Comments on: Crossing the French Alps in 5 days https://www.destinations-gravel.com/en/2026/07/04/the-traverse-of-the-alps-from-thonon-les-bains-to-nice-in-5-days/ Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:53:51 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 By: Daniel https://www.destinations-gravel.com/en/2026/07/04/the-traverse-of-the-alps-from-thonon-les-bains-to-nice-in-5-days/#comment-18250 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:53:51 +0000 https://www.destinations-gravel.com/?p=11462#comment-18250 Looks like a great trip Kim, I’ll put it on my bucket list. Also the info you give on equipment and how to arrange the sleepovers is very useful, thank you for that.

]]> By: Tom O'Connor https://www.destinations-gravel.com/en/2026/07/04/the-traverse-of-the-alps-from-thonon-les-bains-to-nice-in-5-days/#comment-18243 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:14:45 +0000 https://www.destinations-gravel.com/?p=11462#comment-18243 Excellent report, very helpful. I think everyone should do this at least once. It is stunning. I did the reverse route at the end of August 2023. If I’d read this before then I would have had an easier time! I took a tent and camped each night. I didn’t pre-book which I agree is a great advantage. I wouldn’t do it peak season without pre-booking though, a bit too risky for me. If I was to do it again I would stay in hotels for weight saving and better sleep. This would also allow me to carry clothes for bad weather. I only had summer gear and got lucky that it was hot and dry all week and it was warm even at the summits. After getting caught in a couple of storms this year I feel foolish for not taking any cold/wet weather clothes

]]> By: Kim Gintrand https://www.destinations-gravel.com/en/2026/07/04/the-traverse-of-the-alps-from-thonon-les-bains-to-nice-in-5-days/#comment-18076 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 17:39:42 +0000 https://www.destinations-gravel.com/?p=11462#comment-18076 In reply to Marcin.

A little advice that I didn’t write in the article but in France you can take your bike fully mounted only in the TER train or Zou (southern train line). And for the TGV you need a bag. We’ve had to do the route ourselves when we got back from Nice, choosing each train in order to make it back to Annecy without any problems. But if you choose the TER trains, your fine to travel anywhere in France with your bike!

]]> By: Marcin https://www.destinations-gravel.com/en/2026/07/04/the-traverse-of-the-alps-from-thonon-les-bains-to-nice-in-5-days/#comment-18075 Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:25:43 +0000 https://www.destinations-gravel.com/?p=11462#comment-18075 Thanks Kim for writing all the details – very informative!
And impressive ride!
I am eyeing for some French Alps this year (as I cycled my Swiss passed through and through already) and what worries me are 2 things – bike transport in trains and hotels…I think that for the first year I will book something in one place for a few nights and cycle around to get accustomed to, and your ride will be a big plan for next year.

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