Grande Traversée des Vosges Map Poster

The Grande Traversée des Vosges is a 432 km (268 mi) walk down the length of the Vosges mountains in eastern France, from Wissembourg on the German border to the citadel of Belfort. It follows the GR53 through the red sandstone forests of the Northern Vosges, then the GR5, the French stretch of the European E2 path, over the Donon, Mont Sainte-Odile and the open crests of the Hohneck and the Grand Ballon, at 1424 m (4,672 ft) the highest point of the range.

Most people walk it north to south in 19 stages, with roughly 14300 m (46,900 ft) of climbing. The north is gentle, with castle ruins on sandstone outcrops and the spa town of Niederbronn-les-Bains. The real climbing starts south of the Donon, where the trail rises above the Alsace vineyards onto the ballons, the rounded summits of the High Vosges, past glacial lakes and mountain farms that still serve walkers their own Munster cheese.

The Club Vosgien has marked the way with its red rectangle since 1897, and in 2019 it became the first French trail to earn the Leading Quality Trails – Best of Europe label. The First World War is never far off: the trenches of the Hartmannswillerkopf sit just below the crest. Sandstone castles at one end, the Lion of Belfort at the other: the whole Grande Traversée des Vosges on a map poster.