Valdeblore swimming pool - a village pool with a retractable roof

There comes a point in almost every mountain holiday when somebody has had enough of walking. A knee that complains, rain settled in for the afternoon, children who left everything they had on the trail. That is exactly when the Valdeblore swimming pool becomes the most useful place in the valley.

It sits at La Bolline, one of the hamlets of Valdeblore — the same village as the guesthouse, which stands higher up at Saint-Dalmas. Which means no hairpins down into the Vésubie or the Tinée to go for a swim. You stay up on the plateau, and you notice the difference mostly on the way back, when nobody fancies an hour in the car.

Its trick is the retractable roof. In good weather it opens and the pool becomes an open-air one, with its outdoor areas and the peaks all around. Under a low sky it closes, and the water stays exactly as warm: the wet afternoon that would have ruined the day simply becomes the pool afternoon. That piece of architecture is what makes it more than one more summer swim — it is a genuine fallback, and a pleasure in its own right.

On site there are lifeguards, free swim sessions for anyone wanting to put in lengths, and supervised activities. This is a village pool, not a water park: you go to swim, to splash about with small children, to loosen legs that have climbed too much — and the mood matches the plateau, quiet and uncrowded.

One honest note: opening times, prices and season change with school holidays and the calendar, and they are not ours to manage. Check the official listing before you set off, or just ask us the evening before at dinner — what we can tell you is whether tomorrow is worth it, given the forecast.

Key facts

Where: the hamlet of La Bolline, in Valdeblore
The pool: retractable roof, with outdoor areas
Supervision: lifeguards, free swim sessions and supervised activities
Season: far wider than high summer alone
From the house: along the plateau, no valley road involved
Opening times and prices: on the official listing — they follow French school holidays

Piscine de Valdeblore — fiche officielle Office de tourisme Pure Montagne

Your base camp

The house for this activity

The pool fits a stay here for a very practical reason: it fills half a day, not a whole one. You can walk in the morning and swim in the afternoon, or the other way round, and still be back for dinner at the table d'hôtes without rushing.

The house is half board: in the evening everyone gathers around the big table, so nobody has to work out where to eat after a swim. For the day itself, a packed lunch can be ordered the evening before. And if the rain really settles in, there is always the wood stove in the common room, which has consoled a great many people already.

Tell us the night before what you have in mind and we'll point you along the plateau road and tell you what the weather is doing on that side.

Book your stay See the rates

Frequently asked questions

Before you go

Is the pool open all year?

Its season is far wider than high summer alone, and the retractable roof lets it run in poor weather. Exact dates, opening times and prices follow French school holidays and change from year to year: check the official listing before making the trip.

Can we walk there from the guesthouse?

The house is at Saint-Dalmas and the pool at La Bolline — two hamlets of the same village, linked by the plateau road. Ask us when you book and we'll tell you what is reasonable on foot and what is better by car.

Is it suitable for children?

It is a village pool with lifeguards and supervised activities, well used by families from the plateau. The specifics — ages, armbands, slots reserved for lessons — are best checked with the pool directly.

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