Geneva · Chamonix and Grand St Bernard Doorway

Alpine scenery with border-road discipline.

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Why this ride

Alpine scenery with border-road discipline. Out of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and back again: 235 km, roughly 4 h 31 in the saddle. The climbs: Col des Montets and Grand St Bernard approach. It tops out at about 2,450 m. Col des Montets and Great St Bernard Pass are subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off. It crosses France, Switzerland and Italy - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Chamonix mountain town food

   Chamonix is a town that lives in the shadow of a mountain, and not just any mountain. Mont Blanc rises to just over 4,800 metres directly above it, the highest peak in the Alps, and the great ice-streaked walls and needle-like granite spires of the Aiguilles stand around the valley like a stage set. When the clouds lift in the morning, the effect is so dramatic that the whole street seems to stop and look up.

   The town's history is the history of mountaineering. In 1786, two local men, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard, made the first ascent of Mont Blanc, and in doing so launched alpinism as a sport. The first Winter Olympics were held here in 1924, and the cable car to the Aiguille du Midi, which rises to close to 3,850 metres, remains one of the great mountain rides in the world. Across the valley, the Mer de Glace, France's longest glacier, is retreating year by year, a reminder of how quickly the landscape is changing.

   For a rider, Chamonix is a fine rest stop and a bustling one. It is a proper town, with fuel, restaurants, bike shops, and plenty of cafes, and in summer the streets are busy with climbers, walkers, paragliders, and families. Traffic through the valley can be heavy, and parking is a puzzle, so aim to arrive early. The road up the valley from Les Houches is wide and fast, though lorries heading to the Mont Blanc tunnel slow everything on the approach. Beyond the town, the road continues over the Col des Montets toward Switzerland, and each direction rewards patience.

   Food is one of the pleasures. Savoyard cooking is rich and warming: tartiflette, with potatoes, reblochon cheese, and bacon, fondue, raclette, and crozets, small buckwheat pasta, are all on the menus. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, and the temperature at 1,000 metres can fall quickly after sunset. Les Houches, a smaller village to the south-west, is quieter and has its own services. Take a moment, if the sky is clear, to look at the summit above you, and think about the first people who stood on it.

2. Col des Montets pass

   The Col des Montets is the quiet pass between Chamonix and Switzerland, and it is easy to underestimate. At about 1,460 metres, it is not high by Alpine standards, and the road climbs gently through larch and spruce from the Chamonix valley, but it lies in one of the most dramatic situations in the Alps, with the Aiguilles Rouges on one side and the Mont Blanc massif on the other. The glaciers of Argentière and Tour hang above the road, and on a clear day the views from the roadside are astonishing.

   The pass lies in the Aiguilles Rouges nature reserve, a high, rocky area of lakes, peaks, and alpine meadows that is home to ibex, chamois, marmots, and golden eagles. Lac Blanc, a famous high lake with a view of Mont Blanc, lies on the slopes above, reached by a long walk or a lift. The hamlet of Vallorcine, on the Swiss side of the watershed, has chalets with stone roofs and a small station on the narrow-gauge railway that links Chamonix with Martigny, an excellent train ride in its own right.

   The ride is easy and pleasant, with flowing bends, good tarmac, and generous views. The gradient is gentle, and the traffic is steady, with tourists, lorries, and locals. From the top, the road drops through Vallorcine toward the Swiss border, where it joins the road over the Col de la Forclaz to Martigny. The pass is generally open throughout the year, though snow and ice can occur in winter, and the road is regularly cleared. Early morning is best for clear views, as clouds often gather around the peaks later in the day.

   Fuel is in Chamonix, about ten kilometres to the south-west, and in Martigny-Combe and Martigny to the north-east on the Swiss side. There is little at the pass itself, apart from a few cafes and viewpoints. The best time is June to September, when the weather is generally clearer, and the late-summer light on the glaciers is wonderful. If you cross into Switzerland, remember that a motorway vignette is needed for the Swiss motorways, though the mountain road does not require it. Keep a spare layer handy, because the air is cool and the wind can be sharp.

3. Martigny fuel fuel

   Martigny stands at the elbow of the Rhône, the place where the river turns from a westward run through the Valais to a northward one toward Lake Geneva, and it has been a crossroads since the Romans. They called it Octodurum, built a town, a temple and an amphitheatre here, and the road over the Great St Bernard, which starts at the edge of town, was one of the main routes over the Alps. You can still visit the amphitheatre, and a museum on the Roman site has a collection that is unusual for a town this size.

   Today it is a bustling small city of about fifteen thousand people, with all the services of a larger place. There are fuel stations, bike shops, supermarkets, and a good choice of cafes and restaurants, plus a proper old town with wine bars where you can taste the local Valais wines. The Valais is Switzerland's largest wine region, and its white Fendant and red Dôle are often on the menu, along with raclette, the melted cheese scraped onto potatoes, which is the proper food of the region.

   From here, a number of great roads begin. The road to the Great St Bernard climbs south to the Italian border at 2,469 metres, with the old hospice, famous for its dogs, at the top, and the road tunnel below it spares the winter traffic. To the west, the Col de la Forclaz leads to Chamonix and the Mont Blanc massif. Eastward, the Rhône valley road leads to Sion, Sierre and the vineyards of the Valais.

   Martigny is warm in summer, protected by the mountains, and the valley can be hot and still, so start early. The Great St Bernard pass is open from about June to October. Fill up here, since the climb has few services, and check conditions before you go. The St Bernard dog kennel in town is an easy visit for a short break.

4. Grand St Bernard approach pass · 2469 m

   The road to the Great St Bernard begins in Aosta, in a valley where Roman roads and mediaeval pilgrim paths have run for two thousand years. This is the oldest crossing of the Western Alps still in use, and the approach from the Italian side follows the Valpelline and the narrow Val du Grand-Saint-Bernard past the village of Etroubles, a stone-built place that has turned itself into an open-air gallery of sculptures and murals. The sense of history is strong, and the road climbs gently at first, through meadows and larch woods, before the real mountain begins.

   At the top, 2,469 metres up on the Swiss border, stands the hospice, founded in the eleventh century by Bernard of Menthon to shelter travellers on a dangerous route. Monks still live there, and the famous St Bernard dogs were bred at the hospice to find travellers lost in snow. Napoleon led an army of some forty thousand men across the pass in 1800, hauling cannon on sledges made from hollowed tree trunks, on his way to the battle of Marengo. A road tunnel, opened in the 1960s, now carries most traffic under the mountain, which leaves the old pass road to riders.

   The approach is a wonderful ride. From Etroubles the road climbs in a series of bends and short straights, with steep, open slopes above and deep gorges below, and the surface is generally good. The final ramp to the pass is steeper, with hairpins, and the air gets thin and cold. The pass is open only in summer, usually from around June to October, and snow can fall at any time, so check the status before you set out. Traffic is light, except at weekends, and the views are huge.

   Aosta, about nineteen kilometres away, is the main town, with fuel, restaurants, and Roman ruins, including a theatre and a triumphal arch, and it makes a good base. Etroubles and Valpelline are small villages with a few places to eat. On the pass, the hospice offers a museum, a shop, and a small restaurant, and the Swiss side has a long descent toward Martigny. Wear warm gloves, because the wind at the summit is cold, even in August.

5. Back to Chamonix finish

   Mont Blanc does not so much loom over Chamonix as lean on it. The valley is a deep, narrow trench of the Arve river with the highest peak in the Alps, just under 4,810 metres, standing right at the top of it, and the glaciers come down so close that you can see the cracks in the ice from the main street. Modern mountaineering has a birthday here. In 1786 two local men, Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard, reached the summit for the first time, and the town has been selling the idea of going up high ever since. In 1924 it also hosted the first Winter Olympics.

   You do not need to be a climber to feel the scale. The cable car from the valley to the Aiguille du Midi rises to about 3,840 metres in a single, rather pale-faced journey, and the rack railway to the Montenvers drops you at the edge of the Mer de Glace, the longest glacier in France, which has visibly shrunk over the last few decades. Down in the centre, the statue of Balmat pointing at the summit stands in the middle of the square, and the cafés are full of people in boots and sunburn.

   The roads are a mixed blessing. North, the Col des Montets climbs gently through Argentière and Vallorcine to the Swiss border, and onward over the Col de la Forclaz to the Rhône valley, a pleasant and well-surfaced ride. South, the road runs down the valley through Les Houches toward Sallanches. In summer, traffic is heavy, and lorries bound for the Mont Blanc tunnel, which opened in 1965 and runs 11.6 kilometres to Italy, fill the valley road. After the 1999 fire in the tunnel, safety rules were tightened. Go early, since the light is gentle and the air is cold.

   Chamonix has plenty of fuel, bike-friendly cafés and rental shops. Expect high prices, especially in July and August, and avoid parking on streets marked for residents or pedestrians. Afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains can arrive quickly, so keep an eye on the clouds. On a clear evening, sit by the river as the last light climbs the Aiguilles and turns the granite pink.

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