Off-Road Cycling Routes
Grande Alpine Traverse Off-Road Bike Route
This spectacular alpine bikepacking route traverses the French and Italian Alps. Starting in Lac Leman (Lake Geneva), the route offers such diverse landscapes, over a real mix of terrain, all the way to the Mediterranean sea. The scenery is nothing short of breathtaking, with ‘wow’ moments around nearly every corner. A journey packed with high mountain passes, alpine pastures abundant with wild flowers and bell ringing cows, turquoise lakes, historic military gravel roads, derelict but once mighty forts, and switchbacks galore! Click the link below to find not only the full route with POI’s but also the route split into sections, including some alternatives. A full writeup here.
Tour du Mont Blanc by Mountain Bike Route
The Tour du Mont Blanc is one of the most famous hiking routes in the world. A circular route filled with spectacular glaciers, breathtaking alpine meadows, grand mountain passes and charming valleys. To do this route by bike I altered the route a little. I kept a lot of the original hiking route, including all the major mountain passes, but added a few more gravel sections, particularly on the ascents to allow for as much peddling as possible. Be warned there is still a fair amount of difficult hike-a-bike! I would highly recommend you don’t do it in July or August, as the trail is very busy. In June (when I did it) there is still a lot of snow up high, so September might be the best option. Read a full write up here.
Bikepacking the mountains of Andalucía, Spain
From desert cave houses to pretty Berber villages, endless olive groves to bare moonscape plateaux, dense pine forests to arid sandstone canyons. One thing that is for sure, is this bikepacking route gives you superb variety! A beautiful loop through some of Andalucías mountain ranges, starting and finishing in Granada. It takes in the; Sierra Nevada, Sierra de Baza, Sierra de Segura and Sierra Cazorla (GR247 loop), and finishing riding through the Gorafe Desert (aka Bad Lands). Read more here.
Montañas Vacías — bikepacking the wild and remote 'Empty Mountains'
A fantastic gravel bike packing route through the Serranía Celtibérica, aka ’Montañas Vacías’ (The Empty Mountains) of Spain. It is also referred to as ’Spanish Lapland’, an area in Spain twice the size of Belgium, with a population density similar to Lapland, less than 7 inhabitants/km². The route is 700km with 13000m of ascent, but you can easily choose your own distance as the route has several links or shortcuts. Read more here.
Les Grande Traversées du Vercors MTB Cycle Route
Les Grande Traversées du Vercors (GTV) is a 230km mountain biking itinerary through the stunning Vercors Natural Park, just outside Grenoble. It is one of my favourite parts of France, a playground for outdoor adventure sports, yet relatively unknown to tourists, which means you don’t have to share the roads or trails with many, if any, other people. This route is nothing short of AMAZING, so varied, so quiet and utterly beautiful. Don’t underestimate it, it’s tough in a few places! Read more here.
