France · Hautes-Alpes / Mercantour · Premium route guide
Briançon → Col d'Izoard → Col de Vars → Cime de la Bonette
128 kilometres, three great southern-Alps cols, and Europe's highest paved through-road at 2,802 m. Full route on the map, a GPX for your GPS, and the motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted around Briançon.
- Distance
- 128 km
- Peak elevation
- 2,805 m
- Elevation gain
- 3,881 m
- Best months
- Jun–Sep
The route
Out of Briançon south-east up the Col d'Izoard (2,360 m) through the lunar Casse Déserte, down to Guillestre, over the Col de Vars (2,109 m) to Jausiers, then the out-and-back climb up the Cime de la Bonette to 2,802 m — Europe's highest paved through-road. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted around Briançon.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~1004 m at the base to 2805 m at the top — 3,881 m of total climbing across the route.
This is a full day, four to five hours moving plus stops. Three iconic cols, none of them technically hard but all high and exposed. Start early, take warm layers, and be off the Bonette by mid-afternoon — the weather turns fast at 2,800 m.
The road, honestly
The Izoard is the most photogenic — the Casse Déserte just south of the summit is a canyon of eroded orange spires that looks like the moon. Vars is the sleeper: a gentler, flowing climb through pine forest with a big ski-station at the top and a fast descent into Jausiers. The Bonette is the queen — a spur road that loops around the Cime, adding 300 m of altitude over the actual col so the summit signage can claim Europe's highest. Do the whole loop; the view from the Cime is unbeatable.
The Bonette is genuinely high. Even in August, expect 5–8°C at the summit and a stiff wind that makes it feel colder. If you get altitude headaches, the round trip from Jausiers takes about 90 minutes.
Base in Briançon
Briançon is the natural base — a Vauban walled town at 1,326 m with plenty of accommodation and one of the best-preserved fortified old towns in the Alps. From here you can chain this loop with the Galibier the following morning. Jausiers has a couple of small hotels if you want to shorten the ride.
Weather and fuel
All three cols close for winter — typically late October to early June. The Bonette is the last to open. Check dromroute.com or the Hautes-Alpes prefecture page for status.
Fuel in Briançon, Guillestre, Jausiers and Barcelonnette. Nothing on the passes.
What to see along the way
- Col d'Izoard (2,360 m) — Small summit parking with a memorial obelisk. The Casse Déserte is 2 km south of the summit — do not skip it.
- Casse Déserte — Iconic canyon of eroded orange rock pinnacles just south of the Izoard summit. The photograph of the region.
- Guillestre — Mid-loop pivot town at 1,000 m. Coffee stops, fuel, mechanics.
- Col de Vars (2,109 m) — Wide ski-resort summit with a stone cross. Fast, flowing descent down to Jausiers.
- Cime de la Bonette (2,802 m) — The loop road around the summit — 4 km detour off the actual col at 2,715 m. Europe's highest paved through-road when you count the loop. Small parking at the top; the panorama is 360°.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Briançon → Col d'Izoard → Col de Vars → Cime de la Bonette
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Briançon — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
Rentals powered by BikesBooking. StayToRide may earn a small commission — no extra cost to you.
Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
- 16.4 km
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