Information on walking in France can be obtained from the Federation Francaise de Randonnee Pedestre, Information Centre, Sentiers Randonnee, 64 rue de Gergovie, 75014 Paris Walks There are three catagories of walking routes in France: the famous Grande Randonnée GR long-distance walking routes criss cross the whole of France. There are almost 60,000 km of GR walking routes with easy to follow white & red waymarks.

Some of the GR long-distance routes are also part of the European walking route network. France has five european long distance walking routes passing through the country, the E2, E3, E4, E5 & E9.

Famous GR routes include the GR5 through the Alps from St Gingolph on the banks of Lac Leman to Nice on the Mediterranean coast, the GR10 that traverses the full length of the Pyrenees, The GR70 Chemin de Stevenson and the GR65 part of which forms the Way of St James pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostello.

The GR de Pays are circular walking routes designed to allow the walker to discover a region of France over a few days. 

The waymarkers are yellow & red. and the latest addition to the network are the PR footpaths with walking routes taking from a few hours to a maximum of one day to complete. The vast majority of the walks take a circular route & the waymarks are yellow.

	GR	GR de Pays	PR
Continuation of route
Change of direction
Wrong Direction

General information

Travel to and in France

Ferries to France

Trains

France has an excellent rail network operated by the state railway company SNCF. The network stretches across the whole of France reaching almost every part and where it doesn't reach it links in with local bus networks that do. 

The TGV high speed train network is well established across the whole of France with speeds up to 300km/h whisking passengers across Europe

 sncf french railways

Roads 

Speed limits 

Unless otherwise stated a speed limit of 50km/h applies in all designated built-up areas.

Outside of built up areas the following limits apply

Undivided N & D class roads dry 90km/h wet 80km/h

On divided dual carriageways dry 110km/h wet 100km/h

On multi lane autoroutes dry 130km/h wet 110km/h fog 50km/h

There is a policy of random breath testing in France. We warned! 

You also need to carry your own breathalyser!

The following website gives information on all routes and toll costs for the whole of the French autoroute system

French Motorway Companies 

General Information

French telephone kiosks especially in rural areas only accept French credit cards.

You may be stuck if you need to rely on one!

Books

Walking Holidays

Lonely Planet Walking Holiday in the Dordogne Self Guided

Lonely Planet Walking Holiday in the Ardèche Self Guided

Lonely Planet Walking Holiday in the French Pyrenees Self Guided

Lonely Planet Walking Holiday in Haute Provence Self Guided