Cycling in Liguria from Nice

Who among you has explored northern Italy along the Mediterranean, in Liguria? I’m dreaming of cycling there from Nice, crossing through villages like Menton, Ventimiglia, Dolceacqua, Apricale, Monte Ceppo, Triora, Ponte di Nava, Ormea, Garessio, Ceva, Mondovì, and Cuneo.

Beyond that, it’s the route toward Queyras in France via the Col dell’Agnello, on the slopes of Monte Viso.

A few questions for those who know the area: Is it interesting by bike? Is the road surface decent? Is car traffic low, or at least manageable?

We had this plan back in 2009 as part of a Nice-Rome crossing, but we ended up doing it differently. I might get to revisit it this summer (solo this time, not on a tandem like we usually do).

Looking forward to your thoughts and comments!

Hi, The Agnel Pass is closed until 06/15. Jacky

Hello, The Agnel Pass is closed until 06/15. Jacky

Thanks! That should work out, since I’ll be leaving from Toulouse (by plane from Montreal, Quebec), and I’ll start my trip with the Gorges du Tarn, then the French Riviera. I’ll arrive in Italy around June 20th and in the Queyras in early July.

By the way, what do you know about the Italian roads on the Ligurian Alps side? Is it doable on a loaded road bike? I’ll have a small 24 or 26-tooth chainring (50-40-26) and a 13-36 cassette, mounted on a Campagnolo Comp Triple derailleur. That should compensate (a little 😛) for the weight of the years...

hi! cycling in the Queyras isn’t a walk in the park! Lots of narrow, winding roads and, as a result, traffic. Plus, the heat doesn’t help. Just the D902 road from Mont-Dauphin to Château-Queyras—I took this route by bus, and it’s narrow, so you’ve gotta be careful. I’d strongly recommend taking unpaved roads instead. The issue with climbing into the Queyras is there’s basically only one road, the D902. I’d suggest planning your route on Geoportail. Is it possible to get a list of stopover towns?

Hello, cycling in the Queyras isn’t a walk in the park! Lots of narrow, winding roads and, as a result, traffic. And then the heat doesn’t help things. Just the D902 road from Mont-Dauphin to Château-Queyras—I took this route by bus, and the road is narrow, so you’ve got to be careful. I highly recommend taking unpaved roads instead. The issue with climbing into the Queyras is that there’s pretty much only one road, the D902.

If the plan comes together, I’ll be coming from Italy via Mont Viso and staying overnight in St-Véran. The next day, I’m aiming for the Col Izoard toward Briançon, and later the Lautaret-Galibier-Madeleine route before crossing over to the Massif Central and Le Mont-Dore.

I’m not ruling out riding on unpaved paths for more peace and quiet, if the surface isn’t too rough. But I do enjoy passing through and visiting small villages along the way.

I recommend planning your route on Geoportail.

I wasn’t familiar with that app—I’ll check it out, at least out of curiosity. Thanks for the tip! Actually, I’m a big fan of Openrunner.com, which I’ve been using for over 15 years, both for mapping out planned routes and tracking my real-time progress on the road. Over the years, I’ve logged over 2,000 routes all over the planet.

Is it possible to get the stopover towns?

I’ve got a pretty exhaustive list on the Italian side, but not for the Queyras, etc. However, you can see them by following my estimated route here:

https://www.openrunner.com/route-details/21312162

At first glance, this route might seem a bit odd, but it’s a follow-up to my other bike trips in France (some of them quite long) in 1996, 2011, 2019, and 2022. My goal was to explore France by only passing through places I’d never cycled before.

Hi Normand,

I did the route a fortnight ago—well, about fifteen years ago now—from Ponte di Nava to Ormea, Garessio, Ceva, and Mondovi by car (not by bike). It’s absolutely stunning, following the upper Tanaro Valley downstream. The roads weren’t narrow, and as far as I remember, they were well paved.

For the Mondovi-Cuneo stretch, instead of taking the main road (the direct route), I took a detour: Mondovi, Roccaforte Mondovi, Chiusa di Pesio, Peveragno, Cuneo. It was also well paved and kept you closer to the mountains.

That’s all I know about your route in Italy. As for traffic, since the route runs through the valley floor and then along the mountain base, I wouldn’t expect light traffic (traffic is generally heavy in Italy), but I went too long ago to say for sure.

I cycled up the Agnel Pass on the French side about ten years ago—what a struggle! And I hear the Italian side is even tougher. But given your experience, I’m sure you’ve already gotten tips from others with similar routes.

Who among you has explored northern Italy along the Mediterranean, in Liguria? I dream of cycling there from Nice, passing through villages like Menton, Ventimiglia, Dolceacqua, Apricale, Monte Ceppo, Triora, Ponte di Nava, Ormea, Garessio, Ceva, Mondovì, and Cuneo.

The default route suggested by BRouter

It’s not easy—even impossible in some mountainous areas—but try to avoid major departmental roads (orange) or even medium ones (yellow), since risk = danger × exposure.