Marie Gicquel, edited by Gauthier Delomez 5:36 p.m., August 10, 2022
Among the sports favored by the French, hiking ranks first among the sports practiced.
Nearly 27 million French people admit to using it at least once a year.
Europe 1 gives you ideas for itineraries to experiment with Séverine Ikkawi from the French Hiking Federation.
The post-pandemic effect: the French dream of wide open spaces, and what better than to practice hiking which offers nature and disconnection.
This sport is the most practiced in the country, ahead of cycling or swimming: 27 million people admit to using it at least once a year.
But beyond the panorama it can offer us, hiking also appeals to the French for other reasons.
"The phenomenon is also economic," said Séverine Ikkawi of the French Hiking Federation.
This sport "allows you to spend holidays in France at a reasonable price", she adds.
She takes the example of the federation's website to give an idea of the popularity of the practice.
“Last year, over the whole of 2021, we had 1.2 million visitors. As of July 31, we already had that figure”, explains Séverine Ikkawi.
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The Belledonne massif, as physical as the GR20
For her, the preferred destination is Cantal.
It's cooler and less crowded than on the Isle of Beauty, for example.
"The GR20 in Corsica, which is the 'must', this summer, it is saturated and we can see it by the reservation of refuges", explains Séverine.
His advice is to replace this famous hike with the GR738 in the Belledonne massif, above Grenoble in Isère.
Walkers will need the same physical effort as for the GR20.
For any hiking enthusiast, it will be impossible to get tired of the French trails.
There are 215,000 kilometers of marked itineraries to walk on, five times around the Earth.