Everyone follows their own pace and the best method is to stop often and admire the fantastic views offered from passes, some of which are at more than two thousand metres at their highest point, natural and cultural treasures which mark out the route and lovely mountain villages which have kept their authenticity. Not to be underestimated, the driving sensations felt when taking sharp and hairpin bends.

To better discover this most fabulous European mountain range, this summer 2009, the mountain guides along with the organizers of the Grande Traversée des Alpes, have mobilised to encourage travelers to stop for a stroll near the passes and remarkable sites of the Route des Grandes Alpes.

The Route was opened in 1911, when cars began to show up. It was the first time that journalists and travelers ate up the whole road by covering ten thousand metres of difference in height. At first, the Touring Club de France had foreseen the route for bicycles. Before this route of legend was totally finished and officially opened in 1937, carts, alpine buses and lovely convertible cars experienced the adventure each summer.

It is rare that travelers cover the whole course. Most confine themselves to one or two staging points, such as the one which covers eighty kilometres between Thonon-les Bains and Grand Bornand for example which takes one day to cycle, three hours by motorbike and four hours by car. There is so much to see on the route!