Has anyone driven this "haute des alpes" route, along the french/swiss border?
We're planning on driving from nice/monaco area straight up to chamonix. viamichelin says it's abt 5.5 hrs, i'm wondering here how realistic this is and if anyone has any advise, suggestions, thoughts re this route.

Thanks in advance, you guys have been great!

Hey Lori Beth -- That sounds about right in terms of time. (Viamichelin is generally pretty accurate -- if you speed you can shave off a bit, but not too much.) It's a nice easy drive on good roads (with plenty of rest stops) and some nice scenery along the way. Plan a stop for lunch in there and it's not at all a bad way to spend an afternoon. Sounds like a great trip.

Hey, thanks so much for your reply. Any thoughts on a pretty town/area where we might want to stop and grab lunch?I guess we could just wing it but it would be great to have a few ideas.

Hi

there is an old route signposted Route Napoleon (he used it after escaping from Elba) that I have used a few times.

It follows Grasse, Digne, Gap, Briancon, Megeve, Chamonix.

Parts are spectacular, but it can be slow in summer due to traffic.

Peter

The road advised by viamichelin go straight through Italy. You will be a little far from the mountains.

If you really want to follow the mountains, you take as said by Peter the "route Napoléon" from Nice to Grenoble and continue then to Chamonix. In this case I would suggest stopping somewhere for the night as the driving without stopping would be around 8 to 10 hours

Hmmm ok, now I am confused. The route napoleon looks great, and it would be ok to add on a few hours, but not necessarily double our travel time. I'm wondering if there is a way to do part of this route, maybe from Grasse to say, Sisteron, and then cut over to highways heading to Chamonix?

Or, has anyone done the ride from Nice to Chamonix, that does indeed head through Italy? I was assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that this was scenic.

Help! leaving in just under a week.

Unfortunately, we have to get to Chamonix in a day, we don't really have the time to do a 10 hr drive, but if there's a way to do a part of it, that would be great.

Anyone know, or can steer me in the direction of some really good driving maps? Not sure where to turn to figure this out. TIA.

Hi

these are good online driving maps : http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichel...amp;image2.y=0

Peter

From Sisteron, you can go on the highway to Grenoble and then continue to Chamonix. Viamichelin announces around 4 hours

If you really want to drive the high Alps, take a map and stick to the roads closest to the Italian border, going from Nice to Barcelonnette, Briançon, Col du Galibier, etc.. But it will take you two days to do the trip. We did it in the reverse a very long time ago and stopped in Briançon for the night.