sense of what you are about to experience upon arrival at your next destination - and with hiking options to suit!

Built over a century-and-a-half ago to facilitate the transport of wine and coal to Paris, the line bears testimony to man's engineering ingenuity as it wends its way up its course from Alès to Villefort to La Bastide, through innumerable tunnels and across some breathtaking viaducts. Eco-walking in France brings you memorable hiking in and around the land linked together by Le Cévenol.

The Cévenol has recently won a reprieve from the axe of economic rationality,so enjoy this national treasure to the full, cherish the memories for ever and assist the future of eco-tours France!

Day 1. Villefort.

Arrival and night in Villefort. Take The Cevenol from Nimes via Ales or Paris via Clermont-Ferrand ¹. You are collected from the station and taken to your hotel. Night in Villefort.

Day 2. Lake Villefort. Walk options from 6 kms-4 miles to 14 kms-9 miles.

Enjoy a hike round the lake with optional extensions to Castanet castle or via the Mont Lozere trail. Second night in Villefort.

Day 3. Notre Dame de La Neige Abbey. Walk options from 6 kms-4 miles to 14 kms-9 miles.

Transfer to the station after breakfast and a short train ride to La Bastide. Hike to Notre Dame de La Neige Abbey, celebrated for its liquor, or a section of the RL Stevenson trail. Night in La Bastide.

Day 4. The Road to Pradelles or Lake Naussac. Two walk options from 6kms-3.5 miles to 15 kms-10 miles.

Short morning train ride to Langogne and enjoy an historic hike to the fascinating medieval fortified town of Pradelles via the medieval and 18th C versions of The Regordane. The alternative and shorter walk takes you up to the shores of Lac Naussac for lunch, with an afternoon tour of Langogne's ancient 'circulade.' Night in Langogne.

Day 5. End of your rail-hike tour.

Train to Ales arrives in Nimes at 12.43 and train to Paris arrives in Clermont at 13.36 ¹.

¹ Train times are non-contractual and subject to change. Please check the options and times for your arrival and departure before booking.

These locations are:
1. Villefort-two nights;
2. Langogne;
3. La Bastide Puylaurent.

Click to go to Booking and Costs

Read our article on Le Cévenol.

For a 7-night walking tour in France with the same theme, see Walks in France by Train

For more fine photos of Le Cevenol Railway, please visit:

1. Train Cévenol
and
2. Edouard Paris' site

For an alternative approach to hiking the Cevennes, see Walking the Cevennes.

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