The GR5 Trail - Trekking through the French Alps

The GR5 runs from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean at Nice through the whole of the French alpine chain. 660km (400 miles) and takes about a month. Crosses the Chabalais, Mont Blanc region, Vanoise, skirts the Ecrins, through the Queyras, southern alps and Alpes Maritime.

Trekking across the French Alps between Geneva and Nice sounds like a daunting task even for experienced long-distance walkers, so let’s start by taking a step back to look at the even bigger picture. The GR5 actually starts on the North Sea coast at the Hook of Holland and heads southwards through Belgium and France to end in Nice. This guidebook is concerned only with the celebrated final part of the route, the walkers’ ‘grand traverse of the Alps’ from Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) to the Mediterranean coast.

Every summer, thousands of walkers embark on this trek, either in full or in part, and complete the journey without any problems. Well-graded paths and tracks, the judicious use of strategic cols between the high peaks, and the availability of refuge and gîte accommodation ensure that the route is simply a long walk, and one that can be completed by averagely fit, experienced hill-walkers.
People have been crossing the Alps for many centuries, as hunters, traders and warriors, and more recently as travellers and tourists, racers and record-breakers. Your journey should prove much easier than many of those that have gone before, and with some advance thought and planning, coupled with a willingness to adapt and amend those plans on a day-by-day basis, a walk along the GR5 should present a fine challenge, without being too arduous.

It is primarily a summer trek, and a typical Alpine summer will be blessed with plenty of warm, sunny days,
tempered by cool breezes on high cols, with views of dazzling snow-capped peaks rising above colourful, flowery slopes. Lodgings, food and drink are available at regular intervals, there is good signposting and waymarking, and the chance to get close to a variety of wildlife – all ensuring that a walk along the GR5 will provide memories that will last for a lifetime.

Walking the GR5

Because there are a good many variant and alternative routes available (see Route Outline in this introduction), the GR5 can measure anything from 645–725km (400–450 miles), and depending on how walkers structure their route, in excess of 40,000m (131,235 feet) could be climbed. But despite its length, and despite the fact that it crosses the mighty Alps, the GR5 is still no more than a long walk.
Paths and tracks are usually well graded, and if they have to climb steep slopes, they do so by means of zigzags, so overall gradients are seldom severe. However, there are some rough and rocky parts, and a few places where walkers who suffer from vertigo might experience problems, but only on a very few occasions is it necessary to use hands to scramble up or down a rocky stretch. Also bear in mind that a sudden snowfall (and it can snow on any day in the summer, although it usually clears very quickly), or ice-crusted rock, could hamper progress.

Walkers with previous experience of the Alps, and of walking long-distance routes, will find a trek along the GR5 well within their ability, and no specialist equipment is required beyond your usual hill-walking kit. Those who have never walked in the Alps, or never attempted a long-distance walk before, should proceed with caution, and preferably gain some experience before tackling the GR5.
Not everyone will wish to walk the whole route in a single trip. Some will be happy to cover a week here and a week there, over a period of a few years, or to split the route into two two-week stages, and as access by public transport is available at many points along the way, it is easy to do this.

In this guidebook, the schedule of seven stages, made up of a total of 31 days, and the breakdown of timings within the days, assumes that the walker is fit, in good health, and has some long-distance walking experience. The GR5 can be covered in three weeks, so a trek of one month would comfortably suit most people. If you prefer to take six weeks, just alter the schedule to suit your needs.

The author has taken careful note of the daily distances covered by other walkers along the GR5, and the day stages given are those that are achievable by someone who is used to long-distance walking, although these timings are easily adapted to match individual requirements. (Also see Timings, in this introduction.)

The GR5 is not simply a linear walk, but bristles with the alternatives and variants described in this guidebook. To begin with, there are two starting points on Lac Léman – either at Thonon-les-Bains or St Gingolph. Then there are two finishing points on the Mediterranean – either at Nice or Menton. The GR5 sometimes splits, with alternative options such as the GR55 and GR5E (Stage 3), and the GR5B and GR5C (Stage 4). These routes may cover several days, such as the GR55 (Stage 3) through the Vanoise, and the GR52 through the Mercantour national park (Stage 7). All these alternatives are described in full, with maps, and are included on the maps for each stage. (The French grand randonnées, or GR routes, are administered by the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre, or FFRP, www.ffrandonnee.fr.)

Alpine Traverses

People have been crossing the Alps for thousands of years, hunting in the post-glacial forests, herding animals and clearing areas for cultivation. Routes from one valley to another, crossing cols between the peaks, have long been exploited. Perhaps the most famous early mountaineer was ‘Otzi’, whose mummified corpse was hacked from ice on the border between Austria and Italy in 1991. He lived around 3300bc, wore clothes of leather and woven grass, and was killed and left on the mountainside, to be buried by snow.

The Alps have a bloody history and are shared between countries that were often at war with each other. Celtic tribes occupied many parts, and Roman armies stamped their authority on them. Hannibal famously crossed the Alps to fight the Romans on their own territory. Christianity became the dominant religion (today the religion of the French Alps is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic), although Saracens often raided into the southern Alps.

There was great trade between Alpine valleys, with meat and cheese produced in the mountains finding eager consumers in towns and cities. To assist in the preservation of foodstuffs, mule trains carried salt from the Mediterranean into the mountain valleys, across high cols, to every village, town and city. The backbone trade route was known as the Route du Sel (or Salt Route) and was important throughout medieval times.

Comte Amédée VII of Savoie was known as Le Comte Rouge, or the Red Count, as his armour was stained with the blood of his enemies. He annexed Geneva and Nice to Savoie, and so must be credited with making an early bid for the ownership of the GR5, since he took possession of its terminal points! Walkers following the GR5 walk through several former fiefdoms, and not only walk close to Switzerland and Italy, but actually enter those countries briefly. Massive fortifications are seen from time to time in the areas that experienced the most strife, and some roads were built by Napoleonic forces. These days, international frontiers around Europe are very casual, and in the Alps it is possible to pass from one country to another without even realizing.

The notion of making a ‘grand traverse of the Alps’ has appealed not only to walkers, but also to cyclists and motorists, and routes are available for all. The GR5 used to be called the Grande Traversée des Alpes, or GTA, but that title is more often used for
the motoring and cycling route from Thonon-les-Bains to Menton (www.grande-traversee-alpes.com), described for cyclists in Cicerone’s guide Cycling in the French Alps by Paul Henderson.

Who Walks the GR5?

You might think that a trek across the Alps would attract only the hardest of ‘he-men’, shouldering huge packs and gritting their teeth in the face of adversity, but you would be very wrong. There are indeed plenty of fit walkers on the route, but there are plenty more who are simply average types, and some who are unfit, or carrying injuries, yet they plod on regardless. The author has seen a blind man being led along the route, seen entire family groups with an amazing age range, and seen a couple leading a donkey along the trail. The GR5 attracts all types of walkers, and providing they pitch in at a pace that suits them, they manage fine. You may meet some of the typical characters along the route.

The Flying Dutchman (or Belgian) will scoff at your short walk over the Alps, and tell you that you are doing it all wrong, as you should have started from Holland. The Super-Fit Walker will be trekking solo across the Alps in three weeks or less, and won’t have a bead of sweat on them, nor will they be out of breath. They’ll pass you with ease, carrying hardly any gear, treating the whole thing as a stroll in the park, being well acquainted with the Alps. The Grossly Overburdened Walker, and will tell you that they’ve already posted their excess gear ahead to Nice. The Wild Camper objects to spending money, even begrudging paying for food, and camps in areas where it’s forbidden, thinking that anyone spending a night indoors is a softy. The Retired Couple will be taking twice as long as everyone else, having promised themselves this trip for decades, and intend enjoying every minute. The ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ English party are a threesome, are also retired, but generally have previous Alpine experience, even if they haven’t mastered French yet. The Family Group, with mum, dad, the children and maybe the odd aunt or uncle, will be tackling the GR5 over a period of years. The children are beginning to wonder if a beach holiday would be better, but mum and dad say they can have that when they get to the Mediterranean.
You’ll be in good company on this trek!