France / Italy · Western Alps · Premium route guide
Lanslebourg → Col de l'Iseran → Little St Bernard → Aosta
167 kilometres, two big high passes, and Europe's highest paved through-pass at 2,764 m. Full route on the map, a GPX for your GPS, and the motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted at either end.
- Distance
- 166.6 km
- Peak elevation
- 2,765 m
- Elevation gain
- 4,235 m
- Best months
- Jul–Sep
The route
Lanslebourg up the Haute-Maurienne to Bonneval-sur-Arc, then over the Col de l'Iseran (2,764 m — highest paved pass in the Alps), down through Val-d'Isère and Bourg-Saint-Maurice, up and over the Little St Bernard Pass into Italy, then through La Thuile, Pré-Saint-Didier and Courmayeur to Aosta. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted at either end.
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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 ~577 m at the base to 2765 m at the top — 4,235 m of total climbing across the route.
This is a big day — five and a half hours moving, two passes above 2,000 m, a border crossing, and one of the great scenic descents in the western Alps. Start early, take warm layers, and don't try to add anything else the same afternoon.
The road, honestly
The Haute-Maurienne is empty and beautiful — the villages of Lanslevillard, Bessans and Bonneval are among the best-preserved in the French Alps. The Iseran climb from Bonneval is 14 km of open hairpins with a stone-built refuge at the summit. Above 2,500 m the road is exposed and windy even in high summer. The descent to Val-d'Isère is fast and open.
The Little St Bernard from Bourg-Saint-Maurice is a gentler climb, about 30 km at moderate gradient. The summit itself is a wide, high plateau with a small statue and an old hospice. The Italian descent through La Thuile is one of the best in the range — smooth surface, sweeping curves, and the Mont Blanc massif filling the horizon.
Where to base yourself
Aosta is the natural end — a proper working town with a Roman old centre and excellent food. Val-d'Isère is expensive but has plenty of rider-friendly accommodation and puts you closer to the Iseran for a dawn start. Bourg-Saint-Maurice is a cheaper alternative in the middle.
Weather and closures
The Iseran is only open roughly late June through early October — it's the highest paved pass in the Alps and the last to be cleared each spring. The Little St Bernard opens a couple of weeks earlier. Check savoie-mont-blanc.com and the ANAS website for current status.
Fuel: Lanslebourg, Val-d'Isère, Bourg-Saint-Maurice, La Thuile and Aosta. Nothing on the passes.
What to see along the way
- Bonneval-sur-Arc — One of the best-preserved stone villages in the French Alps, at the foot of the Iseran climb. Worth a walk-around.
- Col de l'Iseran (2,764 m) — Highest paved pass in the Alps. Stone refuge, chapel, wide parking, and a 360° view of the Vanoise.
- Val-d'Isère — Ski town in the summer — quieter, and useful for fuel and a coffee stop.
- Little St Bernard Pass (2,188 m) — The border crossing. Wide grassy plateau, statue of Saint Bernard, old hospice. Passport-free EU/Schengen crossing.
- La Thuile — First Italian village on the descent. The road down from here to Pré-Saint-Didier is one of the best-surfaced in Val d'Aosta.
- Courmayeur — Under the Italian side of Mont Blanc. Coffee, lunch, and the last stop before the Aosta run.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Lanslebourg → Col de l'Iseran → Little St Bernard → Aosta
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Val-d'Isère / Aosta — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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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.
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