La Durance à vélo

Description All stages Reviews

Mountains, Canals & intimate rivers

1 week or more

170 Km

I cycle a lot

Mônetier-les-bains

Sisteron

Between Briançon and Sisteron, La Durance à Vélo provides a magnificent cycle route, almost 200km in length. It leads you right across the département (French county) of Hautes-Alpes, offering a mix of Alpine slopes, perched roads and Mediterranean plains. Linking Briançon’s staggering fortifications, designed by Vauban and perched at over 1,300m in altitude, to the citadel at Sisteron, known as the gateway to Provence, the Durance River serves as the cyclist’s companion along this route. The way proves delightfully varied, with perched villages, turquoise lakes, extensive orchards and remarkable heritage sites to admire. Riding south, the mountains become gentler at each turn as you approach the perfumed air of Provence.

Elevation of the route

2896 m 2164 m

Waytypes of the cycle route

Cycle path: 7,03 km By road: 163,93 km

Surface of the cycle route

Smooth: 10,64 km Unknown: 160,33 km

170km cycling beside the Durance from Briançon to Sisteron

Signposting and the state of the cycle route

For most of the way, this cycle route leads riders along quiet little roads. Some of these may be challenging, but they’re invariably spectacular, for example those running through the Durance Gorges, or guiding you far above dramatic Serre-Ponçon Lake via the iconic Route des Puys, or taking you meandering beside the EDF Canal, with fields and orchards to either side.

La Durance à Vélo is completely waymarked in both directions, both north and south, between Briançon and Sisteron, the dedicated signposting indicating the cycle route’s name. As this route sticks mainly to secondary roads shared with motorized vehicles, take special care during the busiest holiday period, in July and August, when there can be heavy traffic at times.

Services

Accueil Vélo accredited accommodation is gradually being certified along La Durance à Vélo. However, given that only relatively few, scattered villages lie within easy reach of this portion of the Durance River and the slopes above it, it can, especially at busier times of year, be complicated to find accommodation and places to stock up on supplies. So, best plan your stages in advance and book well ahead.

Weather and seasonal variations

Conditions along La Durance à Vélo are generally pretty good for cyclists between May and October. The region is normally sunny from spring onwards. Note that temperatures can be chilly starting out from Briançon, a town perched high in the French Alps, while the southern reaches towards Sisteron, where you cycle along the bottom of the Durance Valley, can get very hot in summer. Always carry plenty of water and protect yourself from the sun. There are certain exposed climbs along the cycle route, such as that along the Route des Puys, which can prove particularly challenging in very hot weather, while the stretches alongside the EDF Canal and through the agricultural areas towards the south offer very little shade

Access by train and transporting your bike by train

There are seven train stations dotted along this route (at Sisteron, Gap, Chorges, Embrun, Montdauphin Guillestre, L’Argentière les Écrins and Briançon), served by three regional TER train lines (Briançon – Marseille; Briançon – Grenoble; and Briançon – Valence), plus the sleeper, or night train, Paris – Briançon, all affording cyclists easy access to different points along the cycle route.