From the Col du Lautaret to the Alpe de Villard d'Arène

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Stage1 of the Tour du Combeynot: From the Col du Lautaret to the Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne refuge via the schistose crevasse trail overlooking the Romanche valley. Unique view of the Écrins and Meije peaks.

This walk is part of a multi-day hike: Tour du Combeynot en 4 étapes

Details

n°2241775
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.30 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: No
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 132 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 92 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 2,119 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 2,033 m
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Photos

View of Les Agneaux
View of the refuge

Description of the walk

Departure from Col du Lautaret (between La Grave and Briançon).
Park in the Col du Lautaret car park on the left below the park signs.

(S) Take the path behind the signs and enter the Écrins National Park.

(1) At the crossroads, take the path on the right which crosses the stream via a wooden footbridge. The direction indicated is: Col d'Arsine, Villar-d'Arène. Continue along the hillside among the green alders. Cross a series of ravines and reach the bench at the edge of the path that marks the end of the discovery trail (signs for "Légende du Pas d'Anna Falque").

(2) Continue along the Chemin des Crevasses. At first, this path crosses very steep schist slopes. Then the path crosses mountain pastures. Return to the junction with theGR®58.

(3) Turn left onto this red and white markedGR® trail, then leave it at the next crossroads (sign) on the right to reach the Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne refuge (E), today's stop.

Waypoints

  1. S : km 0 - alt. 2,035 m - Col du Lautaret
  2. 1 : km 0.19 - alt. 2,036 m - Bridge over the torrent
  3. 2 : km 2.8 - alt. 2,118 m - Bench
  4. 3 : km 5 - alt. 2,055 m - Intersection
  5. E : km 6.3 - alt. 2,080 m - Refuge de l'Alpe de Villar d'Arêne

Notes

The crevasse trail crosses very steep schist slopes (which define the Medium category of this hike), so you must have good footwear and it is best not to take this route in rainy weather.

The Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne refuge is a French Alpine Club refuge located in the commune of Villar-d'Arêne in the Écrins massif, at an altitude of 2,079 metres.
Address: 05480 Villar-d'Arène - Telephone: +33 (0)4 76 79 94 66
Opening period: mid-March to mid-May and early June to mid-September
Gateway to the Écrins National Park - A stone's throw from the 45th parallel

It is also possible to reach the Alpe de Villar-d'Arêne refuge from the car park located at the end of the Villar-d'Arène leisure area by following the right bank of the Romanche river.

You are hiking in the heart of the Ecrins National Park.

The Écrins massif is an exceptional area, open to all, with a rare natural, cultural and landscape heritage. To protect these treasures, the heart of the park is marked by blue, white and red flags, where regulations must be observed. Please familiarise yourself with these rules when planning your hike in order to preserve this collective asset, at https://www.ecrins-parcnational.fr.

Worth a visit

(S) Visit to the Alpine botanical garden at the Col du Lautaret.
(E) View of Les Agneaux from the refuge.
(E) From the refuge, take the hike to the sources of the Romanche.

Reviews and comments

5 / 5
Based on 9 reviews
Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
5 / 5
samsonnet26
samsonnet26

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful hike that takes you to a mountain refuge with little elevation gain.

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VictorHintzy
VictorHintzy

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely little hike to reach the refuge and spend the night there before embarking on the real stages. La Meije, not far from there, fascinated us.
Traffic on the Col du Lautaret is slightly noisy for the first 30-40 minutes and then dies down completely.

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ChantalJames
ChantalJames

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very pretty route along the mountainside with a few dizzying passages. An easy walk amid flowers, streams and cows.

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Digigordes
Digigordes

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Superb hike, extended to the Arsine Pass. It took us longer than expected, partly because of our age, but mainly because of the many marmots we saw along the way. Two slightly tricky sections where you need to be careful. Magnificent scenery!

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Mimititi
Mimititi

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike advertised as taking 2 hours and 15 minutes, which we completed in 1 hour and 30 minutes, even though we are not particularly experienced walkers.
Return via the same trail (the sign for the return journey incorrectly states that it takes 1 hour to return to Lautaret).
Uphill and downhill sections without significant elevation changes.
Be careful with young children as there are steep slopes.
Pleasant stop at the refuge before returning.
Beautiful scenery.

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mariedo8655
mariedo8655

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We completed the Combeynots route in three days (instead of four), starting from Lauzet to combine the two shortest stages. It was a choice we did not regret.
We set off from Lauzet to Lautaret, then from Lautaret to the Alpe de Villar refuge where we camped, surrounded by marmots.
The section of the trail that had been damaged by a landslide had been completely rebuilt. We saw a chamois there.
A very beautiful hike, without difficulty and with magnificent scenery.

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Jowall
Jowall

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

First stage of our Combeynot tour and first surprise 😅. A rockslide had occurred after about 3.5 km of walking, making it impossible to pass... We were forced to leave the traditional trails 🤫 and begin a descent that was feasible for ordinary mortals, but only in good weather... and then follow the Romanche towards its source. It was a splendid sight! It is possible to make this slight detour by following the route of this Visorando hike, which I highly recommend! The plateau we crossed along the Romanche, with cows grazing and dozens of marmots, was just magnificent! It is therefore possible to walk along the Romanche and then climb up to the Alpe de Villar d'Arène refuge (an extension to the source is undoubtedly worthwhile, but we did not try it). I think it's essential to visit the Alpe de Villar d'Arène refuge and then continue on to Les Monetiers Les Bains (with a short detour via Lake Arsine). This second stage is simply MAGICAL 🤩

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ciro1912
ciro1912

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Superb route from the Col du Lautaret to the Alpe de Villard refuge.
We saw lots of marmots, and the elevation gain wasn't too difficult for the extraordinary views of the Ecrins massif.
There were a few steep sections, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

As there were many of us, we split the group in two after our picnic at the refuge. One group made their way back to the Col du Lautaret to collect the car, while the other descended to the village of Villard d'Arene, following the Romanche river.

It was great, there were other hikers but that didn't spoil our fun.

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