Around Gap: Champsaur, Dévoluy and Valgaudémar - VIDEOS and WEBCAM

City Gap occupies a large valley surrounded by several mountain ranges. It is located at the foot of the Dévoluy and two regions of the Ecrins, very different from each other, Champsaur and Valgaudémar. But it is also a stopover on the road to Lake Serre Ponçon, Barcelonnette or Briançon, destinations with international renown. Thus the main city of the Southern Alps, capital of the Hautes Alpes department, allows you to discover a certain number of Alpine ranges which are not destinations as frequented as Queyras, Pelvoux or the Hautes Vallées du Briançonnais.

Le Champsaur, Valgaudemar, Devoluy and the Céüse mountain are part of it. These destinations are geographically isolated and difficult to access. This has allowed them to preserve their authenticity despite the development of a winter sports industry, with the creation of very modern ski resorts.

Lovers of old-fashioned mountain landscapes, with low human density, low tourist numbers but high visual impact, welcome to the Gap region.

Gap, the mountain town of the Southern Alps

Arriving from the South, sunny landscapes of Provence, on the way to the Queyras, Ubayeor Brianconnais, the first high mountains appear before your eyes towards Gap.

But here, it is still the sweetness of life, the blue sky, the Provençal flavors, the lavender and the facades of the houses in sunny tones that reign. It is difficult to imagine that you are in the mountains. At more than 700m above sea level, Gap is surrounded by beautiful mountains that peak at more than 2000m. The city lives even more in its shopping streets on market days. In its architecture and in the accent of its inhabitants, Gap is a city in the South of France.

The proximity of Lake Serre Ponçon makes it a great stopover for a summer vacation combining sun, heat, a seaside stay and toning in the cool waters of the lake.

The airfield allows you to try out air sports, or simply watch paragliders and skydivers land from a uniformly blue sky.

In winter, too, the sky is very blue and bright, and that's when the snow-capped peaks around the city make you want to go and discover life up above!

And you have the choice: between the Céüse mountain, the Dévoluy, the Champsaur and the Valgaudemar. Very different universes which offer you an approach to the mountain adapted to your pleasures.

Discover Champsaur

Champsaur is a bit like the countryside at altitude: farms, an intense agricultural life, villages surrounded by rolling fields, ploughed for centuries. Where the relief begins to rise, on the foothills of the Ecrins massif, the landscapes become more mountainous, and winter sports resorts appear. The most famous and sportiest is undoubtedly Orcières Merlette. On the very sunny ski slopes, you can admire the first peaks of the Cases, already at an altitude of over 3000m. But other more intimate resorts such as Ancelle or Saint Léger les Mélèzes are a delight for families with small children who are discovering snow and its joys for the first time. In summer, beautiful sites with grandiose landscapes allow you to spend a cool holiday while enjoying the Provençal sun, such as the Estaris Lake nature reserve.

The wilder Valgaudemar

In Valgaudemar, change of scenery! A long narrow valley gradually leads you towards the high mountains to landscapes worthy of the Himalayas at the end of the road that leads to Gioberney at the foot of Olan, Bans and Sirac. Here you feel the power of the mountain, the harshness of life in high altitude conditions, and your hiker's gaze is already looking for the high paths that lead you to the glaciers of Ecrins. A more mineral and sporty universe than Champsaur. This is the domain of mountaineering, of high mountains.

Le Dévoluy, the infinite landscapes

The Dévoluy is the landscape of the mountain plateaus of the high Mediterranean countries. Quite dry, a few forests dot the slopes of the steep and rocky mountains which give the Dévoluy this feeling of infinity, but also of the end of the world. You have this impression on the mountain bike trails in summer, but also when skiing in these white spaces up to the horizon. Ski resorts like Joue du Loup and Superdévoluy are the main tourist centers. The Bure plateau which overlooks them is one of the high places of astronomical observation in France, proof that the sky is really very clear there.

Passes and small winding roads cross these massifs and delight cyclists who come to test their legs with the assurance of dry weather while oxygenating their lungs in the high-altitude air.

The mountains of Gap are sunny, snow-covered in winter, easily accessible in all seasons. You will feel the scents of Provence while practicing your favorite mountain sports.

Sun and well-being: what more could you ask for to recharge your batteries!

Activities not to be missed in the Gap mountains

Visit the old City from Gap, especially on market day, Saturday!
Visit the rosary from Charance
Experience the emotion of the free fall at the Gap Tallard aerodrome
Visit a old school class in Saint Jean Saint Nicolas. Back to the past!
Climb to the Pic de Bure. The sky there is one of the purest in Europe. The observatory at the top is not open to visitors.
Admire the landscape from the Céüse summit.
Admire the waterfall known as the bridal veil in Valgaudemar.
Borrow the Napoleon road between Gap and Grenoble in the footsteps of the Emperor

The best webcams in the Gap mountains

(click on the name of the village)

Orcieres Merlette : panorama of the Champsaur mountains opposite the Orcières Merlette 1850 resort
Handmaids: the village of Ancelle, typical of the Champsaur region
Valgaudemar: a spectacular view of the Jamivoi meadow in the background and the Himalayan peaks which overlook it.
Devoluy: The end-of-the-world atmosphere of the Col de Festre.
Superdevoluy: a view of the resort and the characteristic landscape of Dévoluy.
Gap: Place Jean Marcellin, the heart of Gap, a town with southern accents.