Concise details on the Donkey trekking Stevenson tour can be obtained by downloading the tour pdf [right]. Alternatively, read the tour description below and click through the sub-headings in the right-hand column for information on access, accommodation, availability, content and prices.
And see why none other than The Times recommends us as your hosts for the journey.
Visit our Instagram page to view day-by-day photos of the Stevenson tour. This feature is under construction and new photos are being added on a daily basis. Thanks for your patience and do check back to see our updates.
See Further Reading at the foot of the page regarding a recent film on walking in Cevennes with a donkey.
Donkey trekking Stevenson is an opportunity to enjoy one of Europe’s top hikes in the company of a trusted and long-eared companion. Remember, you’re the one who’s never hiked this trail before, not the Ass.”
D
It’s also lighter on your back, as the donkey carries your luggage and backpack – subject to a maximum 30 kgs per mule. Hey, this is an animal-friendly experience as well!
Your Donkey trekking Stevenson holiday commences in Goudet with a short training session in donkey handling and asinine negotiating skills – your first opportunity to meet your travel companion for the next five days.
Be firm, but fair! You’ll learn much that will prove invaluable both during and after your ‘guided’ walking adventure across Velay and Gévaudan.
Life changing? Just maybe! But don’t worry – maps and comprehensive walking notes are provided and there’s local back-up to handle any donkey-related difficulties!
When Donkey trekking Stevenson, you experience the delights of hiking across 105 kilometres or 69 miles of rich and varied terrain between Goudet and Chasseradès. You follow in the footsteps [and hoof-prints] of Robert Louis Stevenson and his trusted companion, Modestine, à la “Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes” (1879). You also champion the cause of modern-day, ecologically-friendly adventure travel.
Donkey trekking Stevenson takes you to the Plateau de Chambonnet on your last day’s hiking. At 1310 ms altitude, the highest point of your trek, you cross the Atlantic–Mediterranean watershed and head down valley to Chasseradès and the Mirandol Viaduct.
Bid a fond farewell to your long-eared friend and please return next year for Part Two of The RLS Trail – but this time without a donkey!
[per person in a shared double or twin-bedded room]
What’s Included
- 6-nights bed and breakfast in 2-star standard hotels, auberges or equivalent chambres d’hotes
- 5 dinners
- Transfers at the start and end of the tour
- Donkey hire and induction session in donkey handling
- Up to 30 kgs of luggage transported by your donkey¹
- Overnight nourishment and accommodation for the donkey
- 1:50,000 maps, excellent walking notes & dossier
- 7/7 telephone back-up & support and emergency assistance for the donkey.
¹ Note: This means one piece of luggage per person, each weighing up to 15 kgs. We can also transfer extra/ overweight luggage for a small supplement or store and deliver to your final hotel – please ask for details.
- Highlights
- Hike in R. L. Stevenson’s footsteps
- ‘Top-ten’ literary trail in remotest France
- Our tour is recommended by The Times: click here
- Trek with a donkey & let it take the strain – you carry just a day backpack
- Light-to-moderate hiking across two distinct historical regions – made lighter and/or moderate due to the addition of the donkey!
- Visit fascinating hamlets and villages as you complete Part One of this important trek
- Key Details
- 6-night, self-guided light walking tour accompanied by a donkey
- Arrive any day of the week from mid-April to mid-October
- Tour starts in Le Puy en Velay and finishes in Chasserades, near la gare SNCF of La Bastide Puy Laurent
- Best access: Lyon airport or SNCF, with onward regional train TER] to Le Puy via St Etienne
- 2-star accommodation standard
- What’s Included
- 6-nights bed and breakfast in 2-star standard hotels, auberges or equivalent chambres d’hotes
- 5 dinners
- Transfers at the start and end of the tour
- Donkey hire and induction session in donkey handling
- Up to 30 kgs of luggage transported by your donkey¹
- Overnight nourishment and accommodation for the donkey
- 1:50,000 maps, excellent walking notes & dossier
- 7/7 Emergency telephone back-up & support and emergency assistance for the donkey.
¹ Note: This means one piece of luggage per person, each weighing up to 15 kgs. We can also transfer extra/ overweight luggage for a small supplement – please ask for details.
- Nearest airport or SNCF station is Lyon [3 hrs on TGV from Paris or Lille] with onward train journey to Le Puy via St Etienne.
- Next-best access is via Nimes or Montpellier airports, with onward TGV to Lyon – 30 and 60 minute journeys, respectively.
- Alternative convenient option is via Clermont-Ferrand airport, with onward regional train to Le Puy via St Etienne.
Departure
Departure is by the mountain railway train to Nimes [2 hours] for onward TGV train north or south; or head north to Clermont-Ferrand.
Please see:
https://www.sncf.com/en
or
the TER Site here (Regional railways).
or
https://www.rome2rio.com/
- Accommodation
- Good level of character and comfort, all with en-suite facilities.
- Carefully-selected 2-star standard hotels, chambres d’hotes or auberges.
- Generous picnic lunches and diners showcasing regional specialities are available on demand from your hosts.
- Warm, dry summers; mild spring and autumn
- Undulating volcanic plateau; medieval villages & historic hamlets
Donkey trekking Stevenson – Tour Itinerary.
[Times, distances and elevations are approximate]
Day 1: Arrival in Le Puy en Velay and hotel check-in. Le Puy merits a day’s stay in itself, so much history is there here to enjoy – get there early! Night in Le Puy.
Goudet to Le Bouchet
8.5 miles-12.5 kms, 5 hrs, +400 ms
Red earth
Taxi transfer from Le Puy to Goudet [30 minutes], where you meet up with our donkey expert who will give you your short induction course in ‘donkey handling’.
Then you are on your way: firstly, with a fine climb out of the deeply-incised Upper Loire gorge and past chateau Beaufort, followed by a trek through a series of isolated and picturesque villages on route to Le Bouchet St Nicholas, Stevenson’s first overnight stop.
Night in Le Bouchet.
Le Bouchet to Pradelles
12 miles-19 kms, 6 hrs, +285 ms -375 ms
Granite Cité
The ascents and descents are less steep today, but the walking is far from flat as you climb to the volcanic plateau from the Arquejol Viaduct before the descent to the fine granite ‘City of the High Prairies’.
Our tour of the cité is a must!
Night in Pradelles.
Pradelles to Cheylard
14 miles/23 kms, +662 ms -740 ms, approx. 6 hrs
Mercoire Forest & ‘The Beast’
You descend to Langogne along a trail shared with the Regordane way, into the land of the ‘Beast of Gevaudan’, through forest and charming hamlet en route to the medieval village of Cheylard, repleat with church, chapel and abbey.
Night in Cheylard l’Eveque.
Cheylard to La Bastide
12 miles-19 kms, 6 hrs, +240 ms -380 ms
Lake Gardille & Luc
You climb through the Gardille forest and have lunch beside its eponymous lake, before climbing, then descending, to the impressive ruins of Luc castle. Then you follow the medieval Regordane Way alongside the Cevenol railway and cross the Allier River en route to the historic resting place of La Bastide Puy-Laurent.
Night in La Bastide Puylaurent.
La Bastide to Chasseradès
8 miles-12 kms, 4 hrs, +330 ms – 160 ms
Mirandol Viaduct
Climb to the Chambonnet Plateau and through the Gardille forest en route to the charming hamlet of Chabalier. You cross paths again with the l’Allier before descending to charming Chasserades.
Time for a de-briefing with our donkey expert and hand back your long-eared companion.
Night in Chasseradès.
Day 7: Departure day – end of your Donkey trekking Stevenson experience – Short morning transfer back to La Bastide for onward train north or southwards. See you next year for Part Two of the RLS, but without a donkey!
Further Reading
Read our articles on:
- Walking The Stevenson Trail
- Cévennes
- The Protestant revolt in Cévennes
- Google a recent film on walking in Cevennes with a donkey entitled “My donkey, my lover and I” (English title) or ‘Antoinette en Cevennes’ (French title).
- The Stevenson Trail
- RLS EXTRA
- The Stevenson Trail Part One
- The Stevenson Trail Part Two
- Saint-Guilhem Way
An alternative Cévennes trail:
Independent testimonials about walking the Stevenson Way with The Enlightened Traveller can be read here:
- Follow in the hoof-steps of Modestine, RLS' trusted female companion
- Lose yourself in remote rural France - but not literally!
- Celebrate the life and works of RLS in an authentic manner and the trail that keeps his memory alive.
- The donkey may or may not know the way better than you!
- Fun and Relaxation needs to be balanced with Negotiation - do you possess the requisite skills and patience?
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to persuade a long-eared assinine companion to help make the journey a memorable success - a vous de jouer!"
Click to see our full range of moderate walks in France