Grande Randonnée

long-distance footpath

The Grande Randonnée (French), Grote Routepaden or Lange-afstands-wandelpaden (Dutch), Gran Recorrido (Spanish) or Gran Recorregut (Catalan) is a network of long-distance footpaths in Europe, mostly in France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

"GR" redirects here; see Greece for the country which holds same the ISO 3166-2 code.

Understand

Prepare

Gear

As with all trekking: pack light!

  • Lightweight walking shoes
  • Wide brimmed hat and sunscreen
  • Light weight waterproofs
  • Depending on where and when you hike, you may need an axe and crampons to deal with ice.

Water

Alpine and some other mountainous segments of hiking routes often have plenty of fresh, clear, safe mountain water available. But unless you know you are taking a path with plentiful good water available, make sure to carry all the water you need for the whole day.

Camping and refuges

Availability of camping and other accommodation varies widely. To take one example, on the GR 5, there are numerous refuges and gîtes along the Alpine section of the route that offer comfortable accommodation; however, when it comes to camping, there are areas where it is forbidden and other spots where it is permitted but only after a certain time in the early evening. Carrying cash is advisable since most of the more remote accommodation will not take cards.

Trails

GR 4 in the countryside
GR 34 along the coast
View from Mont des Pins on GR 57
Entering Saint-Jans-Cappel on GR 128

Trails in Réunion

  • See Hiking in Réunion#Trails for the three GR trails in the French overseas department. Trails are typically marked with an extra "R" to distinguish the trails from the trails in Europe.

Stay safe

Walk early, to avoid storms later in the day.

See also

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