Open a GPX file

Calais to Lake Geneva for the Route des Grandes Alpes

The ride down to the start of the Route des Grandes Alpes at Thonon: east through the Argonne to Bar-le-Duc, south through the Vosges spa towns to the Ballon d'Alsace, then along the Doubs and the high Jura to the Col de la Faucille and Lake Geneva.

Distance
575 miles (925 km)
Type
Point to point
Where
Lorraine, the Vosges and the Jura

At 150 to 300 miles a day, this is 2 to 4 days of riding. Set your own daily distance and add rest days.

Plotted by us, not yet ridden

Starts at Calais ferry port

Click a dot for details. White dots are the stops, each with a bed search. Yellow dots are places to see.

Main roads

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From the map

Longest gap between fuel
30 miles
Fuel stations near the line
153
Curvature
126 ° a mile
Campsites within 2 km
109
  • The longest stretch with no fuel station within 1 km of the line runs from mile 312 to mile 342. Check it against your range with the fuel range calculator.
  • The twistiest 20 miles run from mile 374 to mile 394, at 345 degrees of turning a mile.
  • Passes: Col du Ballon d'Alsace (1,165 m, mile 382), Col de la Faucille (1,323 m, mile 534).
  • Countries: France, Switzerland.
  • 60 motorcycle shops are within 3 km of the line.
  • More routes from this port.

Measured on the route line from OpenStreetMap data, which can be missing or out of date. Curvature is degrees of turning a mile, measured every 100 metres. On our routes they run from 6 on the E19 to 701 on the SP638.

Before you go

  • The Route des Grandes Alpes starts in Thonon-les-Bains. Our route page for it picks up from there.
  • The Ballon d'Alsace and the Col de la Faucille can close in winter. Check before you go.
  • The line keeps off motorways and toll roads by design.

On the way

  1. Calais
  2. Arras
  3. Cambrai
  4. Guise
  5. Rethel
  6. Sainte-Menehould
  7. Bar-le-Duc
  8. Neufchateau
  9. Vittel
  10. Plombieres-les-Bains
  11. Ballon d'Alsace
  12. Belfort
  13. Saint-Hippolyte
  14. Maiche
  15. Morteau
  16. Mouthe
  17. Les Rousses
  18. Col de la Faucille
  19. Thonon-les-Bains

Split it into days

Pick the miles you like to ride in a day. Each day ends at the named place on the route nearest that distance, and you get a GPX file for each day.

This is your pace, not our estimate of how long the riding takes. Day lengths vary because each day ends at a named place.

Ready to ride it?

Book this trip

Plan it with dates in the tour planner

1Getting there

This route starts where the boat or train lands at Calais. Book the bike as a motorcycle, not a car.

Compare every crossing

2Places to stay

Split the route into days above and each day gets its own bed search for where it ends.

Back to the days

3Cover

Check your bike insurance covers riding abroad, get travel insurance that covers motorcycling at your engine size, and breakdown cover that recovers a motorcycle in every country on the route.

What to check before you buy cover

The 2 countries on this route

What GOV.UK says riders need for each, checked 05/11/2026. Rules change, so read the official page before you go.

France

Money
Euro
Ride on the
Right
  • Riding into central Paris, Lyon, Grenoble or another low emission zone? You need a Crit'Air sticker. Buy it only from the official site (official site)
  • Some mountain areas require winter tyres or chains from 1 November to 31 March: check which vehicles and areas it covers (official site)
  • The drink-drive limit is a third lower than in England and Wales, with regular roadside checks

Switzerland

Money
Swiss franc
Ride on the
Right
  • Swiss motorway vignette, if you will use any motorway (official site)

On every trip abroad: your licence, insurance that covers riding abroad, the V5C and travel insurance with medical cover. The tour planner turns all of this into a checklist each rider in your group can tick off.

Places to see on the way

Castles, passes, viewpoints and more within easy reach of the line, in the order you reach them. Yellow dots on the map.

Place details from Wikidata. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card.