Travel Itinerary

Hop on the RER C from central Paris; 15 min ride brings you to the edge of the Hauts-de-Seine hills and the start of a rugged loop.

Enter the park’s wilder northern gates and climb serpentine dirt paths past frozen ponds toward the ridge.

Sweeping 180° view over Paris and the Seine loop; a perfect perch for a thermos stop before the final scramble.

Tiny stone village at the foot of the Chevreuse valley; grab a warming bowl of French onion soup before the afternoon climb.

Leave the suburbs behind on muddy single-track that climbs 170 m through bare oaks to the ramparts of this 19th-century fort.

Stone bastions overlook Versailles’ rooftops and, on clear winter days, the distant glitter of La Défense towers.

End the day with a brisk walk up the 222 steps to the basilica terrace—the highest natural point in Paris—for fiery winter sunset hues.