Camping Municipal La Virette

La Virette campsite is the municipal site of Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse, a mid-mountain village perched at 1,000 m altitude, 12 km from Grenoble, which itself lies at 215 m. It stretches at the foot of Chamechaude, the highest point of the Chartreuse massif (2,082 m), and is a one-minute walk from the village square, its restaurants, grocery and tourist office. The Guide du Routard recommends it.

The site has 25 pitches with free choice of placement: twenty on semi-shaded grass and five on stabilised ground, all served by electricity posts spread across the site. Four wooden pods complete the offer: two fully equipped family pods for 4 people and two more basic stopover pods for 2 people, where you can also store your e-bike.

As for opening, the municipality advertises a campsite open all year round. In winter, it highlights snow caravanning, the village’s small ski resort, cross-country skiing and marked snowshoe routes. The washroom block is heated in winter and the family pods have heating. Stays of up to one month are the rule from June to September; from October to May, a longer stay can be requested in writing and approved by the town hall, with a monthly rate from 1 October to 30 April.

The village also presents itself as a base camp for workers travelling near Grenoble, and students benefit from a dedicated rate from September to mid-June. Large vehicles are asked to come up via La Tronche rather than over the Col de Clémencières.

Downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at Le Sappey or the Col de Porte (5 km); visits to Grenoble and the Bastille, 12 km away.

Pitches can be chosen freely on the open site. The campsite provides a shared fridge and freezer, picnic tables and a barbecue area, with a grill lent on simple request. Free Wi-Fi works at reception, and ice packs are provided free of charge. Motorhome owners have an emptying and filling point at the entrance, payable by bank card, at €2 per 100 litres of water, as well as eight pitches on hard ground.

The washroom block is cleaned every day with mostly eco-responsible products. It has seated and squat toilets, washbasin cubicles, hot-water dishwashing and laundry sinks and hot showers at no extra charge. It is accessible to people with reduced mobility and stays closed and heated in winter. A washing machine is available for an extra charge.

The family pods offer a kitchen (fridge, ceramic hob), shower room, toilet, heating, crockery and bed linen provided. The stopover pods are limited to a sofa bed, a table and electric sockets. In the village you will find a grocery with bread service, an organic bread outlet, restaurants, a café, a micro-brewery and a market on Tuesday and Friday at the end of the day. The Bouygues Télécom network does not reach the village.

A municipal park borders the site: it has a boules pitch with balls to borrow, a children’s playground overlooked by the Écoutoux (1,406 m), a skate park, a football pitch, a shaded picnic area, a mountain-bike course and a club tennis court to be booked in advance. The campsite also lends badminton equipment and has a small free library.

Trails start from the village to Chamechaude or Fort Saint-Eynard (1,379 m), within the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park. The GR9 links Le Sappey to the Bastille in Grenoble in four to five hours’ walking. The Grande Chartreuse monastery is a 20-minute drive away, then a 20-minute walk. Partner providers supervise canyoning, caving, climbing, via ferrata, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding and treetop adventure; some offer a 5 to 10% discount to campsite guests.

In winter, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and marked snowshoe routes are available at Le Sappey or at the Col de Porte, 5 km away. Grenoble can be reached in 15 to 20 minutes by car or by bus line 62, with its museums, the Bastille fort and its exhibitions. Remember snow equipment, as the road is a mountain road.