Camping in Les 2 Alpes Review
Living in a hanky - a guide to camping in the Oisans
So the sun is out, temperatures are soaring and high season is just around the corner, which means it must be time to go camping. It’s cheap, it’s outdoors and you can do it almost anywhere, what’s not to like? All right, it happens to be chucking with rain on this particular morning, but it’s not going to do that all holiday is it?
Personally I don’t do a lot of camping round here, as it seems a tad silly when I’ve got a perfectly good house to live in, so purchase of one of Decathlon’s magic montage-in-a-minute tents at the weekend meant a trek off to the Lac du Sautet an hour’s drive away, with the possibility of boats and lake swimming followed by via ferrata on Sunday morning.
But for those of you coming in from further afield, Bourg d’Oisans and Venosc both offer al fresco options galore, from luxury mobile homes (cheating) through to carrying all your gear as you yomp along the GR route doing the Tour du Oisans (proper hardcore camping).
I suspect most of us fall somewhere between those two extremes, judging by the sort of accommodation I see on our several local campsites. Personally I favour a tent allegedly designed for one more person than I plan to accommodate, plus comfy mattress, beach chair and tea-making facilities. This appears to be more or less the approach taken by most of our campers, though some of them add barbecues, dining tables, portable loos (handy with small children), electric fridges and the odd hammock.
For the exceedingly lazy camper, unwilling to put in even the couple of minutes effort demanded by Decathlon’s designers, pre-erected tents are available courtesy of tour operator Eurocamp at RCN Belledonne at Rochetaillé, or at the lovely family-run Ferme Noemie closer to town at Les Sables for a rather less corporate camping experience.
Both of these sites are out of town (though not more than about 20 minutes on a bike – you did remember to bring your bike?), but if you prefer to be within staggering distance of bars, shops and market, Le Colporteur is five minutes walk from the centre of Bourg d’Oisans.
Mad cyclists will find three sites handily located right at the bottom of the climb to Alpe d’Huez, of which my personal favourite is A La Rencontre du Soleil, where I spent one summer lazing about as campsite courier for Canvas Holidays, who have since been misguided enough to drop it from their programme. Apparently the tour op camping customer wants fancy mobile homes at seaside camping factories and not nice family-run alpine sites with shady emplacements and fabulous scenery. Weirdos.
In resort, 2 Alpes has more to offer than Alpe d’Huez in summer, with glacier skiing and endless mountain biking as well as the usual hiking, swimming, tennis et etc. One thing it doesn’t have is a campsite (I don’t count out of town car parking for camper vans), but fortunately you have a choice between Champ du Moulin and La Cascade near Venosc in the Veneon valley, where you can either get up to resort via the telecabin or take advantage of white water sports, hiking and the Aventure Parc in the valley.
All of these sites are star rated and provide most of the usual mod cons (hot water, on-site food of various sorts, wifi, games etc etc), but if you’re after a more basic experience you can head futher up the valley to Les Fetoules near St Christophe en Oisans. Popular with canoeists, the site is HQ for rafting company Veneon Eaux Vives, and also makes a convenient base for walkers or climbers looking to explore the upper reaches of the valley and the Ecrins national park.
Looking at all that, you have to wonder how gites and hotels manage to survive. I mean why would you want a proper bed, private facilities and a sensible kitchen when you could spend your holiday living in a big hanky in a field? No contest really.
