Panneau Route des Grandes Alpes au col du Lautaret 02

The Route des Grandes Alpes is a tourist itinerary through the French Alps between Lake Geneva and the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

passing over all the high passes of the Alps within France. The road starts at

Thonon-les-Bains Thonon-les-Bains (; frp, Tonon), 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 ...

and climbs via Les Gets and

Cluses Cluses (; frp, Clluses) 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 n ...

. It then heads to Saint-Gervais and Megève, over the ''Col des Saisies'' (). It then passes through

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

, Bourg-Saint-Maurice and onto Val-d'Isère. The road then crosses the '' Col de l'Iseran'' (). The road then passes through Modane and over the ''

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint-M ...

'' () 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 linke ...

'' to

La Grave La Grave (; oc, La Grava) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is a small ski resort in the French Alps, dominated by La Meije (3982 m). It was the birthplace of Nicolas de Nicolay; adventurer and Geographer ...

. The road heads to Briançon 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 sou ...

'' (). 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. It is tra ...

'' () and onto

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; oc, Barciloneta de Provença, also ; obsolete it, Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern ...

via Jausiers, where the choice can be made to turn south over the '' Col de la Bonette'' ()—with access to the highest paved through road in Europe, the Cime de la Bonette—or continue via the '' Col de la Cayolle'' (). The original end of the Route was Nice but is now Menton, 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 ...

'' () 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)

External links

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