Grande Randonnée

"GR" redirects here; see Greece for the country which holds same the ISO 3166-2 code.

The Grande Randonnée (French), Grote Routepaden or Lange-afstands-wandelpaden (Dutch), Gran Recorrido (Spanish) or Gran Recorregut (Catalan) is a network of long-distance footpaths in Europe, mostly in France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Understand

Prepare

Gear

As with all trekking: pack light!

Lightweight walking shoes
Wide brimmed hat and sunscreen
Light weight waterproofs
Depending on where and when you hike, you may need an axe and crampons to deal with ice.

Water

Alpine and some other mountainous segments of hiking routes often have plenty of fresh, clear, safe mountain water available. But unless you know you are taking a path with plentiful good water available, make sure to carry all the water you need for the whole day.

Camping and refuges

Availability of camping and other accommodation varies widely. To take one example, on the GR 5, there are numerous refuges and gîtes along the Alpine section of the route that offer comfortable accommodation; however, when it comes to camping, there are areas where it is forbidden and other spots where it is permitted but only after a certain time in the early evening. Carrying cash is advisable since most of the more remote accommodation will not take cards.

Trails

GR 1
GR 2: Rouen – Paris – Dijon
GR 3
GR 3: La Baule – Saumur – Orléans – Nevers – Mont Mézenc
GR 4
GR 4: Royen – Limoges – Clermont-Ferrand – Saint-Flour – Pont-Saint-Esprit – Grasse
GR 5: Starts in the Netherlands and crosses Belgium and Luxembourg before traversing France to end in Nice. However, a recognised variant is typically considered a preferable finish along the GR 52 to Menton since it stays in the high mountains rather than dropping into farmland and suburbia for the final few days. Originally, the section through the French Alps from north to south was known as the Grande Traverse des Alpes and runs from Lake Geneva to Nice. That section eventually became the original GR 5 before later being extended northwards.
GR 6
GR 7: Ballon d'Alsace – Dijon – Saint-Étienne – Andorra La Vella
GR 7: Algeciras – Andorra
GR 9
GR 10
GR 11 Trans-Pyrenees goes from Higuer Cape - Hondarribia to Cap de Creus Natural Park
GR 12
GR 14
GR 15
GR 20: Calenzana – Conca (Corsica)
GR 21: Dieppe – Saint-Valéry-en-Caux – Fécamp – Étretat – Le Havre
GR 26
GR 34 Le sentier des douaniers, Brittany coastal path
GR 34A
GR 35
GR 36
GR 37
GR 38
GR 39
GR 41
GR 43
GR 44
GR 46
GR 57: Liège (Belgium) – Diekirch (Luxembourg)
GR 60
GR 65: Geneva (Switzerland) – La Côte-Saint-André (Isère) – Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) – Nasbinals (Lozère) – Conques (Aveyron) – Figeac (Lot) – Moissac (Tarn-et-Garonne) – Aire-sur-l'Adour (Landes) – Roncesvalles (Spain); the Le Puy route of the Way of St. James
GR 68
GR 70: The Stevenson Trail (Chemin de Stevenson), Le Puy – Alès
GR 71
GR 72
GR 92: Portbou (Catalonia) – Ulldecona (Catalonia)
GR 99 Camino del Ebro: along the river Ebro in Catalonia, mostly coinciding with the Ebro Way of St. James
GR 121
GR 123
GR 211
GR 212
GR 223: Honfleur — D-Day Beaches — Cherbourg — Mont Saint-Michel
GR 341
GR 380
GR 652
GR 700

Trails in Réunion

See Hiking in Réunion#Trails for the three GR trails in the French overseas department. Trails are typically marked with an extra "R" to distinguish the trails from the trails in Europe.

Stay safe

Walk early, to avoid storms later in the day.