Route Des Grandes Alpes
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The Route des Grandes Alpes is a tourist itinerary through the
French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...
between
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
and the
French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
passing over all the high passes of the Alps within
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The road starts at
Thonon-les-Bains Thonon-les-Bains (; ), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is part of a ...
and climbs via
Les Gets Les Gets (, ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Savoie, in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, southeastern France.
and
Cluses Cluses (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Citizens are known as ''Clusiens''. The commune is situated in the Arve Valley, on the river which bears the same name. Cluse ...
. It then heads to Saint-Gervais and
Megève Megève (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Co ...
, over the ''Col des Saisies'' (). It then passes through Beaufort,
Bourg-Saint-Maurice Bourg-Saint-Maurice (; Arpitan: ''Bôrg-Sant-Mori'' or simply ''Le Bôrg''), popularly known as Bourg, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Located on the Italian border south of Cha ...
and onto
Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...
. The road then crosses the ''
Col de l'Iseran Col de l'Iseran (el. ) is a mountain pass in France, the highest paved pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is in the department of Savoie, near the border with Italy, and is crossed by the D902 roadway. The pass is part of the Rout ...
'' (). The road then passes through
Modane Modane (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in southeastern France. The commune is in the Maurienne Valley, and it also belongs to the Vanoise ...
and over the ''
Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...
'' () and then the ''
Col du Lautaret Col du Lautaret () is a high mountain pass in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It marks the boundary between the valleys of the Romanche and the Guisane, a tributary of the Durance which has its source at the col. The valleys are linked ...
'' to
La Grave La Grave (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. It is a small ski resort in the French Alps, dominat ...
. The road heads to
Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...
and then over the ''
Col d'Izoard Col d'Izoard () is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the so ...
'' (). The road then heads through Embrun and over the ''
Col de Vars The Col de Vars, elevation 2108 m (6916 ft) is a high mountain pass in the Alps between the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects the Ubaye Valley with the Queyras valley and Embrun, Hautes-Alp ...
'' () and onto
Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; , also ; obsolete ) is a Communes of France, commune of France and a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Departments of France, department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is l ...
via
Jausiers Jausiers (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Jausièr'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Politics and administration Population Climate See also * Ubaye Valley *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ...
, where the choice can be made to turn south over the ''
Col de la Bonette Col de la Bonette (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps, near the border with Italy. It is situated within the Mercantour National Park on the border of the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The road over t ...
'' ()—with access to the highest paved through road in Europe, the
Cime de la Bonette Cime de la Bonette (el. ) is a mountain in the French Alps, near the border with Italy. It is situated within the Mercantour National Park on the border of the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, between the Ubaye Valley ...
—or continue via the ''
Col de la Cayolle Col de la Cayolle (el. 2,326 m) is a high mountain pass in the French Alps at the border between the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Saint-Martin-d'Entraun ...
'' (). The original end of the Route was
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionMenton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...
, reached via the cols of '' Saint-Martin'' (), ''
Turini Turini (Aymara ''turi'' tower, ''-ni'' a suffix, "the one with a tower", also spelled ''Torrini'') is a mountain in the Bolivian Andes which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the La Paz Department, Loayza Province, Cairoma Mu ...
'' () and '' Castillon'' (). Col des Gets (1163 m) Col de la Colombière (1613 m) Col des Aravis (1487 m) Col des Saisies (1650 m) Cormet de Roselend (1967 m) Col de l’Iseran (2764 m) Col du Télégraphe (1566 m) Col du Galibier (2645 m) Col du Lautaret (2058 m) Col d’Izoard (2360 m) Col de Vars (2109 m) Col de la Cayolle (2326 m) Col de Valberg (1673 m) Col de la Couillole (1678 m) Col Saint-Martin (1500 m) Col de Turini (1607 m) Col de Castillon (706 m)


References

Roads in France Transport in the Alps French Alps {{France-road-stub