Hiking in Abondance

The weekend before starting work in Thonon-les-Bains, my colleague asked if myself and some of the other assistants de langues would want to go on an all-day hiking trip with some teachers from school, and we jumped at the opportunity! I did a quick Google search to see where we were headed, and couldn’t have been more happy to avoid figuring out bus schedules to the adorable town of Abondance. Although Abondance was a short 40 minute car ride from Thonon, the windy roads and lack of signage made me glad we weren’t driving ourselves. After driving through the countryside and forest, we popped out in the cutest little town I had seen thus far in the Alps.

Parking in Abondance in a small parking lot just below the trail head was plentiful, as we were the only cars there at 9 in the morning. With the sun shining, we started our hike up the mountain, with snacks and water (and wine of course) in tow, for our lunchtime picnic close to the summit. On the way up, we saw cows typical to the region that make milk for a special local cheese, aptly named Abondance. The cows spend most of the year grazing on the mountainside, and make the journey down to their home farms just in time to escape the snow.

We were lucky the trail passed by some mountainside homes, called Mazots- small houses built for those who work the land or own farms nearby.

The higher we climbed, the closer we got to the cloud line, which led to some gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and valleys, dotted with puffy white clouds. Our hike to Pointe d'Autigny and back was around 7 miles, with an elevation gain of 2650 feet. The hike is rated as "hard", but I would argue that is more of an intermediate/hard hike in the autumn, when we went. The hike could be a bit more treacherous in the snow or mud, so early fall was the perfect time to hike. There are no facilities (toilets, water sources etc.) throughout the entire hike, so it's best to pack lunch, plenty of water, and anything else you may need, such as sunscreen, a hat, and a phone that gets service in the mountains 😉

The town also has a large Abbey, which I only got to see from the outside- it apparently is quite beautiful on the inside, so consider adding this to your list as a nice slower-paced activity after hiking in Abondance! This hike would be beautiful in summer or fall, but I would avoid it in winter (extremely icy and perhaps snowy), and early spring (too muddy). Do bring snacks and plenty of water, because we were away from home for about 6 hours, not including driving time. There were no restrooms on the mountain, but Abondance center has a café or two that you could stop at on the way back to your homebase for l’apéro or a chocolat chaud!

 

Tell me about your favorite hike you've ever done in the comments below!