CONTENTS
Map Key
Overview Map
Introduction
A Long Distance Mountain Bike Trail
A GTMC for Road Cyclists
Walking the GTMC
Climate – When to Go
Supported or Unsupported
Travelling to and from the Region
Accommodation
Food and Water
Equipment
Maps
Waymarking
Training
Health
Snakes
Emergencies
Language
Money/Banks/Telephone
Insurance
Public Holidays and Time
Using this Guidebook
Trail Guide
Stage 1 Clermont-Ferrand to Laschamp
Stage 2 Laschamp to Murol
Stage 3 Murol to La Godivelle
Stage 4 La Godivelle to Allanche
Stage 5 Allanche to Saint-Flour
Stage 6 Saint-Flour to Paulhac-en-Margeride
Stage 7 Paulhac-en-Margeride to Le Giraldès
Stage 8 Le Giraldès to Bagnols-les-Bains
Stage 9 Bagnols-les-Bains to Le Pont-de-Montvert
Stage 10 Le Pont-de-Montvert to Sainte-Énimie
Stage 11 Sainte-Énimie to Cabrillac
Stage 12 Cabrillac to Dourbies
Stage 13 Dourbies to La Couvertoirade
Stage 14 La Couvertoirade to La Vacquerie et St-Martin-de-Castries
Stage 15 La Vacquerie et St-Martin-de-Castries to Saint-Jean-de-Fos
Stage 16 Saint-Jean-de-Fos to Montpellier
Stage 17 Montpellier to Sète
Appendix A Stage Maps for the Road Bike Alternative
Appendix B Route Summary Table
Appendix C Budget Accommodation along the GTMC
Appendix D Other Long Distance Trails along the GTMC
Appendix E Further Reading
Appendix F Useful Contacts
Maps
The sketch mapping in this guidebook indicates the route of the GTMC, and shows key features, but is not detailed enough to allow the trail to be followed with certainty. This is particularly so in areas where navigation is not straightforward, and within the Cévennes National Park, where GTMC waymarking is not allowed, so you are strongly advised to equip yourself with the relevant mapping.
France's national mapping agency, equivalent to the British Ordnance Survey, is the Institut Géographique National, or IGN. It produces maps at 1:25,000 and 1:100,000 scale, covering the whole country.
The most economical way of acquiring all the IGN mapping needed to follow the GTMC is to buy the official French guide to the trail, which includes all the IGN mapping at 1:50,000 in the form of a series of leaflets (see Appendix C, Further Reading). The route of the GTMC is highlighted on these maps (occasionally not exactly as waymarked on the ground).
The alternatives are to acquire either the IGN 1:25,000 (see below) or 1:100,000 scale sheets to cover the route. The 1:25,000 maps are excellent, but a total of 21 sheets is required to cover the whole of the route from Clermont-Ferrand to Sète (see below). The 1:100,000 maps, although ideal for the road cyclist, are not always detailed enough for mountain bikers following the GTMC.
1:25,000 Maps
Walkers will need IGN 1:25,000 maps. These excellent cartes de randonnée give detailed topographical information, including long-distance and local routes, as well as useful information for tourists. The following sheets cover the entire route, in order, from Clermont-Ferrand to Sète.
2531ET (Chaîne des Puys), 2432ET (Massif du Sancy), 2534OT (Monts du Cézallier), 2535O (Murat), 2535E (St-Flour), 2635O (Lavoûte-Chilhac), 2636O (Le Malzieu-Ville), 2636E (Saugues), 2637E (St-Amans), 2737O (Grandrieu), 2738O (Le Bleymard), 2739OT (Mont Lozère), 2640OT (Gorges du Tarn), 2641ET (Mont Aigoual), 2641OT (Millau), 2641O (Nant), 2642O (Le Caylar), 2642ET (St-Guilheim-le-Désert, 2643E (Clermont – l'Hérault), 2743ET (Montpellier), 2645ET (Sète).
The E and O at the end of each sheet number stand for est (east) and ouest (west) respectively. Areas that are particularly popular are mapped by special tourist sheets, with wider coverage than the standard sheets, and offering good value for money. These are called Top 25 maps, and are identified by a T after the map sheet code. Sheets without a T in their code are in the Série Bleue (Blue Series). The latest editions of both the Top 25 and Série Bleue 1:25,000 maps have special gridlines that allow your position on the map to be located using a GPS device.
1:100,000 Maps
At the time of preparing this guidebook (2009), the IGN 1:100,000 series is in the process of being radically updated, and when finally issued will be re-numbered, easier to read, carry more tourist and long-distance trail information than the previous series, and be GPS-compatible. This new Top 100 series of 76 sheets will cover the whole of France, compared with the 74 sheets of the old series.
IGN 1:100,000 (to be phased out by 2010/11, but some libraries will no doubt carry them for some time) sheet numbers 49, 50, 58, 59 and 65 cover the whole of the GTMC from Clermont-Ferrand to Sète.
IGN Top 100 series (to be fully introduced by 2011/12) sheet numbers 155, 162, 163 and 170 cover much of the route, but the maps for the Clermont-Ferrand region had not been issued when this guide was published.
Other Maps
Road cyclists can either use 1:100,000 IGN maps, or some of the road maps in either the Michelin Local or Region series. The following maps are required to cover the entire route.
Michelin Local Series 1:150,000 and 1:175,000: 326 (Allier, Puy-de-Dôme), 330 (Cantal, Lozère), 339 (Gard, Hérault);
Michelin Region Series 1:200,000: 522 (Limousin), 526 (Languedoc-Roussillon).
Free city maps, available from tourist offices in Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, are useful for negotiating your way out of these cities, after which they can be discarded.
Both IGN and Michelin maps can be ordered from several British outlets (see Appendix F, Useful Contacts), or bought from numerous bookshops and newsagents locally in France. Always ensure that you are buying the latest edition.
Road Numbering
A word of caution: the road-numbering system in France is undergoing long-term reorganisation, and several road numbers will eventually change, which may include some of those in this guidebook, but vigilance, common sense and using the latest editions of maps should avoid any uncertainty. Readers can help by writing to or e-mailing the publishers if they spot any road numbers that need to be amended in the next edition (see the Advice to readers for details).