Adventure
La Route des Grandes Alpes
The Alpine legend, from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean: the Iseran, Galibier, Izoard, Bonette and Turini strung together on the highest roads in France.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes → Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Where to sleep on La Route des Grandes Alpes
Halta lists 363 places to sleep within 5 km of the route: 118 campsites, 78 mountain huts, 113 bivouac spots, 54 hotels. For each one, the app shows the real detour from your stage — and it is that distance, not the straight line, that decides how a day ends.
- Campsites
- Mountain huts
- Bivouac spots
- Hotels
Alongside the campsites, mountain huts and bivouac spots drawn from open data, there are the hosts of the Halta community: travellers who welcome others into their homes, usually for free. You write to them before you come; you do not book a slot.
The 10 stages of La Route des Grandes Alpes
An indicative split, drawn on real roads: distances and elevation come from route calculation, not from an estimate. In the app every stage can be adjusted — stretched, cut short, or pushed back a day.
| # | Stage | Distance | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thonon-les-Bains → Beaufort | 136 km | 2 833 m |
| 2 | Beaufort → Bourg-Saint-Maurice | 41 km | 1 413 m |
| 3 | Bourg-Saint-Maurice → Val-d'Isère | 32 km | 1 254 m |
| 4 | Val-d'Isère → Modane | 73 km | 1 247 m |
| 5 | Modane → Briançon | 88 km | 2 172 m |
| 6 | Briançon → Guillestre | 52 km | 1 412 m |
| 7 | Guillestre → Barcelonnette | 50 km | 1 191 m |
| 8 | Barcelonnette → Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée | 56 km | 1 607 m |
| 9 | Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée → Valberg | 58 km | 1 658 m |
| 10 | Valberg → Menton | 132 km | 2 872 m |
Frequently asked questions about La Route des Grandes Alpes
How many days does La Route des Grandes Alpes take?
La Route des Grandes Alpes takes about 15 days, split into 10 stages over 718 km — an average of 48 km a day. The split is indicative: stages stretch or shorten depending on your form and the weather.
Where can you sleep on La Route des Grandes Alpes?
Halta lists 363 places to sleep within 5 km of La Route des Grandes Alpes: 118 campsites, 78 mountain huts, 113 bivouac spots, 54 hotels. On top of those are the hosts of the Halta community, travellers who welcome others into their homes, usually for free.
How hard is La Route des Grandes Alpes?
La Route des Grandes Alpes is rated hard, with 17 659 m of cumulative elevation gain over 718 km. Per stage, that works out at roughly 1766 m of climbing a day.
Where does La Route des Grandes Alpes go?
La Route des Grandes Alpes runs from Thonon-les-Bains to Menton, by way of Val-d'Isère, Guillestre, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, across Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes → Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. It is travelled by bike and totals 718 km split into 10 stages.
Figures established on 17 September 2026, from Halta’s own data. How they are calculated.
More routes by bike
Étapes indicatives d'après la Route des Grandes Alpes (Grande Traversée des Alpes). Tracé reconstitué par routage (ODbL, openrouteservice.org). Halta 2026-07. Places to sleep: OpenStreetMap, refuges.info and DATAtourisme (ODbL). Photo : Wikimedia Commons (CC).