Hiking · GR 5
Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée
The great Alpine crossing: the Chablais, Beaufortain, Vanoise, Queyras and Mercantour, down to the hills above Nice. The thread of the French Alps, from lake to sea.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes → Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Where to sleep on Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée
Halta lists 405 places to sleep within 5 km of the route: 104 campsites, 108 mountain huts, 144 bivouac spots, 49 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 28 stages of Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée
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 → Bernex | 23 km | 860 m |
| 2 | Bernex → La Chapelle-d'Abondance | 25 km | 1 103 m |
| 3 | La Chapelle-d'Abondance → Morzine | 25 km | 1 343 m |
| 4 | Morzine → Samoëns | 18 km | 962 m |
| 5 | Samoëns → Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval | 6 km | 368 m |
| 6 | Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval → Les Houches | 34 km | 1 994 m |
| 7 | Les Houches → Les Contamines-Montjoie | 16 km | 934 m |
| 8 | Les Contamines-Montjoie → Beaufort | 26 km | 1 085 m |
| 9 | Beaufort → Bourg-Saint-Maurice | 41 km | 1 678 m |
| 10 | Bourg-Saint-Maurice → Tignes | 31 km | 1 959 m |
| 11 | Tignes → Val-d'Isère | 8 km | 179 m |
| 12 | Val-d'Isère → Bonneval-sur-Arc | 14 km | 986 m |
| 13 | Bonneval-sur-Arc → Val-Cenis | 19 km | 178 m |
| 14 | Val-Cenis → Modane | 26 km | 488 m |
| 15 | Modane → Névache | 30 km | 1 870 m |
| 16 | Névache → Briançon | 21 km | 323 m |
| 17 | Briançon → Brunissard | 23 km | 1 287 m |
| 18 | Brunissard → Ceillac | 20 km | 1 400 m |
| 19 | Ceillac → Maljasset | 14 km | 1 117 m |
| 20 | Maljasset → Larche | 29 km | 1 506 m |
| 21 | Larche → Bousiéyas | 21 km | 1 173 m |
| 22 | Bousiéyas → Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée | 17 km | 793 m |
| 23 | Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée → Isola | 31 km | 2 438 m |
| 24 | Isola → Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée | 32 km | 1 443 m |
| 25 | Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée → Saint-Dalmas-Valdeblore | 12 km | 1 448 m |
| 26 | Saint-Dalmas-Valdeblore → Utelle | 30 km | 1 242 m |
| 27 | Utelle → Levens | 15 km | 609 m |
| 28 | Levens → Nice | 25 km | 589 m |
Frequently asked questions about Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée
How many days does Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée take?
Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée takes about 40 days, split into 28 stages over 632 km — an average of 16 km a day. The split is indicative: stages stretch or shorten depending on your form and the weather.
Where can you sleep on Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée?
Halta lists 405 places to sleep within 5 km of Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée: 104 campsites, 108 mountain huts, 144 bivouac spots, 49 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 GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée?
Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée is rated hard, with 31 355 m of cumulative elevation gain over 632 km. Per stage, that works out at roughly 1120 m of climbing a day.
Where does Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée go?
Le GR 5, du Léman à la Méditerranée runs from Thonon-les-Bains to Nice, by way of Beaufort, Névache, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, across Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes → Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. It is travelled on foot and totals 632 km split into 28 stages.
Figures established on 17 September 2026, from Halta’s own data. How they are calculated.
More routes on foot
Étapes indicatives d'après le GR 5 (balisage FFRandonnée). Tracé reconstitué par routage (ODbL, openrouteservice.org). Halta 2026-08. Places to sleep: OpenStreetMap, refuges.info and DATAtourisme (ODbL). Photo : Wikimedia Commons (CC).