Grande Traversée des Alpes, hiking trail in France
The Grande Traversée des Alpes is a long-distance hiking trail spanning roughly 650 kilometers from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea through the French Alps. The route crosses multiple mountain ranges with high passes, forests, alpine meadows, and valleys that shift in appearance and elevation throughout the journey.
The trail was developed as an organized long-distance route after 1950, though it follows paths that merchants and local residents had used for centuries. The route is primarily marked as the GR5 long-distance footpath, a system that emerged to make navigation easier for hikers.
The Grande Traversée des Alpes follows paths that have connected Alpine villages for generations, shaping how mountain communities interact with their terrain. Walking through these areas, you encounter local farming traditions and the rhythm of life in small settlements nestled among the peaks.
The best time to hike is from mid-June to late September when mountain passes are mostly snow-free and mountain shelters are open. Plan for 25 to 45 days to complete the full trail, with daily stages of roughly 15 to 25 kilometers, and book accommodations well in advance for summer months.
You can split the journey into sections completed over several years rather than doing the entire route at once. This flexibility allows hikers to explore the mountains at their own pace and return repeatedly to discover different segments.
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