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4 French Massifs and Balcony Roads Tour
About this collection
This 4 Massifs tour is – so far – the best that has ever come out of my PC.
The collection can be started from Hasselt or from Col de Bussang and offers you an unparalleled journey. The degree of variety is intense and it is impossible to say which ride from the collection is the most beautiful.
The approach route from Belgium (Hasselt) takes you fairly quickly along the motorway past the Luxembourg-French border. Just past Metz and after about 300 kilometers we enter the so-called 'departmentales' and from there we ride the next 200 kilometers in a nice undulating direction in the direction of and through the Vosges.
Pleasant, smooth kilometers will then take you to the first overnight stay after the first delicious mountain curls near the Bramont.
The second route goes through the Jura and you will quickly appreciate the road surface. Nice, smooth stretches alternate with delightful stretches through beautiful valleys and vast forests. France is starting to portray itself here as a 'mountain country' and the first (small) ski slopes can already be spotted left and right.
However, it still remains playful and easy to digest, although the kilometers can already start to play a role.
The whereabouts in Vaulx are hallucinatory…. Here you are literally in the garden of the Alps and from the garden you can view the entire mountain range, with Mont Blanc of course as the main eye-catcher of the whole. Tomorrow you will actually drive it….
From Vaulx you enter the paradise of the Alps. Boring driving on the way to the first bum-squeeze of the trip: the Lacets de Montvernier, without a doubt first category bucket list material. Very technical, but at least you can cross it off!
The Col du Croix de Fer is also a great highlight in this third route that takes you to Le Chatelard with Frank, a Belgian and very jovial host.
With the fourth route you dive into the High Alps and reach the highest peaks of the ride, as well as the deepest valleys, the Cians. It was wonderful to drive over the Col d'Allos and the Col des Champs, all of which are tops. The Cians is a nice end to the day, but when you arrive at Mas Bella Vida you will wish that the day never ends, it is so wonderful there on the particularly beautiful terrace.
Day 5 takes you through the Dalius & again through the Cians so you can enjoy it to the fullest. You will certainly have to deal with a large gorge further along this route (Gorges du Verdon), but via the Route des Crêtes from the south you will also drive the very first 'Balcony Roads' in France.
And you would have known that. Its beauty is immense....
Day 6 is again a transition route to the Vercors massif, but what kind of one. If all transition routes were like this, I wouldn't drive another one... so beautiful, so impressive....
Day 7 is all about the Vercors and you won't regret it. The 'little' (?) Alpine brother makes a name for itself and it quickly becomes clear why many choose this as their only holiday destination. There is plenty of motorcycle playground equipment to be found here.
Days 8 and 9 then take you back to the Vosges, but they do this with verve. The routes remain very beautiful and surprising.
Day 10 will take you back to Hasselt after undoubtedly a very interesting and pleasant journey.
This collection is the best trip I have ever put together so far. We rode them ourselves with experienced motorcyclists and that is really necessary. The technicality of some parts is sometimes really high, but that is not even the most difficult part. The fatigue factor of 3400 kilometers in 10 days on sometimes smaller roads can be a factor, especially at slightly higher temperatures.
Sufficiently chilled drinks should definitely not be missing here.
If you take the above into account, then this trip, which includes all of France's most famous balcony roads, is a new jewel in the crown of the MRA library.
Show complete description
The collection can be started from Hasselt or from Col de Bussang and offers you an unparalleled journey. The degree of variety is intense and it is impossible to say which ride from the collection is the most beautiful.
The approach route from Belgium (Hasselt) takes you fairly quickly along the motorway past the Luxembourg-French border. Just past Metz and after about 300 kilometers we enter the so-called 'departmentales' and from there we ride the next 200 kilometers in a nice undulating direction in the direction of and through the Vosges.
Pleasant, smooth kilometers will then take you to the first overnight stay after the first delicious mountain curls near the Bramont.
The second route goes through the Jura and you will quickly appreciate the road surface. Nice, smooth stretches alternate with delightful stretches through beautiful valleys and vast forests. France is starting to portray itself here as a 'mountain country' and the first (small) ski slopes can already be spotted left and right.
However, it still remains playful and easy to digest, although the kilometers can already start to play a role.
The whereabouts in Vaulx are hallucinatory…. Here you are literally in the garden of the Alps and from the garden you can view the entire mountain range, with Mont Blanc of course as the main eye-catcher of the whole. Tomorrow you will actually drive it….
From Vaulx you enter the paradise of the Alps. Boring driving on the way to the first bum-squeeze of the trip: the Lacets de Montvernier, without a doubt first category bucket list material. Very technical, but at least you can cross it off!
The Col du Croix de Fer is also a great highlight in this third route that takes you to Le Chatelard with Frank, a Belgian and very jovial host.
With the fourth route you dive into the High Alps and reach the highest peaks of the ride, as well as the deepest valleys, the Cians. It was wonderful to drive over the Col d'Allos and the Col des Champs, all of which are tops. The Cians is a nice end to the day, but when you arrive at Mas Bella Vida you will wish that the day never ends, it is so wonderful there on the particularly beautiful terrace.
Day 5 takes you through the Dalius & again through the Cians so you can enjoy it to the fullest. You will certainly have to deal with a large gorge further along this route (Gorges du Verdon), but via the Route des Crêtes from the south you will also drive the very first 'Balcony Roads' in France.
And you would have known that. Its beauty is immense....
Day 6 is again a transition route to the Vercors massif, but what kind of one. If all transition routes were like this, I wouldn't drive another one... so beautiful, so impressive....
Day 7 is all about the Vercors and you won't regret it. The 'little' (?) Alpine brother makes a name for itself and it quickly becomes clear why many choose this as their only holiday destination. There is plenty of motorcycle playground equipment to be found here.
Days 8 and 9 then take you back to the Vosges, but they do this with verve. The routes remain very beautiful and surprising.
Day 10 will take you back to Hasselt after undoubtedly a very interesting and pleasant journey.
This collection is the best trip I have ever put together so far. We rode them ourselves with experienced motorcyclists and that is really necessary. The technicality of some parts is sometimes really high, but that is not even the most difficult part. The fatigue factor of 3400 kilometers in 10 days on sometimes smaller roads can be a factor, especially at slightly higher temperatures.
Sufficiently chilled drinks should definitely not be missing here.
If you take the above into account, then this trip, which includes all of France's most famous balcony roads, is a new jewel in the crown of the MRA library.
Statistics 
10Amount of routes
3160 kmTotal distance
70h 47mTotal duration
1513Amount of visitors
Routes in this collection