A seven-day self-guided walking holiday in the Mercantour National Park for €618 per person is available from Responsibletravel.com. 

The package includes a local guide who speaks English and full-board accommodation (three nights with local inhabitants, two nights in gites, one night in a small rural hotel, and one night in a mountain refuge).

The walking holiday departs from Villeplane every day from June until Sept. 25. It is rated ‘moderate/strenuous' in hiking level. There are also easier and harder courses available.

Choose between two luggage transport options. Luggage can be transported for families (with children from 7 years of age) by either car or donkey. A car is used to transport luggage for the harder treks. 

The Mercantour National Park was established in 1979. This alpine park covers 68,500 hectares and stretches more than 120 kilometres from the Col de Tende to the Ubaye Valley.

Close to the Mediterranean, the park offers a rich and varied landscape: glaciers, rocky areas, vast alpine pastures, forests, gorges, valleys, rapids, lakes, and waterfalls. Several hundred species of fauna already have been identified in the park, 53 of which are endangered.

The price (€618) is based on two people sharing a room; single rooms are also possible for €657 for the week.

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