It’s midnight in the picturesque French Alpine village of La Clusaz, and all is silent except the faraway tinkle of cowbells. It’s taken five long hours to drive from Geneva airport to Hotel L’Alpage – we had the misfortune of arriving on the same day that world leaders shut down the city for the G7 Summit – but I’m greeted by a charcuterie board groaning with slices of crusty white baguette, cured meats, blue cheese, and the star of the show: Reblochon.

I’ll learn plenty more about this rich, creamy cheese over the next few days. I’m here to explore Inntravel’s hiking route through the French Alps, which begins at La Clusaz and passes through Chinaillon and Le Grand Bornand before ending in the city of Annecy, a tourist hotspot known for its crystalline blue lake.

As the sun rises in La Clusaz, I get my first true glimpse at the beauty of the limestone summits; the fir and spruce forests which line the mountain paths. The next few days are filled with scenic hikes of varying difficulty, so I fill up on a breakfast of black coffee, yoghurt topped with crunchy granola, and plenty more cheese.

Each morning, a driver arrives to pick up our suitcases and whisk them off to the next hotel, thankfully lightening our load. The accommodation throughout the trip is well-considered: small, independent businesses are highly prioritised and each hotel brings its own twist on the classic Alpine aesthetic. Walking routes are planned with similar precision, with regularly-updated directions meaning that routes are easy to follow.

The trips are aimed at seasoned hikers, which I am not. Although I trek through the Peak District on a semi-regular basis, the hills of Sheffield are no match for the six-hour, 710 metre ascent hike of the first day, so I’m nervous as the taxi drops us off outside the charming Chapelle des Confins, which was built by parishioners hoping for good weather. I marvel briefly at the wooden roof before starting our gradual ascent through the Borne valley.

The anxiety melts away as I soak in the beauty of the wildflower meadows and the cows with their pierced noses grazing happily in the sunshine. I’m surprised by how fascinated I am by the sheer range of butterflies: their wings are powder blue, marigold yellow, even burnished copper. Every now and then they congregate around tiny streams, flapping happily on the hot, wet ground.

The hike gets more difficult, with short bursts of steep ascent, but these are spread out across the route so it never feels too exhausting. Around three hours later, I’m rewarded with a panoramic view of the Aravis mountains at Restaurant La Cheminée. As an adorable kitten pesters its impressively patient mother at my feet, I tuck into one of the best salads I've ever eaten. The leaves are dressed with a tangy, mustardy vinaigrette and drenched in the salty fat of lardons. Juicy slices of tomato, crunchy croutons and small cubes of sharp, hard cheese round off the meal; to top it off, I order a delicious sundae of raspberry sorbet and whipped cream.

The rest of the route is downhill, leading us to the quaint village of Chinaillon and the quirky Hotel L’Alpage, whose bedrooms boast decorative cushions of animals dressed in brocade waistcoats. As the sun sets, we dine on a delicious meal of lentil salad and gloriously plump sausages at the hotel restaurant, and before bed, I can’t resist reading on the hotel’s communal balcony and marveling once more at the mountains.

The next day brings a shorter and easier hike to Le Grand Bornand, where we arrive as the vendors of a local produce market are closing up. A vendor approaches with a tray of bitesized baguette slices slathered in fresh blueberry jam, asking me to do her a favour and eat them. I happily oblige.

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Dotting the streets are brilliantly outlandish cow murals, as well as restaurants serving variations on Savoyard staples. I order a Savoyard pizza at La Bohème, adorned with slices of potato and, of course, Reblochon. With the hike done, it’s an opportune moment for some light day-drinking. I gulp down a tall, cold beer spiked with Picon, a bitter, citrussy liqueur which is nigh-on impossible to buy at supermarkets. It’s Aperol Spritz for beer-lovers; I’m in heaven.

Occasionally, we stumble across farms with hand-written signs advertising Reblochon for sale. This decadent cheese is the unofficial mascot of Haute-Savoie, its original recipe perfected by 13th century tenant farmers whose landlords collected milk as a form of land tax. The canniest amongst them learned to withhold some of the yield for themselves by pinching the cow’s udders to slow the flow. After handing over the first round of milk, farmers would milk the cows again. This second milking yielded richer, creamier results. The clandestine elixir is used to make the Reblochon sold all over the region today.

So far, the weather has been perfect for hiking: clear and sunny, but not punishingly so. That changes on the third day, as temperatures soar to 33 degrees. It’s also the day we’re scheduled to tackle the trickiest hike on the trip, with an ascent of almost 800 metres and the occasional scramble. I opt out. Instead, I stay in the taxi and travel to our final destination of Annecy, where I walk up to the beautiful basilica and stop off at a few patisseries on the way. I spend the afternoon swimming in the idyllic lake, hailed as the cleanest in Europe. It’s a surreal experience, the surrounding mountains creating a truly breathtaking backdrop.

Annecy is known for its landscapes, but it’s gaining a reputation as a cultural hotspot. We arrive as the Annecy International Animation Film Festival kicks off, attracting filmmakers and cinephiles from around the world. We round off the trip with a lazy, indulgent meal at Le Fréti, a restaurant which makes a spectacle of its fondue and raclette dishes. A map on the wall pinpoints the origins of France’s most famous cheeses, so we order a few variations to the table and dip potatoes and crusty bread into the bubbling vats.

The winner of our fondue tournament is the Traditionelle Savoyarde, a blend of three local cheeses laced with white wine. As local tradition demands, we end the meal with shot glasses of genepy, a herby, floral liqueur made by macerating genepy flowers in alcohol. It has the slight burn of sambuca, but it shouldn’t – the waiter laughs as I down the shot, telling me it’s made to be sipped instead.

Although our days are spent hiking, there’s still plenty of downtime to gaze at the butterflies and soak up the sun. The walks are undeniably tough – especially in hot weather – but with plenty of water breaks along the way they’re an ideal way to explore the region’s natural beauty. Better still, there’s a clear “leave no trace” policy adopted by hikers, so the landscape feels untouched in a way that’s rare in a world whose wildness is disappearing. Winter tourism will likely remain the main draw of the French Alps, but the dramatic mountains and blossoming wildflower meadows are even more beautiful once the snow has melted.

How to do it

Inntravel’s ‘French Alps & Lake Annecy’ route includes seven nights of bed and breakfast accommodation in Alpine-style hotels, plus three evening meals, transported luggage, GPS navigation and route notes. Flights and transfers can a can also be arranged through Inntravel. Prices start at £1,568pp.

There are regular flights from airports across the UK to Geneva. Flight time is around an hour and a half, with prices starting from £30 one-way.

Jake was a guest of Inntravel