Hello everyone. This year I decided to take a bike trip in the French Alps. Most likely at the beginning of July I decided to go from Geneva to Nice in bikepacking mode, but for the first time without a tent and I will try to find a place to stay on site (Airbnb, Booking, etc.). I really want to ride the legendary mountain passes from the Tour De France race. I accidentally found the site https://en.routedesgrandesalpes.com/cycle-route with routes of varying difficulty: the classic Route des Grandes Alpes and the easier P'tites Routes du Soleil, which runs almost parallel. Since the vacation is short, and I want to see a lot, I came up with the idea of combining the two routes. Let's say first go along the difficult route, overcome Col du Galibier, after Col du Telegraphe, Alp d'Huez, and then go down to Grenoble and from there go the easier (medium) route? I don't know how the road goes on the more difficult route, but for some reason it seems to me that on the average route the roads and terrain are more picturesque, there are more beautiful villages, roads, lakes and it is easier to find housing. Those who have already traveled these routes and especially both routes, please advise what is the best way to proceed.
by Practical-Parsley-77
2 Comments
It depends what kind of roads and effort you’re looking to.
Route des grandes Alpes is really in the middle of the Alps, long climbs and long descents, with some really nice passes, like Galibier, izoard, bonnette. The last one is the highest paved road in Europe, 2800m, so if you chose this itinerary I hope you love to climb.
As you said, the other one is not so high, you’ll cross more towns and villages, maybe a bit more pittoresque, but not with this alpine vibe.
Source : I lived in Grenoble and drove many kilometers in the Alps by motorbike.
Route des grand alps is 😍