All the best sites in the beautiful Ubaye Valley

We don't go to Ubaye by chance. It's a conscious choice because this wide valley stuck between Lake Greenhouse Ponçon and the Larche pass which leads to Italy is not the easiest to access in the French Alps. The advantage, and you know it well, is that here, during your stay you will have no desire to go elsewhere, because everything is within reach. Ubaye brings together ancient villages with an interesting historical heritage, larch forests that shine in autumn, rivers popular with whitewater sports enthusiasts, modern and sunny ski resorts and hiking trails that wind along the mountain ridges. Ubaye is a four-season destination.

Ski holidays in Ubaye

In winter, the climate of the Alpes de Haute Provence guarantees you blue skies, dry weather and snow that lasts all season in the resorts well oriented above the valley.

Pra-Loup, whose ski area is joined to that of Foux d'Allos within the Espace Lumière, guarantees you snow and sun. Moreover, in a ski area called Espace Lumière, you should definitely not forget sunscreen and sunglasses!

Super Sauze, in the forests overlooking Barcelonnette, is a sports resort where you can practice all kinds of skiing while admiring the landscapes of the upper Ubaye valley. The area is quite easy and already makes you dream of the beautiful summer walks that you will come to practice there later in the year.

In Saint Paul en Ubaye, or at the Col de Larche, in the Oronaye valley, you can practice cross-country skiing in an extremely wild environment. A change of scenery, high altitude, silence: you live a very profound experience of communion with nature.

The Mexican villas of Barcelonnette and Jausiers

In summer, the bottom of the valley also welcomes you for your activities. You are seduced by Barcelonnette, a very special little town, in which you admire the Mexican villas, the last vestige of an era when locals went to make their fortune on the other side of the world and sometimes returned very rich! It is a small town that has everything of a real valley capital and which at the same time has remained attached to its mountain life. We like to stroll through these alleys, look through the parks if we see the splendor of these famous Mexican villas, and when we look up we realize that the wildest Nature is everywhere.

You can go as far as Jausiers, moreover, to discover another of these large villas, probably the most beautiful: the Château des Magnans.

The solitude of the high valleys of Ubaye

It is in the upper Ubaye valley, after Saint Paul, that you feel the immersion in the high mountains, especially when arriving at the hamlet of Maurin-Maljasset, inhabited year-round in an environment of extreme solitude. Around you, the ridges lead you either towards the Queyras, through the Vars pass, either towards Italy, and more precisely the Occitan Valleys of the province of Cuneo, through the Larche or Madeleine pass, for Italians.

You are at the end of the road. Or at the beginning of the adventure…

There is a small valley which in autumn, when the mountain slopes turn a reddish colour, is a real paradise: the Lauzanier valley. Almost mystical.

Ubaye sports land

Water sports enthusiast? The lake of Serre-Ponçon is not far away, and on its banks you can enjoy all freshwater sports. But also along the Ubaye, the river that flows at the bottom of the entire valley, beautiful rafting spots make you shiver in the cool water, especially on the Lauzet-Ubaye side.

Are you a cyclist and do you love climbing Alpine passes? In Ubaye, you have the choice: beat the altitude record at the top of Bonette at 2800m altitude before discovering the Alpes-Maritimes, cross the Alps at the Col de la Cayolle, the Col d'Allos or the Col de Vars! You have the choice between great routes, under the sun and in the company of dozens of other enthusiasts who are here to measure themselves against the difficulties of road cycling.

Holidays in Ubaye are holidays in the sun, with southern accents, where all sports are allowed! For a dynamic holiday, don't hesitate, Ubaye is your world.

Activities not to be missed in Ubaye

Admire the Mexican villas in Barcelonnette and Jausiers
Go in the Mexican festive spirit in Barcelonnette
To ski on the areas of Super Sauze or Pra-Loup - linked to that of Foux d'Allos - dominating the entire Ubaye valley
Cross on foot or cross-country skis larch forests around the Col de Larche
Forget civilization in the Maurin-Maljasset valley in Haute Ubaye
Browse the highest road in Europe at the Bonette pass.

The best webcams in Ubaye

(click on the name of the village)

Larche : discovering this high valley of Ubaye.
The Sauze: a complete view of the Ubaye valley and Barcelonnette. The snow cover of the hamlet of Reberty and the Pointe de la Masse sector
Pra Loup: Ubaye seen from the heights to the south of the valley.
Pra Loup and Barcelonnette: the station and the town below surrounded by the peaks of Ubaye.
Barcelonnette: view towards the south, with the town of Barcelonnette in the foreground