L'Alpe d'Huez via the panoramic trail - Hiking from Villard-Reculas

This hike from Villard-Reculas to Alpe d'Huez winds through alpine meadows and forests, offering superb panoramic views of the Oisans mountains along the way.

From the Villard-Reculas Tourist Office, turn left at the traffic circle to join the Route des Alpages, which you follow for around 200 metres.

At the intersection with Rue Nouvelle, take Chemin des Vaches, a dirt path that climbs up through the village. As you progress, you'll cross the road twice. At the third intersection, you rejoin the Route des Alpages.

Turn left and follow this road for around 200 metres to a parking lot. This is where the wide Chemin de la Bergerie begins, in the direction of Lac du Langaret.

Once you've passed Lac du Langaret, turn right onto a path that rises steadily. This passage offers fine views of the Belledonne massif and Taillefer. The balcony trail then leads to the Alpe d'Huez ski resort.

At "Côte Souveraine", an orientation table offers a remarkable panorama of the entire Oisans region.

The route then continues north towards the Huez forest. Special steps make it easy to cross a scree slope in complete safety. Once over this obstacle, the path widens.

At "La Grande Côte", the panorama opens out over the village of Huez and its resort, as well as the Grandes Rousses and Écrins massifs. The path then crosses two small streams before reaching Alpe d'Huez, in the Vieil Alpe district. The trail passes under the Grande Sure chairlift and ends at the Saint-Laurent residence parking lot.

After about an hour and a half's walk and 5km, you've reached Alpe d'Huez!

The return journey can be made either by the same route, or, in summer, with the lifts when they're in operation. In this case, you can reach Villard-Reculas by taking the Signal telemixte to the summit of Signal, then the Villarais chairlift back down to Villard-Reculas.

There are two options for getting to the Signal cable car:

By shuttle bus :
From the parking lot of the Saint-Laurent residence, a free shuttle bus takes you to the cable car. Get on at the "Castillan" stop, near the parking lot, and get off at the "Rond-Point des Pistes" stop. The shuttles run during the day when the lifts are open, at a rate of about one per hour.

On foot:
From the same parking lot, it's a 15-20 minute walk (1.1 km) to the Signal cable car.

Once there, take the cable car to the summit of Le Signal, then return to Villard-Reculas via the Villarais chairlift.

Ski passes are available for purchase at the ticket offices near the Signal telemix.

Please note: remember to plan your return in advance, depending on lift schedules.

Yellow PDIPR markings.

TOP 25 IGN 3335