Grande Traversée des Alpes: through the French Alps from Lake Geneva to Nice along the GR5.
![GR5 from Utelle to Le Cros d'Utelle / Photo: lombiedezombie@hotma... [CC BY 3.0] Wikimedia Commons](https://travesiapirenaica.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/GR5-desde-Utelle-a-Le-Cros-dUtelle_by-lombiedezombie@hotma…-CC-BY-3.0-Wikimedia-Commons_1200x900.jpg)
Crossing the Alps from Lake Geneva (Thonon-les-Bains) to Nice along the GR5 is known as the "GR5".Grande Traversée des Alpes"The 674 km long route can be covered in one month. It is one of the best alpine treks in Europe and increasingly popular. 10,000 people walk the route every year, in whole or in part.
There is the possibility to combine it with some variants: the impressive GR55 through the Vanoise National Park and the challenging GR52 through the Mercantour National Park.
Practical guide
When to go?
The GR5 is primarily a summer trek: starting too early or too late in the season can lead to problems with snow, and the refuelling can be closed.
Summer holidays in France run from mid-July to mid-August: this coincides with the best weather, but accommodation will be very busy.
Difficulty and tips
Despite its length, and despite crossing the Alps, the GR5 is no more than a long mountain hike, the trails are well graded and the route can vary from 645 to 725 km.
Cities & Services
Geneva; ChamonixModane; BriançonNice.
In its alpine part, the GR5 stretches between Lake Geneva (Tuna) and the Mediterranean (Nice). Through the massifs of Chablais, Faucigny, Haut Giffre, Mont-Blanc, Beaufortain, Vanoise, Thabor, Queyras, Haute-Ubaye, Tinée, Haute-Vésubie, Haute-Roya, Mercantour or Authion, that's all there is!
Stages
From the glaciers of Mont-Blanc to the Mediterranean fragrances of the Mercantour foothills, the GR5 crosses the entire Alps over more than 600 kilometres. Some forty stages on this long-distance hiking route, which allows us to take an incredible journey into the heart of diversity: from green mountain pastures to high mountain passes, from emerald lakes to wild valleys, from forgotten villages to refuges.
The GR5 starts on the shores of Lake Geneva with the Tarentaise as its first objective. A first stretch through the Savoy Pre-Alps to the "raw" power of Mont-Blanc, with the Fiz and Beaufortain as a backdrop.
After two weeks of walking, La Vanoise takes shape, in majesty, and then gives way to the Thabor massif. In the grandiose landscapes of Queyras and Ubaye, the GR5 enters the Alpes du Soleil on one level: the South is there, and signals the near arrival of the coast. The Tinée, Var or Bévéra valleys are the last ramparts before the Mediterranean Sea, finally, after a month and a half of walking on this great route of the Alps and even of the whole of Europe.
- Day 1 St Gingolph to La Chapelle d'Abondance (direct route)
- Day 1 Thonon-les-Bains to Chevenoz (alternative Day 1)
- Day 2 Chevenoz to La Chapelle d'Abondance (alternative Day 2)
- Day 3 La Chapelle d'Abondance in Chésery
- Day 4 Chésery in Samoëns
- Day 5 Samoëns to Refuge of Moëde Anterne
- Day 6 Refuge of Moëde Anterne to Les Houches
- Day 7 Les Houches to Les Contamines
- Day 7a Les Houches to Les Contamines (high level route)
- Day 8 Les Contamines a Plan de la Lai
- Day 9 Lai's plan to Landry
GR5 Route
- Day 10 Landry to Refuge d'Entre-le-Lac
- Day 11 Entre-le-Lac Hut in Val d'Isère
- Day 12 Val d'Isère to Bessans
- Day 13 Bessans to Refuge du Plan du Lac
- Day 14 Refuge du Plan du Lac in Le Montana
- Day 15 Le Montana in Modane/Fourneaux
// Variant// GR55 (Hut d'Entre-le-Lac to Modane) through the Vanoise National Park. High level route
- Day 11 Refuge d'Entre-le-Lac to Refuge d'Entre Deux Eaux
- Day 12 Refuge d'Entre Deux Eaux at Roc de la Pêche
- Day 13 Roc de la Pêche at Modane/Fourneaux
GR5E (Bonneval-sur-Arc to Modane) Low-level route
- Day 13 Bonneval-sur-Arc to Lanslevillard
- Day 14 Lanslevillard to Bramans
- Day 15 Bramans to Modane/Fourneaux
- Day 16 Modane/Fourneaux to Refuge du Thabor
- Day 17 Refuge du Thabor in Plampinet
- Day 17a La Vallée Étroite to Plampinet (alternative GR5B)
- Day 18 Plampinet to Briançon
- Day 18a Névache to Briançon (alternative GR5C)
- Day 19 Briançon to Brunissard
- Day 20 Brunissard to Ceillac
- Day 21 Ceillac to La Barge/Maljasset
- Day 22 La Barge/Maljasset to Larche
- Day 23 Larche to Bousieyas
- Day 24 Bousieyas to Auron
- Day 25 Auron to Longon Hut
- Day 26 Refuge from Longon to St Dalmas
- Day 27 St Dalmas to Utelle
- Day 28 Utelle to Aspremont
- Day 29 Aspremont to Nice
// By-pass // St Dalmas to Garavan/Menton - GR52 via the Mercantour National Park.
- Day 27 St Dalmas to Le Boréon
- Day 28 Le Boréon to Refuge de Nice
- Day 29 Refuge de Nice to Refuge des Merveilles
- Day 30 Refuge des Merveilles in Camp d'Argent
- Day 31 Camp d'Argent in Sospel
- Day 32 Sospel to Garavan/Menton
