Route Napoléon or Route des Grandes Alpes?
Route Napoléon or Route des Grandes Alpes? Both routes compared: length, driving time, best season, tolls and road limits, with our recommendation.
| Route Napoléon | Route des Grandes Alpes | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Grenoble → Cannes | Thonon-les-Bains → Menton |
| Suggested days | 3 | 5 |
| Distance | 289 km (180 mi) | 444 km (276 mi) |
| Driving | 3 h 60 min | 6 h 08 min |
| Stops | 7 | 7 |
| Best time to go | May–June and September–October | June–September |
| Tolls and vignettes | ≈ €20 | ≈ €30 |
| Good to know | – | Mountain passes: Col du Galibier (2,642 m, usually open June–October). |
Our recommendation
Choose the Route Napoléon if you have three days for a gentler run from the Alps to the Riviera: about 289 km from Grenoble to Cannes on the toll-free N85, via Sisteron and Castellane, with the Gorges du Verdon as a detour. Best in May–June and September–October. Pick the Route des Grandes Alpes if you have five days for about 444 km from Lake Geneva to Menton, past Mont Blanc and over the 2,642 m Col du Galibier. It is a June–September trip, and its narrow, partly unguarded pass roads call for a slow pace in a large motorhome.
More comparisons
Amalfi Coast from Naples or Liguria and Cinque Terre?North Coast 500 or Wild Atlantic Way?Dolomites loop from Bolzano or Brenta Dolomites loop?Norway’s fjords or Lofoten and Vesterålen?Provence road trip or French Riviera corniches?Andalusia’s white villages or Lisbon to the Algarve?Iceland Ring Road or Snæfellsnes and Westfjords?Chianti and Val d’Orcia or Tuscany and Lazio?