Escape to Provence Virtual Challenge

Step into the world of France’s iconic GR (Grand Randonnée / 'Great Hike') routes — a network of long-distance trails first established nearly a century ago to help the active and curious discover the country’s most beautiful and historic landscapes. Today, these paths connect mountains, villages, forests, and coastlines… and now, they can connect you to a brand-new year of adventure and motivation.

The Escape to Provence Virtual Challenge transforms your everyday kilometres into a virtual journey across France. With a map that mirrors the real landscapes, valleys, ridges, villages, and coastlines of each route, you’ll watch your progress unfold from Alpine passes and highland forests to lavender hills and that unmistakable Provençal way of living.

Choose from five routes, ranging from 100km to 800km, so you can set a goal that suits your New Year ambitions — whether you’re easing back into movement, levelling up your fitness, or gearing up your training for an Ultra Challenge.

And you don’t have to go it alone. Invite family members, housemates, friends, or colleagues to join you and add a little friendly competition to your journey. Compare progress, encourage one another, or race to the next checkpoint — whatever gets you outdoors and moving.

You can add a medal and buff to your booking and all routes involve checkpoint prizes to keep you progressing and motivated anywhere, any time as each step takes you closer to your destination: Provence!

Route 1: 800km - Inspired by GR 6

Starting near Girande, this long-distance route carries you through a tapestry of landscapes and centuries of history — from Gallo-Roman ruins to Romanesque churches, each stop revealing another chapter of France’s past. As you head south, the terrain shifts gradually into the warm colours and fragrances of Provence, where lavender fields and olive groves create a vivid, ever-changing backdrop. With thyme, rosemary, and other aromatic plants scenting the air, the journey ends in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, offering a true Mediterranean finale to your escape.

Route 2: 600km - Inspired by GR 5

Beginning in the Alpine village of St-Étienne-de-Tinée, this route leads you through the dramatic highlands of Mercantour National Park, with snowy peaks and rugged valleys all around. As you descend southward, you enter a string of villages clinging to rocky hillsides, where narrow streets are lined with painted facades that speak to the Italian heritage of this easternmost corner of Provence. Everything feels beautifully timeworn — old shutters, old stone, old paint — giving the journey a wonderfully “crumbly,” authentic atmosphere as you approach Puget-Théniers.

Route 3: 400km - Inspired by GR 4

Your adventure starts in the chillier pine forests of the Haute-Loire, on the outer edges of the Massif Central. Heading southeast, the landscape transforms into river gorges, medieval stone villages, and wide open plateaus scented with lavender. This long journey offers an anthology of French landscapes and their rich architectural and natural heritage, but by the time you reach Grasse, you’ll feel the shift into warm, classic Provence.

Route 4: 200km - Inspired by GR 52A

This route begins high in the elevated landscapes of Haute-Savoie, where the air is cool, the slopes are lush, and the valleys are fed by mountain streams and glacial melt. As you travel south along the spine of the Alps, the scenery gradually shifts — the rich, dewy greenery gives way to drier, sun-baked hillsides as the climate becomes warmer. By the time you reach Nice, the mountains open out to reveal the bright blue sweep of the Mediterranean, marking a striking contrast to your alpine start and a true arrival in the south.

Route 5: 100km - Inspired by GR 51

Known as the Balcony of the Mediterranean - starting in the pastel-coloured streets of Menton, this trail contours the cliffs high above the Mediterranean. You’ll follow balcony paths lined with olive groves, limestone outcrops, stunning architectural treasures and postcard-perfect views of the coast. It’s a short but stunning journey that captures the warmth and colour of the Riviera as you move toward Nice.