Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Ventoux: a first Alps trip in one week

Most people's first trip to the Alps is built around three names: Alpe d'Huez, the Col du Galibier and Mont Ventoux. Two of them are within an hour of each other; the third is 200 km south in Provence and is not, strictly, in the Alps at all. This is how to fit all three into one week without spending it in the car, and without being too tired on the last day to enjoy the one you came for.

The short version: base in Bourg-d'Oisans for five nights, ride the Alpe on day one and the Galibier on day three, rest, and move south to Bédoin for the last two nights.

The three climbs, in numbers

The Alpe d'Huez figures are the tourist office's, measured to the resort rather than to the finish-line banner, which is why they are slightly longer than the 13.8 km the Tour uses. The Ventoux figures are the Vaucluse département's. The Galibier from the Lautaret is our estimate from the two published altitudes; the tourist offices give the summit and the pass below it but not the length between them.

Alpe d'Huez

The road leaves Bourg-d'Oisans at 717 m and climbs through 21 numbered hairpins to the resort at 1,860 m; the tourist office gives 14.5 km at 7.9% with a maximum of 14%, and notes that roughly 400 cyclists a day ride it in season and about 7,000 a year attempt the timed ascent. The first three kilometres to bend 16 are the hardest, close to 10%, and the mistake everyone makes is to ride them at the speed of the people around them. The tourist office also records Marco Pantani's 1997 time of 37 minutes 35 seconds; yours will be closer to an hour and a quarter, and the way to get there is to pick a number for the first three kilometres that feels too easy.

Ride it on day one. It is the shortest of the three, it starts at the door, it is open all year, and it tells you within an hour whether the gears you brought are right for the week. If they are not, there are shops in the village.

Galibier, from the Lautaret

The Col du Galibier is 2,642 m and is closed for roughly seven months of the year. Oisans Tourisme gives its usual season as early June to the end of October; in 2026 the Valloire tourist office reported the tunnel opening on 29 May and the summit road on 5 June. The Savoie département publishes its winter closures each autumn, and the live status is on savoie-route.fr. Do not book a Galibier week for May.

There are two ways up. From Valloire in the north you climb the Col du Télégraphe first, then the Galibier's north face, and it is the harder and more famous side. From Bourg-d'Oisans you ride up the Romanche valley to the Col du Lautaret at 2,057 m, which is open all year and is a long, steady 30-odd kilometres of false flat, and then turn left for the final section to the summit. The Lautaret approach is the one that fits a Bourg-d'Oisans base: about 100 km round trip, 2,000 m of climbing, and the last hour above 2,000 m in air that is noticeably thinner than the Alpe's.

The summit road is closed to nothing but weather, but the tunnel just below it is closed to cyclists; you ride over the top, which is the point. It is cold there in July. Our mountain-pass planning guide covers the kit; the short version is a jacket, full-finger gloves and a cap under the helmet for the descent, whatever the valley temperature.

The rest of the Oisans

You have two more riding days in Bourg-d'Oisans, and the Oisans Tourisme cols page lists the options with their seasons: Croix de Fer at 2,064 m (early May to end October), Glandon at 1,924 m (mid-May to end October), Sarenne at 1,999 m (early June to end October), and Ornon at 1,371 m, open all year. The Marmotte Granfondo, run from Bourg-d'Oisans on 28 June in 2026, chains Glandon, Télégraphe, Galibier and the Alpe into 177 km and 5,000 m; that is a professional's day, not a first-week one, and its date is the one weekend to avoid if you want quiet roads.

Our suggestion: Croix de Fer on day four as the second big day, up the Glandon side and back over, and Ornon on day two as an easy spin. Sarenne is the back way up to the Alpe and is a rougher, quieter road than the 21 bends; it is a good option if you want the Alpe twice.

Ventoux

Mont Ventoux is a single limestone mountain standing on its own in Provence, 1,910 m at the summit, with three roads up. The Vaucluse département's cycling leaflet gives them as Bédoin (21.8 km, 7.5% average, ramps to 15%), Malaucène (21 km, 7.5%, ramps to 15%) and Sault (25.6 km, 5%, ramps to 10%), and notes that Bédoin carries half of all the traffic. The classic ascent is Bédoin, the one the Tour uses: a gentle start through vineyards, then the forest, where the road pitches to 9–10% and stays there for ten kilometres, then Chalet Reynard and the bare white summit cone with nothing to hide behind.

The département's safety advice is specific and worth quoting in substance: the ascent is not recommended in a storm or in winds above 80 km/h; there is an average of 13 °C between the bottom and the summit; leave early or after four in summer to avoid the heat; ride single file in groups; most accidents happen on the descent in the second half of the ride; and the quieter way down is via Sault and the Gorges de la Nesque. The wind is the reason the mountain has its name. There is a local forecast for it, and if it says the summit is closed, it is closed.

Which side? Bédoin for the history, Sault if you are tired, Malaucène if you have done Bédoin before. If you have two days in Bédoin, do Bédoin up and Malaucène down on the first and, if the legs allow, Sault on the second. Three ascents in a day is a thing people do; it is not a thing to do at the end of your first Alps week.

The week, day by day

This is our suggested shape, not a plan; the hours are rough and assume someone who rides eight to ten hours a week at home.

1. Day 1, Bourg-d'Oisans. Alpe d'Huez. 2–2.5 hours including the descent.
2. Day 2. Col d'Ornon, easy. 2 hours. Legs only.
3. Day 3. Lautaret and Galibier. 5–6 hours. The big day.
4. Day 4. Rest, or a flat hour on the valley road. Do not skip this.
5. Day 5. Croix de Fer via the Glandon. 4–5 hours. Then drive south.
6. Day 6, Bédoin. Ventoux from Bédoin, descend to Malaucène and ride round. 4 hours.
7. Day 7. Sault side if you want it, or the Gorges de la Nesque on the flat. Then home.

That is around 18–20 hours and roughly 9,000 m of climbing in a week, which is two to three times a normal week for most amateurs, and it is why the rest day is not optional. How to do a training camp covers what to do in the fortnight after; the answer is less than you think.

If you want to know what 14 km at 8% feels like before you book, all three climbs exist as public routes and any saved route can be ridden in Moveee Indoor. It is not the Alps. It is, however, an honest hour on a trainer at the gradient you will meet, and it will tell you whether your lowest gear is low enough.