Camping le Parc des Sérigons

Horse riding is much recommended around here, but if that's not your bag, the forest adjacent to the site has hiking and mountain bike trails to explore, or you could get stuck into some paddleboarding, kayaking, windsurfing and fishing at Lac de Serre-Ponçon 25 kilometres away. (If you're feeling lionhearted, zip along to the whitewater rafting of the Durance river, 35 kilometres from the site.) A more placid option is Domaine de Charance and its gardens (10 kilometres), made up of alpine greenery on the edge of Charance mounain a short drive from Gap. There are several shaded paths to potter along, plus a forest, a lake, streams, and terraces in front of the castle. Take the two-hour squirrel trail to end up at Rochasson for spectacular views of Gap and the surrounding countryside. It's four kilometres from the gardens to the town of Gap, where there's a Saturday morning market in the main square, and markets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays elsewhere in town. Climbing, a via ferrata climbing route, hiking and mountain biking are all popular in the Écrins National Park (30 kilometres), among its glacial valleys, mountains, pastures, lakes and woodland.