Gourmet New Year’s Snowshoeing Retreat in the French Alps

We’ll meet you at Gap train station at 17:30 and transfer you to your cosy, characterful farmhouse base in the Champsaur Valley. Once you’ve settled in, you can ease into the week the French way with a pre-dinner apéritif, before your first evening meal.

If you’re arriving earlier, Gap is well worth a wander for its cafés, markets and relaxed Alpine feel — or you may prefer to come the day before to start the retreat feeling fully rested. Just aim to plan your journey so you’re ready for the 17:30 collection.

Starting from Prapic, the last little village at the head of the valley, today feels like stepping into a quieter, older Alps. With only a small year-round community, this high-mountain hamlet sits beneath steep slopes that can make winter access challenging — and that sense of remoteness is exactly what makes it so special. Stone houses, narrow lanes and a beautifully simple setting set the tone before you clip on snowshoes and head into open country.

From here, you’ll follow a broad, glacially carved valley into the heart of the Écrins landscape, with big views and crisp, silent winter scenery all around. Your guide will choose the best line for the day based on conditions — perhaps gaining a sunny plateau for panoramas, or keeping low to trace the river and sheltered valley floor. You’ll pass the Saut du Laire waterfall and a solitary chapel that adds a real sense of place to this wild corner of the mountains.

A wonderfully immersive day for December: peaceful, scenic, and active without feeling extreme — the sort of low-impact winter adventure that leaves you fresh, not flattened.

Distance: 10 km | Ascent: 500 m

Daytime – “Top of the world” snowshoe to La Palastre (2,278 m)

Celebrate the final day of the year the best way we know how: earning a summit view on snowshoes. Today’s route climbs to La Palastre, a spectacular objective that delivers that unmistakable “top of the world” feeling as you look out across the Champsaur valley. You’ll wind through open snowfields, peaceful woodland and rugged outcrops, with plenty of natural pause points — maybe to admire a frozen waterfall, take photos, or simply enjoy the quiet. After reaching the col, you’ll enjoy a picnic lunch in the winter sunshine, before tackling the final stretch to the summit at 2,278 metres. The descent is pure fun: snowshoes make it easy to walk, slide and bounce your way down.

Distance: 8.5 km | Ascent: 630 m

Evening – A proper French New Year’s Eve feast (Réveillon)
Back at the farmhouse, you’ll swap mountain air for candlelight and settle in for a long, multi-course réveillon dinner— a true French New Year tradition. Meg, our talented Taiwanese chef, combines seasonal Alpine ingredients with a subtle Asian flair for a menu that’s festive, creative and unforgettable. Expect a beautiful progression of dishes (seafood, foie gras, a classic trou normand, hearty main course, local cheeses and a celebratory dessert), paired with wines and Champagne to toast midnight. 

After last night’s festivities, today is a softer, restorative finale - one last dose of winter nature! 

We’ll start from the peaceful village of Serre-Eyraud (1,373 m), a traditional local ski spot with a relaxed, lived-in mountain feel. The trail climbs gradually through beautiful larch forest, with calm woodland scenery and occasional openings to the snowy Champsaur peaks. After around 500 metres of ascent, we reach the cosy Cabane de Tante Yvonne (1,809 m) - a simple refuge with benches and a stove, ideal for a sheltered break. If the group feels like stretching the legs a little more, there’s an optional short extension to a panoramic viewpoint (1,887 m) for one last wide look across the valley.

Distance: 8.5 km | Ascent: 521 m

We’ll collect you from the farmhouse at 09:30 and transfer you to Gap for your onward journey. Please plan your travel from Gap for after 10:30 to allow for the transfer and a comfortable buffer.

We hope you’ve had an amazing New Year snowshoeing holiday — full of fresh mountain air, great food, and memorable moments — and we wish you a smooth journey home.