Orcières covers a vast area, occupying the entire upper valley of the Drac Noir. In addition to the village and the Orcières Merlette 1850 ski resort, there are more than twenty hamlets where you can rediscover authenticity.
Serre-Eyraud comes first: nestling in the heart of a forest at an altitude of 1450 m, Serre-Eyraud overlooks the Champsaur valley and offers a remarkable view of the Champoléon valley. Don’t miss the chapel, the communal oven and, of course, the village resort in winter. You can continue your visit through the Arthouze forest to the hamlet of Audiberts.
Heading up the valley, at the very end of the D474 road, you’ll come across Prapic, a village full of character and well worth a visit for several reasons: its authentic heritage, its exceptional location at the gateway to the Ecrins National Park and its gastronomic delights.
On the ubac (north-facing slopes), you’ll find postcard-perfect villages frozen in winter: Les Audiberts at an altitude of 1460m, with its breathtaking views over the village and the resort of Orcières; Archinard at 1600m, the starting point for a host of high-altitude excursions.
Along the way to the resort, between 1450 and 1850m, there is a succession of hamlets with many points of interest:
Les Marches: the hamlet is home to the Saint Roch chapel, renovated in 2007. You can do a loop from the resort to reach the hamlet, stopping off at the Forest des Marches (summer chalets) and why not the Cabrioles farm-brewery.
Les Veyers: the Sacré-Coeur chapel, restored in 1989, overlooks the whole of the Haut-Champsaur opposite Les Audiberts and Archinard. You can eat all year round at the Relais de Merlette.
Les Estaris: at an altitude of 1700m, this hamlet offers unrivalled views of the peaks at the bottom of the valley. The hamlet once had two chapels. Higher up, the Forest des Estaris summer cottages were once used to herd cattle and make cheese.
