September 2026. The weather forecast for the upcoming days were good. We packed our mini caravan, checked the pack-list once more and drove off in the direction of France. 3 weeks hiking, photographing , eating, and most of all creating memories was in front of us. In this blog I will take you with us on our unforgettable trip to the French alps including a lot of hiking and photography tips and of course the best spots to visit!
The Alsace region
We decided to make our first stop in the Alsace region. This is a beautiful region on the border between Germany and France. You'll find a lot of pitoresk villages here with beautiful churches and old castles. Most of the villages and castles here are going back centuries and that gives great opportunity's for photography.
One specific spot that worked very well for me was the Church of Hunawihr. It is surrounded by wine fields and located on top of a hill to it's a bit elevated above the wine trees. The sun aligned perfectly behind it during sunset. Nice spot for both camera and drone photography. You can easily park your car on the side of the road that leads through the wine field. No hiking required.
Church of Hunawihr during sunset
Another village worth visiting is Riquewhir where you will find a lot of little alleys with the church towers in the background. I really enjoyed photographing them during Christmas. Just make sure that you are there very early in the morning to dodge all the tourists (especially with Christmas these villages are very crowded). You can easily park the car outside the village and wander through the streets. I used my 16-35 wide angle lens here which I found a perfect fit for almost every scene I photographed. A bit north of Riquewhir you'll find Ribeauville. Another lovely village. We visited Ribauville to start the 3 castle hike. A very nice hike of about 6 km with not to much altitude gain and some magnificent views on the castles around the village. Especially lovely during sunset.
Annecy
After a few nights in the Alsace, we drove towards Annecy. Annecy is a big city but with a beautiful old city center that offers a lot of photography opportunity's. Also for this spot; be sure to be early to dodge the crowds. Blue hour works very good in the city. The easiest way to visit the city is to park your car in " Park Couvert Chateau". From there it's a short 5 min downhill walk to the best viewpoints in the city. Especially Pont Perierre and Pont Morens offer some incredible views of the city. The bridges are full with blooming flowers which can be used as a foreground subject.
When you visit the region, don't forget to spend some time on the lake. The water is crystal clear and a perfect swim during a warm summer day. It also offers some nice photography options. I really enjoyed the view from Talloires. Talloires is a small village on the north side of the lake with a lovely little church. This spot works for both sunrise and sunset. I visited during sunset which gave me some nice alpenglow and color in the sky but I think sunrise will also work very well since you might get some morning fog on the lake. Parking is super easy here. Just park next to the cemetery above Elise Saint Maurice. You can shoot the viewpoint directly from the parking.
Elise Saint Maurice during sunset
If you are looking for a challenging hike, try to climb the peak of La Tournette. This impressive high mountain peak is located right next to the lake and can be climbed all the way to the top without the need of any climbing gear. Just a good stamina and steady pace is enough to cover the 1.300 meter of altitude gain. We parked our car at Parking des pres Ronds and started our hike by going south towards the small alpine trail. This way you can hike a nice loop. Make sure you take enough food and water with you since the refuges are not always open (even of Google says they are).
After Annecy it was time to visit the real mountains. Sixt-fer-a-Cheval was on the list as a next stop. I was really looking forward to the place. It is basically a long valley with a dead end. You drive towards a really impressive rough mountain peak. We drove our little caravan all the way into the valley and found a nice camping sport on Camping Le Pelly. I can highly recommend this spot since the location is perfect and the facilities are very good. It's a small place so will never get really busy. Another good thing about the place is that it is just a 5 minute walk to some incredible photography locations. Just pack your wide angle lens and search for interesting compositions around the bridge crossing the river or walk down towards the water and get very close to create some nice depth in your photo. This place works very well when the sky is super dramatic but I also found it very enjoyable to photograph the night sky here. Especially in summer, Andromeda (our neighbor galaxy) is located right above the middle peak of the mountain.
The is a really nice hike to do when you are in this region called "the end of the world". The trail starts from the main parking area and basically leads you all the way into the valley towards Le Bout du Monde. The views from up there are amazing. Especially during sunset since the sun sets at the end of the valley. The hike is not too strenuous. About 6 kilometers and 400 meters of altitude gain. Make sure to bring a head-torch or flashlight when you deduce to watch the sunset here since the forest is getting super dark in a short amount of time.
NOEMA Observatory
After Sixt-fer-a-Cheval we drove towards Devoluy. There is an impressive observatory located on top of the Pic du Bure mountain where we wanted to stay for the night. getting up the plateau requires some stamina. The hike is very challenging, covering about 1.100 meters of altitude gain in just 4 kilometers (so that means a steep path) with a lot of lime stone gravel. During summer, you can also choose to walk up via the ski-slopes of Super Devoluy. You can take the TSD JAS ski-lift that covers the first 400 meters of altitude. From there is a 700 meter climb towards the plateau. This route is a bit easier than the classic route but requires some rock climbing at the end and is far less beautiful than the classic route. We decided to take the classic one. Parking is easy, you just drive towards the Telephirique du IRAM station in the valley. Just behind the station there is a small road that leads you about 500 meter further up the mountain where you can park your car. It's a small parking (https://www.google.nl/maps/@46.020409,6.7316828,14644m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkyMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) but we never had trouble finding a spot. From there you just follow the path up the mountain towards the plateau. Make sure to bring a lot of water. There is no water available at the plateau and there are also no streams coming down the mountain to drink from.
After about 2.5 hours of walking we reached the top. You'll see the impressive scopes from IRAM right when you come up the ridge. The observatory has 15 highly sensitive scopes that work together as one big telescope. It is the most sensitive observatory in the northern hemisphere. A lot of research about black holes and the creation of galaxies is done from this place. The scenery feels like you are on the moon. A lot of rocks and the scope gives a futuristic science fiction vibe to the scene.
Unfortunately, we ran out of luck. Although the weather forecast was very promising, huge thunderstorms started to develop in the area. It was a tough decision but in terms of safety we had to hike back down. In the end it turned out the storms were completely going to disappear but we just did not want to take the risk of being caught in a storm on top of the mountain. These pictures are from 3 years ago when I also visited this place to give an idea of what the night sky looks like here.
Valle de Claree
For me, this was one of the highlights from this holiday. Vallee de Claree is a beautiful valley with huge mountain peaks, beautiful green alpen meadows and countless of streams and rivers going through the valley. The photography options are countless here. We booked a spot at camping Du Bois des Alberts. It's a nice camping in the middle of a forest but the facilities are very bad. I would not recommend going here. From the campsite, it's about 45 minutes driving towards the last parking spot. In summer, this parking closes and you have to take a bus that brings you to the valley but when we were there we could just drive up until the very end of the road.
Photography options start right when you exit the parking. You got some beautiful views on the valley and there are plenty of foreground subjects to use. You can also climb up the hill on the right side of the path to use the pine trees are a frame. This requires some climbing and carefulness when it has rained.
We decided to hike all the way to the end of the valley. There is a nice 8km hike going to Lac Rond and Lac Long. The view from these lakes is magnificent and all the streams going down into the valley offers some great photography options.
Another great hike to do in the Vallee de Claree area is the hike towards Col de la Ponsonniere. You have to climb for about 1.100 meters of altitude but you will get rewarded by some of the most magnificent views in the are. Be sure to visit this place in the morning. You want have to be to early since the sun needs so time to rise over the surrounding mountains. We started our hike about 30 minutes before sunrise and still had plenty of time on top to find the perfect composition. Col de la Ponsonniere offers 360 views of the surrounding mountains. Both the main composition and the surrounding views are absolutely stunning. Bring a boiler and some grind coffee to enjoy a fresh morning coffee on top of one of the best views in France!
Chamonix
After Col de la Ponsonniere it was time for our last destination in France; Chamonix. Chamonix is famous since it is located right underneath the Mont Blanc and is a Walhalla for outdoor enthusiast and mountain climbers. We booked a camping at the Mer de Glace camping right in the center of Chamonix. A nice camping with fantastic facilities but a little big. Even in off-season it was a busy camping.
There are a million things to do in Chamonix. Some of the highlights are the Mer de Glace glacier, Lac Blanc, Aguille du Midi and the La Junction hike. We decided to go up to Mer de Glace just after we arrived to see the sunset. Getting there is easy, just take the train from the city center to Montenvers that drops you off within 5 minutes right in front of the glacier. There are some restaurants there to drink a coffee and to enjoy the views dus for the best view you want to find the hiking path going up toward Le Signal Forbes. This is an iconic photography spot where the path creates a beautiful leading line towards the glacier and the mountains surrounding it. Sunset it beautiful here since there are often clouds popping up in the valley above the glacier and you got a change for Alpen Glow!
Mer de Glace, Chamonix
On the other side of the valley you will find Lac Blanc. Lac Blanc is a magical place where you can see the mountains of the Mont Blanc massive reflect in the water. Especially during sunrise and sunset, this place is very beautiful! You can take a lift from the Chamonix valley that brings you up the mountain from where you only have to hike about 3 kilometers. But that lift stops at 4pm so you can not use it for sunrise or sunset. So that means you have two options; hiking up, or sleeping on top of the mountain. We choose to go for the second option and pack our sleeping bags to spend the night under the naked sky. No tent, just a sleeping bag and a sky full of stars surrounding us. Now that's a magical experience. The mountain is super quiet at night. You just lay there looking at the sky, listening to water and wildlife and enjoying the quietness. Seeing the sun set and rise from this place and gaze a a sky filled with countless stars is something out of this world. One of the best memories I have from the exceptional place!
Switzerland
We decided to end our trip in Zwitserland and to spend a few nights in Lauterbrunnen and the Apenzeller region. We visited both places before so we where quit familiar with the environment and scenery. Camping Lauterbrunnen is a nice place to stay when you are in the area. It's a huge camping but somehow always feel nice and comfortable and the best thing: it is in the middel of the valley. So you have all the beauty around you.
When you are in Lauterbrunnen, be sure to pick the train to Wengen. Wengen is a beautiful mountain village from where you have a magnificent view over the valley. There are often sheets gazing in the fields which gives you a nice foreground subject. The spot works for sunset and sunrise. Make sure you jump of the train one station before Wengen (Wengenwald) and hike up the path crossing the railroad. You'll find the iconic view on your right side after about 100 meters. We also visited lake Oeschinensee while we were in Lauterbrunnen. Oeschinensee is absolutely stunning but way too crowded with insta famous tourists. I won't recommend visting that spot. There are for more beautiful places in Swiss that are less crowded.
The Appenzeller region always feels a bit hidden. It is never really busy, there are a lot of nice campsites and hotels and the nature is absolutely stunning without being destroyed by hundreds of tourists. It was our third time visiting this area and we decided to go for the Schaffler Hutte. From there you've got a beautiful view on the Altenalp Trum mountains. We booked a room in te hut to be able to watch sunrise and sunset. In te end, sunset turned out to be the best for us. A perfect way to end the holiday. Reaching this viewpoint needs a bit of climbing. From the hut you just follow the path toward the ridge where you soon enough find a couple of steep stairs and cables. Nothing really to worry about but it just asked for some careful walking.
