Adventure
Le French Divide
The full diagonal, from the North Sea to the Basque Country: white roads, forests, the Morvan, the Massif Central, the Aubrac and the Pyrenees. An expedition, not an outing.
Hauts-de-France → Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Where to sleep on Le French Divide
Halta lists 428 places to sleep within 5 km of the route: 351 campsites, 1 mountain hut, 16 bivouac spots, 60 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 13 stages of Le French Divide
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 | Bray-Dunes → Arras | 104 km | 292 m |
| 2 | Arras → Laon | 118 km | 627 m |
| 3 | Laon → Épernay | 79 km | 1 275 m |
| 4 | Épernay → Langres | 198 km | 1 363 m |
| 5 | Langres → Beaune | 116 km | 871 m |
| 6 | Beaune → Roanne | 148 km | 1 249 m |
| 7 | Roanne → Le Puy-en-Velay | 136 km | 3 044 m |
| 8 | Le Puy-en-Velay → Mende | 82 km | 1 791 m |
| 9 | Mende → Millau | 79 km | 1 567 m |
| 10 | Millau → Albi | 108 km | 1 831 m |
| 11 | Albi → Auch | 158 km | 1 159 m |
| 12 | Auch → Pau | 108 km | 1 104 m |
| 13 | Pau → Mendionde | 100 km | 1 338 m |
Frequently asked questions about Le French Divide
How many days does Le French Divide take?
Le French Divide takes about 39 days, split into 13 stages over 1 534 km — an average of 39 km a day. The split is indicative: stages stretch or shorten depending on your form and the weather.
Where can you sleep on Le French Divide?
Halta lists 428 places to sleep within 5 km of Le French Divide: 351 campsites, 1 mountain hut, 16 bivouac spots, 60 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 Le French Divide?
Le French Divide is rated hard, with 17 511 m of cumulative elevation gain over 1 534 km. Per stage, that works out at roughly 1347 m of climbing a day.
Where does Le French Divide go?
Le French Divide runs from Bray-Dunes to Mendionde, by way of Langres, Le Puy-en-Velay, Albi, across Hauts-de-France → Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is travelled by bike and totals 1 534 km split into 13 stages.
Figures established on 17 September 2026, from Halta’s own data. How they are calculated.
More routes by bike
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La Route des Grandes Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes → Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
718 km · 15 days · hard
Étapes indicatives d'après le French Divide. Tracé reconstitué par routage (ODbL, openrouteservice.org). Halta 2026-07. Places to sleep: OpenStreetMap, refuges.info and DATAtourisme (ODbL). Photo : Wikimedia Commons (CC).