Gorges and Cols of the Mercantour

barge1914

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Hi. Just idly plotting next years wanderings whilst twiddling thumbs waiting for NZ trip.
I wondered if anyone has any knowledge or experience of the de routes through the Mercantour Alps. Height limits may be an issue on some, anyone been faced with a problem from such.

Col d’Allos
Col de la Cayolle,
Col de la Bonnette
Gorges de Daluis
Gorges du Cians (Height limits?)
Gorges de la Vesubie
I’m looking forward to stringing together a circuit of these before heading off to explore all those dead end valleys that go up into the Alps on the Italian side, eventually returning over the Simplon Pass into Switzerland... or perhaps we’ll have to do it the other way round depending on why her we head off for 3 months in spring or late summer...or indeed on what Brexit throws at us.
 
In 2018 we drove north up the Gorges de Daluis to Guillaumes . Stayed overnight in the riverside Aire ( nice location unless in flood !), interesting village with history of isolation.
The road up the gorge is quite narrow with overhangs in places, but taking it steady in our 6m PVC it was no problem . On reaching Guillaumes there were several larger motorhomes in the aire. We left east to Valberg ( ski resort) to Beuil and then down the Gorges De Cians. The road down this gorge was better than Daluis, both are spectacular and well worth seeing, lots of places to stop for views /photos. BUT not to be recommended for anyone afraid of heights, or vertical drop-offs right next to the roadside.
 
In 2018 we drove north up the Gorges de Daluis to Guillaumes . Stayed overnight in the riverside Aire ( nice location unless in flood !), interesting village with history of isolation.
The road up the gorge is quite narrow with overhangs in places, but taking it steady in our 6m PVC it was no problem . On reaching Guillaumes there were several larger motorhomes in the aire. We left east to Valberg ( ski resort) to Beuil and then down the Gorges De Cians. The road down this gorge was better than Daluis, both are spectacular and well worth seeing, lots of places to stop for views /photos. BUT not to be recommended for anyone afraid of heights, or vertical drop-offs right next to the roadside.
Thanks for the words. If you could do the Gorge de Cians in your pvc I guess our 5.7m coachbuilt should be ok. Did you encounter any sub 3m height limits? We relish narrow roads and tunnels so long as we can physically fit, and we’ve been racking up a fair collection of ‘interesting’ passes and gorges over the last few years.
 
http://www.moveyouralps.com/route-des-grandes-alpes/en/ this may help we'd done most of it in the car in several different trips and when we got the van thought it would be nice to do it as a complete trip but check the pass's for snow reports. The road up to Col du Cayolle from Barcelonnette 27 kms was the only tricky piece of the whole trip no height warnings but we came across several tunnels with 3 mtr signs D902
The first 4 of your list we've done and can't remember any snags
 
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Good to know. We did the Grand Alps route a couple of years ago, but got too sick to brave the Mercantour passed..Italian Cuisine proved more formidable!
 
Splendid routes. I think Allos is probably the tightest, but easy enough. Two nice overnight stops at the top too.

Dead ends in Italy are stunning too, well worth an explore, almost too many to choose from.
Bit further away, just north of Turin is the SP460 / SP 50 through Ceresole Reale, stunning drive and huge area at the top. Empty during the week, packed at weekends, and if you like the original Italian Job, you'll be singing all the way. :)

Few videos here.
 
In 2018 we drove north up the Gorges de Daluis to Guillaumes . Stayed overnight in the riverside Aire ( nice location unless in flood !), interesting village with history of isolation.
The road up the gorge is quite narrow with overhangs in places, but taking it steady in our 6m PVC it was no problem . On reaching Guillaumes there were several larger motorhomes in the aire. We left east to Valberg ( ski resort) to Beuil and then down the Gorges De Cians. The road down this gorge was better than Daluis, both are spectacular and well worth seeing, lots of places to stop for views /photos. BUT not to be recommended for anyone afraid of heights, or vertical drop-offs right next to the roadside.
Sorry can't remember if there were any height limits, but our van is 2.6m high so don't think we had any problem.
 

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