Sightseeing in the Haute Tarentaise villages
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Sightseeing in the Haute Tarentaise villages
BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE

Sightseeing in the Haute Tarentaise villages

Architecture
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History
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A scenic route to explore the Haute Tarentaise villages.
A scenic route to explore traditional Haute Tarentaise know-how and its villages. The first stretch takes you along a lovely, shady tree-lined route on the banks of the River Isère, which climbs slightly. When you get to Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, cross over to the other side to wind your way through such remarkable hamlets as La Masure. The rest of the trail is just as enjoyable with a mix of medium roads and slightly more technical tracks through the trees, between the hamlets of Montvalezan and Séez.

Description

Setting off from the Parc des Marais in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the first stretch will take you along the Isère riverbanks via a pretty woodland trail. From the hamlet of La Bonneville, the route picks up the road all the way up to the highest point - the hamlet of Le Villaret (1,400m) - after crossing the hamlet of Le Villaroger, Saint-Foy and the remarkable hamlet of La Masure. On your way back, enjoy a varied ride along easy tracks, woodland trails and quiet mountain roads.

Follow the red waymarks: Les Villages.

E-bike rental shops: 

GRAVITY LAB
297 Av. Marechal Leclerc
73700 Bourg Saint Maurice
+33 (0)4-79-40-05-54

Intersport Bourg Saint Maurice
Zone commerciale de Super U
73700 Bourg Saint Maurice
+33 (0)4 79 04 04 30

Laboshop Bourg Saint Maurice
avenue du stade
73700 Bourg-Saint-Maurice
+33 (0)4 79 07 07 61

PRECISION SKI Mountain Tribu
43 Place de la Gare
73700 Bourg Saint Maurice
+33 (0)4 58 14 04 44

  • Departure : Place de la gare (in front of the station) - 73700 Bourg-Saint-Maurice
  • Arrival : Place de la gare (in front of the station) - 73700 Bourg-Saint-Maurice
  • Towns crossed : BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE, SEEZ, VILLAROGER, SAINTE-FOY-TARENTAISE, and MONTVALEZAN

Altimetric profile


Recommandations

Rando Vanoise has been designed to help you pick and choose your outings, but cannot be held liable where they are concerned. The mountain offers up a wide range of routes and trails for cyclists of all levels, but remember, it is a living, unpredictable environment and it is important that you head out suitably equipped. Ask advice from cycle rental operators.
If in doubt, you can take an introductory lesson in how to ride an electric bike with an instructor.

If you see a herd ahead, slow down and go round it. If there is a patou, a guard dog, climb down from your bike and walk, pushing it alongside you. Avoid making any sudden or aggressive gestures towards the dog and move away from the herd slowly and calmly. The dog will only be checking that you do not pose a threat to its herd. Respect the parkland and close gates behind you after you've gone through them.

The mountain is living, please respect it by staying on the paths and tracks.

Information desks

705 Route du Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, 73700 La Rosière - Montvalezan

https://www.larosiere.netinfo@larosiere.net04 79 06 80 51

Route de Guersaz, La Bataillette, 73640 Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise

https://www.saintefoy-tarentaise.cominfo@saintefoytourisme.com04 79 06 95 19

Place de la Gare, 73700 Bourg-Saint-Maurice

https://www.lesarcs.comcontact@lesarcs.com04 79 07 12 57

Transport

Train services run as far as Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Find out more at: www.oui.sncf.com
Have you also thought about car sharing?


Access and parking

From Moûtiers, take the RN90 road to Aime or Bourg Saint Maurice.

Parking :

Bourg Saint Maurice: Arc-en-Ciel car park (free) located behind the station (opposite the marshland, start of the greenway)

10 points of interest

  • Water

    Bourg-Saint-Maurice Marshland

    This nature spot with a leisure centre deep in the Tarentaise region is home to many birds (including as a stopover habitat for migrating birds) and is the only known site for Natterjack Toads in this valley. Several streams and rivers, including the Isère, join here to form the lake. Known as an equalising reservoir, it contributes to the smooth running of the Malgovert hydroelectric power plant. Picnic tables and water supply points.
  • Water

    Malgovert power plant

    In the Haute Tarentaise area, EDF operates a vast hydroelectric power network comprising water abstraction points, dams and plants, including the one at Malgovert. Commissioned in 1953, it channels the water stored in Tignes dam, began in 1948, through turbines (up to 50 m3/s). Thanks to its 4 "double Pelton wheel" units, it can generate around 680 Gwh a year, the equivalent of 280,000 inhabitants' energy consumption (Savoie has a population of 400,000).
  • History

    Malgovert Forest

    Back in the Middle Ages, the lords of Val d’Isère (Séez) and Villaraymond De Rochefort (Bourg-Saint-Maurice) couldn't agree over who controlled part of the Haute-Tarentaise territory. One day, they eventually decided to settle the boundary of their two domains in a card game… and had boundary stones bearing their arms placed across the whole forest (you can still see these today).
    The name of Malgovert Forest comes from the fact that the place was "mal-governed".

  • Small heritage

    Notre Dame de l'Assomption Church

    Located in Villaroger Chef-Lieu, this church is very old and has been rebuilt and renovated many times over the years.
  • Architecture

    The post-and-beam houses in La Masure and Le Miroir

    These picturesque villages are home to distinctive post-and-beam houses, most of which date back many centuries. Records have been found as far back as 1633.
    Post-and-beam houses were often built by masons harking from Piedmont in Italy. Since timber was rare, they tended to build the walls out of stone and the low-sloping roofs out of lauze slate. Not only did these construction materials look nice, but they were also extremely practical. Built-up columns (as tall as 2 to 6 metres depending on the house) supported the heavy, overhanging roof, thus creating shelters and storage areas away from bad weather: hay or timber could be dried there for example… In steeply sloping areas, these columns could reach up to a dozen metres off the ground. In the village of Le Miroir, please remember to leave your bikes in the church car park so that you can visit it on foot.

  • Architecture

    The hamlets of Montvalezan

    These are typical grouped villages, huddled around their chapel, built up the slope and facing directly south. The materials that have endured through the ages in building these centuries-old houses are stone, wood and lauze slate, which are sourced locally and enhanced by the mountain dwellers' worksmanship. As you cycle through the hamlets of Le Mousselard, Les Moulins, Le Villaret and Le Solliet, you'll be able to admire them.
    Once designed to cater to rural activities, these houses have now been restored either as permanent homes or to provide additional tourism accommodation for the resort of La Rosière.

  • Viewpoint

    St Michel's Chapel

    Not far from the route, this unusual little chapel, perched on the promontory of Le Châtelard at an altitude of 1,450m, enjoys an incredible view over the Haute-Tarentaise valley. A special viewing system using metal tubes means you can observe the summits and villages up the mountainside from the River Isère all the way to the Haute-Tarentaise ski resorts. This chapel is dedicated to the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of high places.
  • Small heritage

    St Jean Baptiste's Church

    From the 13th century, the parish was attended by the Canons Regular of the Hospice du Petit Saint-Bernard. After a fire ravaged the original church in 1636, the priest Jean Ducloz organised for a new church to be built, in Baroque style, which was consecrated in 1688. He paid for the redeveloped extension of the main municipality's seigniorial residence, which became known as the Vicar's Tower. It was intended to accommodate not only the vicar but also the canons from the Hospice who came there in winter until 1760 or thereabouts.
  • Flora

    Les Ecudets village

    Located in the municipality of Séez, at an altitude of 1,176 metres, this place is the lowest point at which you can join the international ski area of "La Rosière – Espace San Bernardo".
    Les Ecudets Forest not only harbours a wealth of varied wildlife, but is also a wonderful natural playground for ski tourers in winter and hikers and mountain bikers come summer, thanks to specific routes for each activity that can be enjoyed safely by all users.

  • History

    Le Villard-Dessus village

    You can spot where Le Villard-Dessus is from the valley bottom by the big building, "Le Val Joli", set in the mountainside, which has shaped this hamlet's history.
    "Le Val Joli" was built in the 1890s by a family from Séez who turned it into a hotel for travellers. In World War II, it became the headquarters for the Italian army who occupied Séez and the neighbouring municipalities of Montvalezan and Sainte-Foy. In the 1950s, French Customs moved into "Le Val Joli" and the building passed into the French State's hands. It became a widely acclaimed centre for cross-country skiing. Today, after years of restoration work, the new owners have converted it into a hotel that welcomes holiday makers and travellers in this history-steeped site.