Summer in Val d’Isère: Hiking, Lakes & Driving the Col de L’Iseran

Summer in Val d’Isère: Hiking, Lakes & Driving the Col de L’Iseran

Hi, we’re Richard and Jackie from Early Retirement Wonderlust and we are in the second part of our VW camper van road trip around France and we are currently in the beautiful ski resort of Beldazair [Music] Now, we have really chanced our arm this week because we’ve moved on from Shaman and the weather forecast for the whole of the Alps has been pretty appalling and we drove up through solid rain. But we’ve woken up to this this morning. We are considerably higher than where we were in Shaman. We’re now at 1,800 m. So, it is a lot colder, but what a morning to wake up to. And we wanted to come to Beldazair especially because when the children were younger, we used to come skiing here. The campsite that we’re staying at is in a little village just outside of Beldazair called Laenant. And every winter over Christmas, we used to hire a tiny little chalet. It was the cheapest chalet in Beldazair. And we’ve got such fond memories of being here with our children. We have been once before in the summer. And it is absolutely beautiful once you get up into those mountains. And we’ve walked down this road so many times. In fact, we didn’t even realize it was a road in the winter because you’re normally kneedeep in snow and we definitely didn’t realize the campsite was there. But it’s such a happy place for us. One thing to note, I don’t know if you can hear it in the background, but there are marmets calling us. So, we’re off up into the mountains on one of the chairlifts because they’re free in Valdair. And we will catch you later. [Music] [Music] Wow. We have caught this gondola so many times when we’ve been skiing. And normally we are jam-packed in like this with skis everywhere landing on you as they fall from the racks. But we’ve got it to ourselves. The sky is blue up there and it looks like it’s going to be the most fantastic day up at the top. The slope behind us is the famous um fast run, which is a notorious black run that they use in the World Cup skiing races. It looks terrifying. I think Richard’s been down it once and he said never again. So, I’m never going on it. Now, being a true Yorkshire, I appreciate things that are a bargain and the whole lift system in Valdair is an absolute bargain. Unlike Shamine, you don’t get charged at all if you are pedestrians. Now, they’ve only got a couple of uh lifts running. They’ve got the Olympic that we’re on at the moment and they’ve got the sole which we going to go up either today or tomorrow. But the advantage is it gets you out of town. It gets you really really high and then there are loads of trails just to explore around the top and it’s all free. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] This is what it feels like to be on top of the world. We’re at about 2,900 m. We’ve climbed a really steep path from the cable car that we got up. There are only two other people up here because it takes so much effort and it is just magnificent. Now, I’m just embracing my inner sports nerd. So, we stood here at the start hut for the fast downhill race. And looking down there, I cannot imagine what it’d be like to strap your skis on, be on the edge of this little hut, and then launch yourself downhill for 1 kilometer. Quite incredible. And then looking over there, there is the cold lizaran, which is one of the iconic climbs in the tour to France. The village of Valdesair is actually halfway up the cold lizaran. So, it’s over 40 km of cycling. Um, and then from the village obviously 20 kilometers up. We’re not going to do that on the bikes, but hopefully in the next couple of days we’re going to drive up and over the colder Lizaran because it’s quite a drive and we hope to take you with us as well. [Music] We have quickly made the decision with the current weather conditions to take advantage of all the lifts. So, we are doing the honorable thing and getting the Olympic lift down because don’t quite fancy 1,000 mters of going downhill. And then we’re going to get the Salet lift up to another sector where there is a lovely lake. I think there’s a restaurant. There’s a few beautiful picnic spots and we’ll have a bit of a poodle around up there and see what’s going on. [Music] [Music] Now, if I ever was to have another profession. I think a peace bash operator would fit my skill set. Absolutely. I love the mountains. I like being on my own. I don’t mind getting up early and I’ve got like an obsession with putting patterns into things. So, it’s just my job all over. I think I might have left it a little bit late, however. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] We actually listened to the weather forecast today. It said it was going to rain really heavily, but when I looked a little bit deeper into three or four different weather forecasts, we’d spotted that there was going to be a really nice window in the morning. And just look at it. It’s been fantastic all day. It’s already 1:00 and I don’t think it’s coming in just yet. One of the things that we’ve probably got a little bit wrong is that we’ve left it right until the end of the summer season to come to Valdesair. And by that we mean we are literally in the last 2 days before the lift shut. And it does have that end of season feel. Quite a lot of the mountain restaurants have shut, but it is still beautiful up here. It’s so quiet and it brings a different dimension particularly when we compare it to how busy Shamine was with the UTMBB. It’s been like a breath of fresh air. And who could not want this? [Music] So, as you can see from the video, the weather held off for the whole of the hike. We hadn’t actually done a huge or we don’t feel like we’ve done a huge amount of walking, but when I’ve got back and looked at it, I’ve done over 15,000 steps. We took two different cable cars and we have had the most amazing time up there. The views were absolutely spectacular. and coming down into the village. When you see the village and it’s nice and sunny, it is just a joy to behold. So, we are now at Camping Rashard for another night. I think tomorrow we’ll do a campsite review of the place because we really love it and it’s a really good value for money campsite in one of probably the most prestigious ski resorts in the French Alps. And then we are trying to scope out a couple of free parkups and wild camping spots further up in the mountain, perhaps further up the colder lizaran just to do a little bit more exploring over the course of the next couple of days. But yeah, there’s a hike I want to do further up that we are hopefully guaranteed to see marmets. There’s nothing like putting pressure on us. We haven’t seen any marmmets at all on this trip. We can actually hear them from the campsite across there squeaking away, but we haven’t seen any. So fingers crossed. Haunting us. Morning. Morning. Do you like my new coffee cup? Thanks to my auntie Ellie for my birthday. I love it. Anyway, last night after we spoke to you, the heavens opened and we got a real taste of what mountain life can be like when it’s raining. It really felt like winter was starting really. And it was cold. Just looking up there, they’ve had snow on the tops. It was really, really cold. But we just snuggled down in the van. Had a bite to eat. Watched a bit of TV under the duvet. And Nelson provides. It’s all okay. We felt fine. We did feel sorry for the poor chap a couple of plots up that was in a tiny little mountain tent as it was honking it down, but I’ve been there. But we’ve woken up this morning. The sun is shining again. And we’ve got a full day of exploring to do. But only after we talk to you about Camping Rishards, which has been a really lovely stay. If you’re used to traveling in France, you’ll know what we mean when we say it’s very much like a municipal site. I don’t think it ever was a municipal site. I think it’s family-owned, but it is a very basic French campsite. But what they do, they do really, really well. It’s got very basic facilities. In fact, when we’ve stayed here over the years skiing in the little village, which is literally just behind the campsite, we didn’t know this campsite was here. You can’t see the toilet block because it’s usually under 2 m of snow. This is normally, I think, the Nordic skiing route. Um, but bearing in mind that the facilities are covered up for most of the year in snow, they’re actually really, really good. I was so pleasantly surprised this morning when I went to have a shower. Whoa. Whoa. Just to prove that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, let’s go to rate my shower. [Music] Welcome to Camping Rashard in Valdesair. As you can see, very retro facilities in a basic and functional way. An interesting yet very functional retro porcelain shower tray. Simple plumbing offering a good supply of hot water. Tired tiling yet spotlessly clean. Good thermo regulation for the custom shower experience. A corroded yet still functional token machine. One euro for five minutes of hot water. Ample shelving in alpine style. Quality hooks. Circa 1970. A large shower head offering good pressure and hot water. Overall strengths, space, cleanliness, and the allimportant hot water. Areas to develop. The temperature of the room. It was freezing and the number of showers in peak season. An overall score of 41 out of 50 for Camping Rashard in Vald Desair. So, they may look updated, but the facilities were spotlessly clean. As we’ve mentioned previously, the campsite is a real bargain. It was £19 per night for two people with the camper van and you do have to pay one pound per person for tokens for the showers, but at €20 a night, it was a really, really good value. In terms of its location, it’s just on the edge of a little hamlet called Lazn. Don’t expect too much from it. It is super cute. We absolutely love it. And as Jackie says, that’s where we skied with the kids for many, many years. So, we’ve got so many happy memories. But there is nothing there apart from a beautiful little chapel. It’s a gorgeous little hamlet to wander around. But if you want to go down into town, it’s 5 minutes walk to the supermarket that’s on the edge of town and 10 minutes will see you right into the heart of Valdair. There’s also quite a few walking routes around here. So you can from the campsite go right up into the mountains. We have done that route once before. It is beautiful. It’s grueling cuz it’s about 1,000 meters of elevation gain for the hike that we did. Or you could walk along the valley and along the river to another little hamlet further down the road called Lefou, which is a really pretty little place. And if you’re lucky, they will have some bars and restaurants open. And just as you would expect from any ski resort, the infrastructure is really good. So just like they keep their uh lifts open in the summer. There’s also the uh shuttle bus that runs up and down the valley that is complimentary and you probably got maybe no more than half an hour to wait, but you can get yourself up and down the Valdair Valley because it is quite a long valley to explore the various different ski stations. When we stayed here before, uh the campsite actually has a really nice vibe in the midsummer season, but we’ve actually had to queue and wait to get a pitch. And it’s usually full of people mountain biking because the lift passes here are really, really reasonable, I think. But don’t judge me on it. It’s about €80 for a week pass. And I know a lot of people that come in the motor homes and vans with their mountain bikes have a great time exploring up at the top. So that’s it from Camping Rashard. What have we got lined up for today? Oh gosh. I think we’re going to go through Valdair and out into a valley called the Mané Valley. And we want to do a hike out there. It’s really pretty. Gosh, I haven’t been up there for about six or seven years. And then hopefully we’ll find a little uh deserted village that I want to take some photos of. And then I don’t know, maybe up into the mountains to find somewhere to stay for the night. [Music] [Music] Well, Rich is always doing his dad bags. So, France, I’m going to do a month fact. We’re at a little village called Manhee, which is just outside of Bel Dessert, about half an hour’s walk. It dates back to the 1600s and originally the village had a chapel, six houses and three little milking rooms. Now it’s just in complete ruins. And it’s fantastic just exploring it and taking photos. It does look like one of the houses has started to be refurbished. So I will probably come back again sometime just to see what they do with it. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Here [Music] we go again. Another day in the early retirement wonderlust cow bothering habit. [Music] So, what’s your thoughts on the Valley of the Marmmonts? I am so happy. I didn’t even need my binoculars. They were everywhere. Some little baby ones that kept popping their heads out of the burrows and some really great big fat ones that were lying on the rocks sunbathing. We’ve got to go back that way through the valley to get back to the camper van. What a shame. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Not sure quite how we top yesterday. A day in the high mountains sat in the meadows watching the marmmets play. It doesn’t really get much better than that, I don’t think. Well, no, it doesn’t really get better than that until we came to this park up. Oh my goodness. It is just the most scenic park up we’ve probably ever stayed at. We have got the colder lizaran in the background. We’ve got the Vanois National Park that we’re going to go for a really nice hike in today. And when I woke up for a wei in the middle of the night, we had stars everywhere. It’s just an absolute black skies place and I could actually see the Milky Way with my naked eye, which I’ve never been able to see before. It’s absolutely stunning up here. And we found it on Park for Night app and it’s just a little way up the cold lizaran. So, we are a little bit higher. I’m not entirely sure. We we’re definitely going to be over 2,000 m and it was a little bit chilly last night, but absolute splendid isolation. And cheeky bonus as well, it’s got a loo here. So, we’re actually now in the perfect spot to do the hike that we had eyed up for today. We are hiking up into the national park. We have eyed up a refuge that I’m hoping is still open because today is the last day of most things to be open in Valdair so that we can have a nice cold beer because we’re celebrating. Yep, we are stepping into our fourth year of early retirement. So, instead of it being August the 31st and worrying about work and all the things that we’ve got to do in the new academic year, we’re a bit carefree. And what better way every year to celebrate than to just get into the most beautiful places. And I think we’ve got a really good one today. And I’ve got a feeling we’re going to see some more marmets today. I think there’s also supposed to be some ibecks up there. So it could be a real wildlife photography day again. [Music] We like our picnic spots, but this is a good one. [Music] That was quite some hike. I have got over 870 m of elevation, which I wasn’t really expecting, but we did have a coffee and a myrtle tart halfway up, so there was a bit of an incentive. We’re not normally massive fans of out and back walks, but the light conditions today were just perfect. So, we had beautiful views on the way up all the way just looking at the glacia, I think it was, and then on the way back looking all the way down the valley to Valdair. So, yeah, it was a tough hike, but it was really good and we did see loads of marmmets. They were scurrying around in the valley. One did sit and pose for us for a while, so that was quite cute. Always good to spend time with marmmets, but we’re in a bit of a dilemma now because we’re keeping an eye on the weather forecast. And despite what it looks like now, it’s not good for the next 24 hours. And we’ve got to get up and over the colder lizaran, which we’ll talk to you more about later in the video. But staying up high with the forecast coming in in the middle of the night is not necessarily our idea of fun. So, plan B, I think, could be to keep going over the colder while the weather’s nice today and uh maybe find somewhere to stay in the town called Bonaval Su Arc, which we’ve never been to before. And I think touted as one of France’s prettiest villages. So, I’m looking forward to seeing it. The only downside to going onto the Celeran tonight or today is it’s Sunday and traditionally that’s when all the motorbikers and the sports cars come out and there’s loads of them going up and down. So Nelson is going to fit right in. But we’ll get packed up and we’ll get going and uh we’ll enjoy the ride. [Music] [Music] It wouldn’t be right and proper if we were driving the cold lizaran and we didn’t introduce a dad fact. It is apparently Europe’s highest paved through road at 2,770 m. And the weather conditions can be pretty extreme up there. For most of the winter, it’s short and they have to carve their way through it in the summer, but it’ll be clear today. And actually, it’s pretty quiet on the drive, so it’s not too bad at all. Heat up here. [Music] Heat [Music] up here. [Music] We’re hoping that you can see from the video how much fun we had on the colder. It was a beautiful day. It was helped by absolute blue skies and you could see forever, but it was a really fun drive. It wasn’t a difficult drive, even though it was on a Sunday. It was reasonably busy, but it was just really fun and lots to do at the top. And we’ve actually been up there before, nowhere near as good a conditions, but we’ve never been over the other side. So, we decided rather than staying at the top, which was our original plan because there is a couple of park for night spots up there, we headed down into the valley and went to the absolutely stunning little village of Bonavville Arc, which we’ve never been to before. It’s a little ski village. So, it’s a place that maybe we will return to and have a bit of a ski there as well. What a cute little village. It’s titled one of the prettiest villages in France. And we know that there are so many villages in France that are titled that. But it really was. It was very, very genuine. They really did want to look after the image of the village. And it just felt like old village France. And we actually had a really nice night there. It was a special night for us. It was the start of our fourth year of early retirement. The schools went back on that following Monday. So, we did have a nice beer in one of the restaurants and we treated ourselves to a nice bottle of fizzy wine with our tea that night. We didn’t get any footage because actually the weather conditions were not great. We sat to sit in the van, didn’t we? Yeah. And the third part of that treat was we treated ourselves to a decidedly average car park up. There was loads of motor homes there. It was right at the top of the village. It was decidedly average, but it was hosing it down at the time. So, we just needed somewhere to sleep. And then consequently the following day we started to head south. Yeah. So that is the end of our Beldair video. We are currently heading south towards the gorgeous Du Verdan. We wanted to go over the colder Gibby air first. So you’ll have to see what we get up to next week. But that’s it from us for this week. Hope to catch you next week. See you later. Bye-bye. Bye. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music]

Val d’Isère isn’t just a winter ski paradise—it transforms into an incredible summer destination in the French Alps. In this video, we will take you through breathtaking alpine hikes, discover crystal-clear lakes, and drive the legendary Col du L’Iseran, the highest paved road in Europe.

Whether you’re planning a summer trip to the Alps, looking for new hiking inspiration, or just love stunning mountain scenery, this video will give you a taste of Val d’Isère beyond the snow.

Highlights in this video:
✅ Scenic hikes with panoramic views
✅ Peaceful alpine lakes
✅ Sitting with the Marmots in the high mountains
✅ A drive across the iconic Col du L’Iseran pass
✅ Tips for visiting Val d’Isère in the summer

We are Richard and Jackie and we live in the UK. We retired from teaching at the age of 51 in the summer of 2022. Our plans for early requirement include relocating to the Yorkshire Dales, developing our forever home and travelling the UK, Europe and eventually the world in our VW campervan Nelson.

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Many thanks,

Richard & Jackie