Feature · 8 Jul 2020
Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc backwards
OK, Cicerone’s Jonathan Williams didn’t really walk the Tour du Mont Blanc backwards, he just went the 'wrong' way round.
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38 articles found
Feature · 23 Feb 2020
Hill-climbing heaven in beautiful Bellino
The quiet upper Valle di Bellino offers multiple options for one-day round-trip walks to the many surrounding 3000m+ peaks. It lies between the better-known Monte Viso and Queyras...
Feature · 12 Jan 2019
The Canal de la Garonne from Bordeaux to Toulouse – a cyclist’s dream
The Canal de la Garonne links the two historical cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse. It passes through countryside laden with charm and culture, all of it haunted by the shadow of...
Feature · 7 Oct 2018
Discover the history of the GR5 Trail: Benelux and Lorraine
Carroll Dorgan, the author of Cicerone’s guidebook to the GR5 Trail: Benelux and Lorraine, described the highlights of that trail in a previous Cicerone Extra article. Here, he...
Feature · 29 Sep 2018
Discover the highlights of Benelux and Lorraine on the GR5 Trail
The GR5 is a long trek, running all the way from the Hoek van Holland to Nice in France, crossing the French alps along the way. The northern part of the GR5 trail, through...
Feature · 15 Jul 2018
Route des Grandes Alpes – cycling through the French Alps
Jonathan and I took on our biggest cycling challenge yet, to ride 650km and climb 15000 metres in 9 days, creating a sort of elegant reversed question mark shape as we tackled the...
Feature · 17 Mar 2018
A Trail of Two Cities: A new route from London to Paris by bicycle
Mike Wells’ new guidebook to cycling from London to Paris outlines a proposed route to reach Paris by bike for the 2024 Olympics, but you can ride it now!
Feature · 28 Feb 2018
An intro to… The Way of St James - France
An intro to… The Way of St James - France, answering questions like 'What's so special about St James?', 'What does the scallop shell mean?' and 'How fit do I need to be?'.
Feature · 12 Sep 2017
The Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise – where the French go trekking
Cicerone publisher Jonathan Williams makes an early-season trip to one of France’s great one-week treks, a tour in the Vanoise that has pretty much everything the trekker wants,...
Feature · 1 Jul 2017
Walking in the Haute Savoie – in the footsteps of Alfred Wills
Aside from offering top-notch Alpine walking, the Haut Giffre area of the Haute Savoie has some interesting history. Alfred Wills, one of the founders of the Alpine Club and...
Feature · 5 Jun 2017
Cycling in the Pyrenees – Col des Tentes and Cirque de Troumouse
Seen the Tour de France? Cycled the Col du Tourmalet? Want to do something else? Why not try these two huge and stunning lesser-known climbs in the heart of the Pyrenees?
Feature · 5 Jun 2017
Cycling the Canal du Midi – history, route planning and more
Declan Lyons, author of Cicerone's guide to cycling the Canal du Midi, shares his personal relationship with the route, as well as discussing the history of the canal, what it's...
Feature · 5 Jun 2017
GR5 Vosges and Jura – walking the borderlands of France
When the time came to update their Cicerone guide, Les and Elizabeth Smith were happy to have an excuse to revisit the Vosges and Jura. This section of the GR5 winds down through...
Feature · 8 May 2017
Challenges and surprises cycling the River Loire Route
For the past two summers, Mike Wells has been cycling up and down the Loire Valley in central France researching his new guide to the Loire cycle route. Here he recaps some of the...
Feature · 6 Mar 2017
Crossing the Crête des Gittes on the GR5
The GR5 is one of the world's classic treks. The section through the French Alps takes nearly a month and involves long distances, big climbs and staying in high mountain huts. Jonathan Arlan chose it as his first long distance walk. Literally...
Feature · 9 Jan 2017
An overnight off-piste adventure in the Vanoise
Earlier this year James, Dave and Paul ventured out to Val d’Isère to try some backcountry skiing and snowboarding. The lads from High Wycombe climb a summit, ski and board...
Feature · 5 Sep 2016
UTMB 2016 - A 170km run around Mont Blanc
Cicerone's Joe Williams recently competed the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc - A 170km (105 miles) mountain race with 10,000m of ascent around Month Blanc. Here he tells his personal...
Feature · 4 Aug 2016
Trekking the GR5 from the North Sea to the Mediterranean - Logistics
Third and final article in the series, covering the logistics of trekking the GR5 long distance hiking trail. The route goes from the North Sea to the Mediterranean through The...
Feature · 11 Jul 2016
Trekking the GR5 from the North Sea to the Mediterranean - History
Walking the full GR5 from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. This 2300km journey passes through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and small parts of Switzerland. The...
Feature · 12 Jun 2016
Trekking the GR5 from the North Sea to the Mediterranean - Highlights
The GR5 (Grande Randonnée 5) is a trail – a marked route in some places – that begins in Hoek van Holland and runs for about 2300km through the Netherlands, Belgium,...