My Husband and I are interested in doing some walking in france in march and april. We will be in burgandy, provence and the cote de azur. are there any suggestions for good day tramps in these areas?

Hi<BR><BR>You may find this site useful -<BR><BR>http://www.franceonfoot.com/<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR>

Buy the walking maps by the Institut geographique national, the hiker's bible. They are available in specialist bookstores in the States or through their web site. The official hiking federation (Federation francaise de Randonnee) also publishes hiking guides, available on amazon.fr (though only in French, I am afraid)

I think Lonely Planet publishes (in English) a guide to walking in France. It will give you some good ideas (although a fair number of the walks are for longer trips, you might be able to break them down).<BR><BR>I'm not sure if you're interested in guided tours, and I'm not sure how good your French is, but you also might want to check Balaguere. This is a Pyrenees-based company that offers the most amazing-looking guided and unguided walks, mostly in Southwestern France, but also in some other regions. It's worth going online (balaguere.com) just to order their huge brochure. Even if you can't read French, the photographs will be interesting, and there are little maps to describe the routes - so you can get an idea of what you might see and where.

Lots of folks take walking vacations in France and the references given are great. If you go to Provence and stop at any of the hill villages and stroll through them you will enjoy the walk and see a lot as well. If you want more general info about Provence check out the archive postings for other neat links. We are at:<BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence.<BR>Have a super trip.

Hi Claire:<BR>If you're looking for something a bit less challenging than major hiking trails, I have some info that might be of interest...<BR>I purchased a small Fodor's book a few years ago call Short Escapes in France; 25 Country Getaways for People Who Love to Walk by Bruce Bolger and Gary Stoller. Looking through it, there are approx. 10 walks in the areas you listed, all with directions to get to the locations, and maps of the walks and sights along the way. Most of the walks are described as being in the easy or moderate skill range and seem to be in the "under 10 mile" category. Other info includes some history, nearby accommodations and restaurants, etc.<BR>The version is 2nd Ed, 1996 but would imagine you'd still be able to pick up a copy or more recent one somewhere.

That last book sounds great. Do they also have hikes in the Alps and Burgundy?