The wildest, least-touristed high-mountain range in the Alps: no ski-resort sprawl, no crowds — just chamois, ibex, golden eagles, and glaciers you hike to on foot. Base at Ailefroide / Vallouise-Pelvoux, in the Vallée de la Vallouise on the park's eastern edge.
Created in 1973, Parc National des Écrins is the largest national park in mainland France and one of the wildest in the entire Alpine arc — no lift-served glacier tourism, no Chamonix-style crowds, just 91,800 hectares of core "cœur" zone above roughly 1,600m: over 100 summits above 3,000m (the Barre des Écrins itself tops 4,102m), dozens of glaciers, and a genuinely intact large-mammal population — chamois, Alpine ibex (bouquetin), marmots everywhere, and golden eagles overhead. The classic access valleys are La Bérarde (deep in the Vénéon valley, only reachable via a long single-track road) and Vallouise/Ailefroide, the park's unofficial mountaineering capital with direct trail access to the Glacier Blanc and Glacier Noir beneath the Pelvoux and Écrins massifs.
Source: ecrins-parcnational.fr, Pays des Écrins tourist office.
Meudon-la-Forêt → Ailefroide (05340, Vallouise-Pelvoux) is roughly 555 km, about 6.5–7 hours of driving via A6/A48 to Grenoble, then N85/D1091 up through Bourg-d'Oisans, over the Col du Lautaret (2,058m), down to Briançon and south into the Vallouise valley. With ~330–370 km of realistic range on this car, that's one charging stop needed each way.
Source: Tesla Grenoble Supercharger, Tesla Gap Supercharger, ViaMichelin routing.
Long driving day. Charge at Bernin/Grenoble (30–40 min is plenty on a Model Y Premium pack), then continue over the Col du Lautaret — worth a short stop at the summit's alpine botanical garden, which looks straight across at the La Meije glacier. Arrive Ailefroide by evening and set up at the campsite.
Drive up to the Pré de Madame Carle car park (the road's end, and as far as any car — Tesla included — can go), then hike alongside the Glacier Blanc torrent past Lac Tuckett to the Refuge du Glacier Blanc at 2,542m, with the Barre des Écrins, Pelvoux and Ailefroide peaks framing the ice. One of the most accessible real glacier views in the Alps without a lift or via ferrata.
A gentler day: wander the old villages of Vallouise and Pelvoux (frescoed chapels, Ubaye-style stone houses), or take an easy valley walk toward the Glacier Noir viewpoint (moraine views without the full glacier trek). Good day to treat yourself to the local specialty — see budget below.
Retrace the route over the Lautaret, charge again at Grenoble, home by evening.
Source: Parc national des Écrins — Refuge du Glacier Blanc, Destination Écrins trek page.
Bike loaded inside per the Car Camping & Bike Guide — no penalty, no rack. The Col du Lautaret (2,058m) you'll drive over anyway is a genuine Tour de France climb: from Le Clapier it's ≈34 km at an average 3.8% (1,312m of vertical gain), rated one of the gentler ways to break 2,000m, with a road continuation up to the harder Col du Galibier (8.7 km at 6.9% beyond Lautaret) if you want to push further. Do it as a standalone morning ride from Ailefroide/Briançon rather than combining it with the drive.
Source: PJAMM Cycling — Col du Lautaret, Wikipedia.
| Category | Cost |
|---|---|
| Tolls (A6/A48, partial) | ≈ €25–35 |
| Supercharging (2 stops round trip) | ≈ €25–35 |
| Lodging: 3 nights Camping d'Ailefroide (≈€15/night) | ≈ €45 |
| Refuge du Glacier Blanc treat night (dorm + dinner + breakfast) | ≈ €65 |
| Food (self-cooked, remaining days) | ≈ €25–30 |
| Total | €140–190 |
Skip the refuge night and bivouac instead (respecting the 7pm–9am / 1hr-from-road rule) to cut ≈€65 and land closer to €80–120 total.