Welcoming people is a tradition in the Vercors. Welcoming people of all ages, sporting or not, able-bodied or not. In keeping with this tradition, the Vercors Regional Nature Park is developing tourism adapted to people with motor, sensory or intellectual disabilities.
Walks accessible to all
The first area to be covered is hiking. In 2016, the Park, together with the professionals from the Grandes Traversées du Vercors, compiled a list of all the routes in the various sectors of the massif that are accessible to everyone. The montourenvercors.com website gives details of these routes, including GPS tracks, photos and descriptions, all of which are suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs, joëlettes and pushchairs. A good example is the Via Vercors soft path.
Gîtes, hotels, holiday villages, campsites...
The second area where accessibility is a reality in the Vercors is accommodation. In the Quatre-Montagnes, Diois, Royans, Coulmes, Trièves and Vercors Drôme regions, a large number of tourist accommodations cater for people with motor disabilities, as well as visual, hearing or mental impairments. With the right facilities. And a mindset open to difference.
Tourist sites
The third area in which those involved in the Vercors are doing a great deal to promote the independence of people with disabilities is in cultural facilities and heritage and nature sites. Facilities at ground level, access ramps, audio-guides, adapted signage... To find out more about these public facilities, as well as the accommodation and facilities that are making a real commitment in this direction, look out for the Tourisme et Handicap (Tourism and Disability) label. It's the guarantee of an efficient and adapted welcome. And the opportunity for disabled tourists to choose their holidays and leisure activities in complete freedom.
You can also contact service providers who do not have the label to find out how they cater for disabled people.
Handiskiing in the Vercors
The Cote 2000 gondola lift (seating 10) at Espace Villard-Corrençon is Europe's first detachable gondola lift accessible to the disabled and people with reduced mobility. Thanks to an ingenious system, the gondolas arrive at the station and stop for 6-8 seconds, allowing wheelchair users to board. The ski schools on the plateau are also equipped with dualski seats, and instructors are specially trained to drive them.
