Nice to Geneva advice

[Bury_Dave]

Planning my first trip for next May. Heading down to Monaco for the F1 by riding to Calais and then Motorailing it to Nice (limited time and going to the Grand Prix with car based mates).

After that I'm heading via Nice through the following towns:
St Etienne de Tinee
Jausiers
Vars
Guillestre
Villargaudin
Cervieres
Briancon
Col du Lauteret
Valloire
St Michel de Maurienne
Modane
Termignon
Bonneval Sur Arc
Val d'Isere
Bourg St Maurice
Villard Sur Doran
Flumet
La Clusaz.

After La Clusaz I'm ok as know the area well having lived there for a few years near Geneva. Visiting mates there and then heading back over the Jura via Dole, Champignole etc.

Looking for advice on route, side trips, camping and hotels along the route. For example, I'm allowing three days from Nice to geneva. Is that ok or too little or too much ?

I should add that I am actively searching through other threads on here and elsewhere to find this information but as there's a good chance a Tosser has actually done this route, it can't but help to post this as a seperate thread.

Don't need to worry about whether or not the accommodation staff speak English as i speak french.

A full post trip write-up will of course be posted !

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Tarka]

For example, I'm allowing three days from Nice to geneva. Is that ok or too little or too much ?

Only you can answer that.

It depends on how far you like/want to travel in a day,how fast/slow,how many stops you like taking,etc etc etc.

But on saying that,I wouldn`t consider it excessive or traumatic for one day.

 

[Wapping]

You can do Nice to Geneva in a day, for sure. Or, as Tarka implies, you could take two, three, 50 or year.


Look at a map, work out the distance and decide how long it will take. Factor in as many 'must do' picture stops, piss stops, fuel stops, lunch, tea, breakfast and maybe supper stops as you need. It really is that simple.

 

[Bury_Dave]

I don't disagree at all lads. That's why I'm trying to get advice on must do's and side trips. It is handy to know it could be done as quickly as a day and obviously i could take a week - but i don't have that long this time. As it's my first bike trip, I'm just trying to get a handle on a few things. I've hitch-hiked and walked a lot of the ground but always slept rough and speed over ground has always been out of my control.

Looking at google maps, it says under 6 hours for the quickest route. But going via all the passes and smaller roads it is bound to take a lot longer and be a LOT more tiring ...... (I'm in the process of doing mini route sections to get a more realistic time for the route i want to do). I'm getting around 9- 10 hours via my chosen route

Once I get some info on side trips etc, i'll be able to get a better handle on time for this trip. It is the trips more than the specific question i raised over time that i now need to look at. I may even be too early in the year to get over a number of the passes i want to cross over ......

Cheers, Dave

 

[Wapping]

Now I am now very confused.

You are allowing three days from Nice to Geneva, and you have worked out some sort of route, listing towns.

Are we now meant to plot your towns out on a map ourselves (albeit may of the names are very familiar, old favourites almost) then work on possible excursions along your route....and then work out for you as to whether these excursions will mean that it will take you three days..... or more...... or less?


MY ADVICE

Put bloody Google maps away and get yourself a couple of decent paper maps with a scale you can relate to. See sticky.

Work out how long you can be away from home, front door back to front door.

Work out how long it will take you to get from your front door to the F1 race and what is the earliest date by when you can leave the track.

From that date to the date by when you have to be back at home is how long you have got to get from Monaco back home to Suffolk. This will, in part, dictate how long you have spare to get from Monaco / Nice to Geneva.... and from Geneva to the French coast....and then from the French coast to Bury St Edmunds.

Now work out how far it is on your route from Nice to Geneva and then from Geneva to home.

Now work out how many miles you want to do in a day, what time you want to start, how many times you want to stop, how long you want to spend having lunch and what time you want to turn the ignition off at the end of the day.

It's your first ride abroad you say?

Do you think that 100 miles in a day is a long way in the UK? If so, it's no less far across the Channel. What about 150, 200, 250, 300?

Do you want to start at 08:00 and crack straight through to lunch for half an hour at 12:30, then crack on to say, 18:00? Or do you want to roll out of your tent at 09:00, leave the campsite at 10:30, stop for coffee at 11:15, lunch at 12:15, back on the road at 14:00 and be banging in the stakes again at 16:00, having stopped for a myriad of pictures, too?

 

[Bury_Dave]

Dear oh dear.
Let me explain myself to you in very clear English.

I haven't toured on a bike before. Distances are difficult to judge due to the nature of the roads, weather etc. I did ask about time but that was just one question. I hadn't a clue if it is feasible to ride the route i mentioned in one or two or more days. Thanks to your contribution i now know it could be done in a long day. Thank you. The reason i listed my intended route was because there are several ways to go from Nice to Geneva. Some probably quicker than others. As you have 'contributed' i presume you know the route and have done it yourself. My question was aimed primarily to someone who has done it.

The listing of towns also might mean that someone who has visited one or more of those places might have some good recent info' on accommodation or restaurants or side trips that might help me get more from my trip than if i just rode it.

I am not expecting YOU personally (or anyone else for that matter) to take time out to do my research for me coz i'm a lazy ****er.

I thank you again for your 'contribution' and would ask that if you have no further positive contribution to make that you simply resist the urge to try to look clever at my expense and don't bother posting. Or do you have so little in your life that you feel the need to behave like a prick without provocation ?

Dave

 

[Rasher]

Some of the Alps best roads nearby, I would suggest buying "Motorcycle Journey's through the Alps and Beyond" and having a look.

Not been there myself, but going next year, we are spending a cople of nights near Grenoble, Barcelonnette and Menton, I could easily spend 8 or 9 days between Nice and Geneva, then you have loads of great roads around Annecy.

Would be quite easy for you to buzz over some of the best and highest passes in the entire Alps:-

1. La Bonnette (2862m)
2. Col de L'Iseran (2769)
4. Col Agnel (2744)
5. Col Du Restfond (2678)
6. Col Du Galibier (2645)

All of these could be visited if you take a few days. or you could just bang along the motorway, pass all this up and do it in a day.

I find I can normally match or beat Google Maps times, even on tight twisty terrain, assume 30mph is easy enough to achieve on mountain roads and factor in rest stops however often you like them and maybe allow some time out for photo's, this makes for 150 - 250 miles a day in tough terrain.

Unfortunately to cover the third highest you need to go a long way East into Italy (Stelvio).

You could go from Nice over Restfond and La Bonette and stop around Jausiers, spend two nights here and get a day running around Agnel, Sampeyre and Lombard. Then head up North and run over L'iseran and stop around Bourg St Maurice. From here you have an easy run over Cormet De Roseland and up to Geneve.

Four days in total with one day to ride around with no luggage, I always enjoy having two nights in one Hotel and getting a day to just ride for fun.

You could knock that spare day out and cut it to 3 days, but you would have no "fun days" and have to miss Gnel and Lombarde, but if short on time that looks like an option, or take two days and just go Nice to Barcelonette - I think you could do this route in two days, but it would be hurried and if weather or something slows you down they could be very long days.

Grab the book and have a good read

 

[Wapping]

Dave, dear heart, I am trying to help you.

The route from Nice to Geneva, via Briancon and the major towns you mention Vad D'is, Bourg etc is well known.

Of course how long it takes will depend on the weather, the roads selected and a host of other factors..... not least the number of 'sidetrips' and 'must do's' you want to take from Briancon or Bourg St M and whether you intend to pootle along or give it plenty of the right wrist action..... distances are also difficult to judge without a map and scale you can relate to. Google maps are not good for it.

For excursions, try having a look at the 80 Virees a moto stickies. But these will only work if you have Mapsource.

Hotels? Try a look at the Logis de France website if you want independents, or the usual chains (Mercure, Accor etc). Restaurants? ViaMichelin. Come on, you have lived in Geneva so you probably know the form or can perhaps make a fair guess at what looks like a place you might fancy.

Please give us a vague clue about what type of riding you want to do and the average daily mileages / times you want to achieve. You will find a thread where we helped a bloke who set off wanting to do over 2,000 miles in a week (all the 'must do's' in other words) but didn't want to do more than about 100 miles in a day.... go do the math, as our septic cousins are prone to say.

Do you want to simply motorway it from Geneva to the coast and home? If so, you have more time from Nice to Geneva.... but again dependent on how many days you have available in total to get from Nice to Suffolk.

Come on give us all a little bit of help so we can help you to help yourself.

PS There is a real danger in 'must do's' as few people who lob out the advice bother to look at where the 'must do's' are in relation to each other / the time available.

A quick flick through the French section of UKGSer will show you how many times bods have little or no comprehension as to how large France is, or the real average speeds attainable. Not least, few (if any) can guess what type of bloke they are giving advice to. If you want to do 150 miles in a day and have a relaxing look around... it's no good being suggested somewhere 250 miles from Briancon. Similarly, some of the gorges.... 120 miles (one way).... so a 240 mile round trip... just to be right back to where you started and no closer to home.

PPS We all have until next May, so no great need to plan it all tonight

PPPS If you have never ridden abroad before but want to have a very basic try out, come on one of the day jaunts to France next spring, perhaps? Several Tossers in exactly the same position have given them a go and have been quite pleased.

 

[Rasher]

If it is first bike trip worries then don't, riding abroad is no more difficult, or any slower, as Wapping points out you would not be afriad of trying to cover 100 miles in the UK.

Some passes are slow, but not much slower than using unclassified British roads, many are similar to British country B-Roads, passes themselves are often quite short and the roads leading to and from them reasonably quick, you wont be doing 100 miles of switch-back hairpins and not getting out of first gear.

We did 250 miles in a day around Mont Blanc covering about 7 passes, we left about 9.00am stopped for coffee / lunch / photo's on every pass, got lost and wasted over an hour, ended up eating our evening meal out as we were too hungry to wait until we got back (about another 1.5hrs) and still got back to Hotel before 9.00pm.

Main roads tend to be faster with less traffic to contend with, came back from Black Forest to home last year (560 miles) in one (boring) day.

Maybe line yourself up a couple of long weekends in the UK, head to Scotland / Lake District or Wales, have a day riding around minor roads when you get there.

To be honest you seem to have a decent amount of time to play with and a bike perfectly capable of making the miles pretty easy.

 

[NeilDD]

If it is first bike trip worries then don't, riding abroad is no more difficult, or any slower, as Wapping points out you would not be afriad of trying to cover 100 miles in the UK.

Some passes are slow, but not much slower than using unclassified British roads, many are similar to British country B-Roads, passes themselves are often quite short and the roads leading to and from them reasonably quick, you wont be doing 100 miles of switch-back hairpins and not getting out of first gear.

We did 250 miles in a day around Mont Blanc covering about 7 passes, we left about 9.00am stopped for coffee / lunch / photo's on every pass, got lost and wasted over an hour, ended up eating our evening meal out as we were too hungry to wait until we got back (about another 1.5hrs) and still got back to Hotel before 9.00pm.

Main roads tend to be faster with less traffic to contend with, came back from Black Forest to home last year (560 miles) in one (boring) day.

Maybe line yourself up a couple of long weekends in the UK, head to Scotland / Lake District or Wales, have a day riding around minor roads when you get there.

To be honest you seem to have a decent amount of time to play with and a bike perfectly capable of making the miles pretty easy.

Plan on 8 hour days, say with 300 miles of riding a day. Buy some decent maps or look on the via michelin website.
I did my first long trip this summer, 2500 miles in 2 weeks covering France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Rep, Austria.
Longest day was just over 500 miles on the journey home.

 

[finn]

Planning my first trip for next May. Heading down to Monaco for the F1 by riding to Calais and then Motorailing it to Nice (limited time and going to the Grand Prix with car based mates).

After that I'm heading via Nice through the following towns:
St Etienne de Tinee
Jausiers
Vars
Guillestre
Villargaudin
Cervieres
Briancon
Col du Lauteret
Valloire
St Michel de Maurienne
Modane
Termignon
Bonneval Sur Arc
Val d'Isere
Bourg St Maurice
Villard Sur Doran
Flumet
La Clusaz.

After La Clusaz I'm ok as know the area well having lived there for a few years near Geneva. Visiting mates there and then heading back over the Jura via Dole, Champignole etc.

Looking for advice on route, side trips, camping and hotels along the route. For example, I'm allowing three days from Nice to geneva. Is that ok or too little or too much ?

I should add that I am actively searching through other threads on here and elsewhere to find this information but as there's a good chance a Tosser has actually done this route, it can't but help to post this as a seperate thread.

Don't need to worry about whether or not the accommodation staff speak English as i speak french.

A full post trip write-up will of course be posted !

Cheers,
Dave

just my 2p dont book anywhere no main roads spend 3 days riding the alps only stop wherever you feel happy comfortable too many plans routes places just enjoy riding and a sense of adventure

 

[paintman]

Planning my first trip for next May. Heading down to Monaco for the F1 by riding to Calais and then Motorailing it to Nice (limited time and going to the Grand Prix with car based mates).

After that I'm heading via Nice through the following towns:
St Etienne de Tinee
Jausiers
Vars
Guillestre
Villargaudin
Cervieres
Briancon
Col du Lauteret
Valloire
St Michel de Maurienne
Modane
Termignon
Bonneval Sur Arc
Val d'Isere
Bourg St Maurice
Villard Sur Doran
Flumet
La Clusaz.

After La Clusaz I'm ok as know the area well having lived there for a few years near Geneva. Visiting mates there and then heading back over the Jura via Dole, Champignole etc.

Looking for advice on route, side trips, camping and hotels along the route. For example, I'm allowing three days from Nice to geneva. Is that ok or too little or too much ?

I should add that I am actively searching through other threads on here and elsewhere to find this information but as there's a good chance a Tosser has actually done this route, it can't but help to post this as a seperate thread.

Don't need to worry about whether or not the accommodation staff speak English as i speak french.

A full post trip write-up will of course be posted !

Cheers,
Dave

Dave
We have ridden Geneva to Nice several times, our route is based on the GRDA (grand route des Alpes)

http://www.grande-traversee-alpes.com/en/my-journey/by-road/the-great-alps-trail.html

Although we often go off route and do a little exploring, We regard our riding as part of the holiday and try to visit different places and generally see as much as time will allow. Our relaxed itinerary usually involves a hearty breakfasts, lunch/fag breaks, and hotels/ B and B found before 5 pm.

Others may be able to do this trip in a day, but unless your out of time why would you race through some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe.

Things we have learned.

1/ The journey takes about three days.

2/ Be careful if you start riding early, high roads on the cols can be icy or covered in snow, even in summer. Sometimes due to weather conditions or rockfalls passes may even be closed

3/ There is no need to book accommodation in advance in the summer, there is generally at least one hotel open in every town / village, however
don't ride too late as your options may then be limited.

4/ Over 2000 mtrs it can get pretty cold so layer up to keep warm.

5/ Hotels vary in quality/price, ski lodges usually offer good value but can sometimes disappoint, however after a bottle of vin rouge a bed is a bed.

6/ Pick up info for bikers in the Alps from any tourist office.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

Probably too early in your trip but here is a great white châteaux in Jausiers with a pool, and a great restaurant, we make a point of stopping at.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...ausiers_Alpes_de_Haute_Provence_Provence.html

Paintman.

 

[Tarka]

You shouldn`t have had a go at Wapping or been so personally offensive.

He was trying his damndest to help someone asking a totally fecking silly question...rather like "I`ve just ordered a three course meal...will I enjoy it and how long will it take me to eat it ?"

Once again...only you can answer the question.

It totally depends on YOU and WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

If you had any inkling of just how many people ask these sort of open ended questions you may have understood,I suppose.
Likewise other people quoting what some gimmick gadget GPS or PC routing system tells them in the face of other people`s advice based on years of real life experience.

Why not just go and do it and find out for yourself ??

If time`s running out, ride faster or further and stop less often.

 

[Wapping]

Bury Dave, I have had a look at your previous posts and can see that you are reasonably new to riding a motorcycle. It's great that you are now planning to go up and away across France; touring is a big part of the fun, for sure.

Being new is no great handicap to riding abroad. The government has given you a licence to say that you are competent to ride the machine whether it is around Suffolk or Nepal. What is sometimes a handicap is dreaming up assorted 'must does' and 'must sees' when the real purpose of the jaunt is to go from A to B and back to A. In your case (A) is Bury (B) is Monaco to watch an F1 race with your mates who are caring it to and fro'. Look at it another way, if you wanted to go to Briancon and Bourg to experience the additional excellent roads around the area, would you go via Monaco first?

That is not to say that it should not be possible to have some additional fun on the way back, though some might think that riding the Route des Grande Alps or the Route Napoleon up from the coast are fun enough in themselves. But, to help give you the fun you have to give us some help by answering the questions asked of you. For instance, it is a waste of time somebody suggesting a hotel in Briancon, if your broader timetable dictates that you will be arriving there at lunchtime...... or if you do the 'must do' gorge, which means you 'must miss' Briancon completely.

Time and distance are your big enemies as they dictate how long you have available before you have one key 'must do' which is arriving back in Bury at the latest by XXXX. You have not told us:

(i) When you plan to leave Monaco

(ii) When you need to be back home.

(iii) How you plan on getting from Geneva to the coast and home. One day? Two days? Three? More?

(iv) What you consider to be a comfortable daily riding distance, having in mind:

(a) That it's a holiday (so you might want to stop to take pictures or actually see something other than the inside of your helmet)

(b) That 250 miles on some of the roads of the 'must do's' may not be quite as straightforward as the 250 miles in a radius from Bury.

To give you an extreme example. 250 miles in a day is easy at home in Suffolk? Yes, of course it is, I know the roads reasonably well, too. By way of comparison, I did 17 passes in one day in the Dolomites in September this year, out and back from Arraba. That is about 250 miles too and is not quite so "You will dash it off in a morning, easy".

It is one of the great 'must do's' of the Dolomites but it is not easy and took me roughly 12 hours with a pause on each pass, a decent lunch break of an hour and two coffee stops of say 30 minutes each. That is 10 riding hours (12 less the two sitting still) of going around in a bloody big circle, which got me no closer to going home at all. But that didn't matter as I had gone to Arraba four four days just to ride the 17 passes route and the three others 'must do's' from the book Rasher suggests. I would not have done it had the main purpose of the holiday been to ride to Venice and back to home.

Now, can you fill in the gaps for us, please?

 

[Bury_Dave]

Thanks to everybody for their sound advice. This is what makes the GSer website so good. People willing to help for no reason than they are fellow bikers.

As a relative newby I appreciate that i may be asking a similar type of question to many people previously and it is true there is a massive resource of info available on here. However, the search function is only so helpful and i am wading through lots of threads and getting bits of useful stuff all the time.

I wasn't after a quickest route but more of what a realistic minimum time would be for the route i posted so that i could base side trips etc and still have time to visit my buddies in Geneva. That way if the weather is really bad cand there's no visibility, I can head straight to geneva and maybe either spend more time with my mates or head back via Verdun and Argonne or whatever ........

The fresh info was really to save a bit of travel time in tourist information although i'm happy to do that. I leave Nice on the Monday morning and don't have to be back in the UK 'til the Saturday evening. Everything is flexible.

My remarks to Wapping were because his original post was only 2 paragraphs and somewhat sarcastic. No offence was taken but i was after a more positive contribution His subsequent and other posts are exactly what i was after . Positive info that gives me many more options than i originally had and will enable me to get so much more out of the trip than i would have. I now have all winter to plan which is a fun part of the trip in itself`.

Cheers to everyone who took the time to post !

Dave

 

[Wapping]

Well you see a simple two line, 'it depends on how fast you want to ride, what time you want to stop and start, what time you want coffee, lunch, and a piss (and how often and how for long) and how much time you have' is a lot quicker than having to type the lengthy responses that followed.... All because you didn't trouble yourself to give us any information to base any sort of reply on. A fault that the ubber observant and remarkably selfreliant Tarka spotted and commented on too.

But now it seems that you have found out all of what you wanted to know, which is great.

PS I am not a 'biker' as I do not make a habit of waving at unknown bods who just happen to be riding a motorcycle at that moment...... See your rant..... Not being a 'biker' has additional advantages, too, as it avoids me having to find 'biker friendly' anythings.... A problem that seems to occupy many 'bikers' waking hours. You should try it. It's great and costs nothing

 

[Bury_Dave]

Well you see a simple two line, 'it depends on how fast you want to ride, what time you want to stop and start, what time you want coffee, lunch, and a piss (and how often and how for long) and how much time you have' is a lot quicker than having to type the lengthy responses that followed.... All because you didn't trouble yourself to give us any information to base any sort of reply on. A fault that the ubber observant and remarkably selfreliant Tarka spotted and commented on too.

But now it seems that you have found out all of what you wanted to know, which is great.

PS I am not a 'biker' as I do not make a habit of waving at unknown bods who just happen to be riding a motorcycle at that moment...... See your rant..... Not being a 'biker' has additional advantages, too, as it avoids me having to find 'biker friendly' anythings.... A problem that seems to occupy many 'bikers' waking hours. You should try it. It's great and costs nothing

Wapping, it was difficult to know what questions needed to be asked when i have no related knowledge to draw from. That's why i said i am new to bike touring. It wasn't a case of couldn't be troubled so much as not knowing what or how to ask the right questions and what info i needed to set out to assist posters in replying. My bad.

I would hope your posts were not seriously based on guessing what sort of person i am based soley on what i wrote as a bit of a laugh on the rants section ? It is impossible to get the measure of someone from a few posts on the internet and I'm sure you and i would get on famously over a pint and agree to disagree most amicably where we do differ. Life is too short to waste time getting bent out of shape over cack all. To me, anyone who rides a bike is a biker - whether they wave, nod or not That biker attitudes have changed from what I did know as a lad and is therefore different to what i had expected is not in doubt. I have definately been educated in that respect ! My error was expecting what i had seen in rural Suffolk where the vast majority of riders i've seen do nod or wave (and where there aren't that many bikers) to be comparable to London where there are many bikers, it's a cheap/fast method of transport and the traffic is of an intensity way higher than Suffolk.

My original post was simply to get a bit of a steer on a few things from people WAY more experienced in bike touring than I. The info i have now will make a huge difference to what, where and how i tour next May. You don't know what you don't know 'til you know it All the other threads i had read were already experienced bikers looking for route info or accommodation info but who were already experienced bike tourists. On the other hand i have lived and worked in countries ranging from 6 years in Canada, 6 in Oz, several in the Philippines and toured by hitch-hiking all over Europe before the Iron Curtain came down and North Africa. But all on a very different budget and methods of transport. I too am self reliant but humble enough to know i don't know it all and not too proud to ask for help/advice. I've also read how willing to help people are here. And you yourself have been of massive assistance. Thanks.

I think my last post gave a few more details and i really am not after someone else writing my tour route for me. Honest ! It's just the bike riding in the big mountains that I know nothing about. To Monaco - no problem. Genvea to Calais - no problem. Normal roads, speeds similar to that in a car, areas I know well enough from car trips so none of that is an unknown. I've camped loads, slept rough even more and kit etc is not a problem. With all this new info i now have a lot to read through and think about. How cool is that ?!!

I have learnt only positive things from this thread. Might be to better phrase my post or it might be more directly bike related. All that is only to the good. For me, every day is a school day - even at nearly 47 years of age

I hope we can lay any ghosts to rest and move on ?

Any offences caused were purely accidental etc, etc, etc .....

Dave

 

[Wapping]

OK, riding in mountains.

Much the same as riding on the flat, except slower. Slower for two reasons:

1. From A to B is still, say, 25 miles but it's not a stright line. Whilst you might corner at 80 mile an hour on the B1066 from Bury to Stowmarket, you may be down to twenty or less on some mountains for hairpin after hairpin after hairpin.

2. You may well want to stop to take pictures, particularly if it is your first jaunt. This takes time and probably longer than you think. Probably 10 minutes by the time you have parked, got the camera out, snapped, spoken to the other inevitable 'bikers', put your helmet back on, rejoined the road. Stop six times in a day (three times before and after lunch) and that is an hour gone. 25 mph average? That is 25 miles lost. 250 miles in the day? You have lost 10%.

But not all mountain roads are the same. The ones you might well be looking at are probably more like highways, with decent surfaces and well radiused bends. The Route des Grande Alpes and the Route Napoleon are both easy and modern; but that does not make them bad roads. They are certainly better than the A14 to Ipswich!

One last tip. Do not confuse time taken with a car with that taken on a bike. Loads of time is lost on a bike, faffing about. Load a car? Open the boot, chuck it in and drive off. Load a bike? Ten minutes later you are still putting your tank bag on. Stop in car? Stop and step out. Stop on a bike and then start the process by taking your gloves off. If someone invented the motorbike tomorrow they would be bankrupt by next Thursday.

 

[t'other dave]

For info on the best alpine passes (apart from the peeps on here who have ridden them) try this website www.alpineroads.com . my only advice to add to above posts is have a plan but dont think you have to stick to it. Lots of things change including the weather which may cock up you plan and sticking to a plan can sometime take enjoyment out of the trip/adventure.
Enjoy
Dave

 

[Wapping]

Right ho, I have now drawn your route out on a Michelin 1:200,000 scale paper map. It only took a couple of minutes.

It looks OK. I have ridden down it near enough from Annecy to Roubion (very near near your start point, the first town you list) in a long day but that was in July, with an early start, good weather all the way and no stops to gawp at the views. Two days and you will be fine. Three and you can have lots of stops and leisurely starts. I have also done Annecy to Frejus in a day, too. But that was on a parallel more main road route. Annecy is a good: Start from here / End here town for most of that part of France.

One thing you might like to check is with the local tourist boards as to when the higher passes are open. I have been on the approach to Briancon (or maybe it was Barcelonette, I forget) in early May and the road was shut into the town but that may well have been a one off. All the local tourist offices speak good English (and naturally French) and are very helpful.

Any routes I plan I like to have a fallback position, to make up time or if the weather is unbearably crap. There are no prizes that I know of for heroic riding down a wiggly mountain D road in the pissing rain. You have a good fallback from Briancon via Oulx, Bardonecchia, through the Frejus Tunnel, to Modane. Or, alternatively Briancon, Oulx, Susa, Mont Cenis. There are probably other alternatives elsewhere in the route, too. Don't be frightened to go out of your way to pick up a motorway or big N road if you get really short of time. Nobody will ever know

As regards excursions? Well, as you can see from a good Michelin map, you are hitting 'interesting' roads anyway and I guess you need to keep going forward or you ain't going to get to Geneva in time, let alone home. Because there are mountains in the way, most of the branches off either take you to dead ends (great if you are based in the area) or on big circles way off your intended line of direction. Highlighting the route on a paper map of the same scale should show you what I mean, I hope. I have an old Michelin 1992 mapbook I use for exactly this purpose.

If you chose to stay in Briancon, try La Chaussée. This is a Logis hotel. I have not stayed there for about six years. It used to be run by two old ladies who knocked up some pretty good grub. Rooms, as is typical in a French hotel, were basic but clean. May well be different now, whilst Briancon may not suite your itinerary for an overnight stop

Richard