France

France · Ailefroide

Palavar-les-Flots

Ailefroide's best-known easy long route: a consistent run of 4th-grade slab and pillar climbing with two harder steps (5b+ on L4, a 5c friction move on L8). It is very popular, so start early.

5c12 pitches310 m★★★

France · Chamonix valley

Voie Frison-Roche

The great classic of the Aiguilles Rouges: six varied pitches of gneiss, ten minutes downhill from the Brévent cable car and finishing at its top station, with Mont Blanc opposite. The crux is a short, physical corner crack and the last pitch is a long, clean corner. It is extremely popular.

6a+6 pitches200 m★★★

France · La Bérarde (Écrins)

Pujolidal

The great classic of the Tête de la Maye: 13 pitches of rounded granite slab above La Bérarde with nothing athletic until the last hard pitch, a flake and wide crack of 5c+ that everyone remembers. Recently rebolted and very closely protected. It is camptocamp's reference route for the overall grade D.

5c+13 pitches350 m★★★

France · Ailefroide

Orage d'étoiles

One of the best-known slab routes at Ailefroide: eleven pitches up the big inclined plane on the foothills of the Pelvoux, directly above the village. The style never changes, slab from bottom to top, mostly 5b with two pitches of 5c. The approach gully, damaged by a rockfall in 2013, is the serious part of the day.

5c11 pitches300 m★★★

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France · Briançonnais

La mémoire de l'eau

One of the most admired lines on the Tête d'Aval: eleven sustained pitches, first up steep cracks and walls, then across orange limestone studded with small spikes. The grade is 6c with a 6c+ passage that has a fixed sling for aid, and 6b is obligatory. Parties advise being comfortable at 6c, because the bolting is sound but not generous.

6c+11 pitches300 m★★★

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France · Cerces

Feu Sacré

The classic hard route of the Tour Termier: ten steep, technical pitches on superb compact limestone at 3000 m, a short walk from the Col du Galibier road. It is never athletic but sustained at 6a+ to 6b, with a 7a pitch and a 6c move that both go at 6a A0. Cold, wind and thin footwork make it feel bigger than the numbers.

7a10 pitches320 m★★★

France · Dévoluy

Les Maîtres du Jeu

A recent line that has quickly become the friendly way to discover Les Gillardes: 350 m of vertical walls on flint edges, with fair grades and reassuring bolts on a cliff known for neither. Long, continuous pitches of 6b and 6b+, one of 6c, and a conglomerate finish.

6c13 pitches350 m★★★

France · Calanques

Armata Calanca

The big modern classic of the Calanques: eleven pitches in three tiers from the foot of the Candelle plinth to the summit, sustained in the sixth grade on grey water-pocketed limestone above the sea. Two walking ledges split the day and offer escapes. The eighth pitch, a 6b+ diagonal along a flake, is the one people remember.

6c11 pitches320 m★★★

France · Ailefroide

Les Pets des Rupricaprins

A long, sunny outing up a series of granite steps, consistently in the 5th grade, finishing with a great view over La Draye. Grassy ramps separate the tiers, so the climbing never feels exposed.

5c14 pitches450 m★★★

France · Sainte-Victoire

La Marbrière

A sunny winter route on Sainte-Victoire's south-side socle. The highlight is a beautiful marbled slab on L5, and a stiff move off the last belay can be aided on a sling. Bring long slings to manage rope drag around the trees.

5c+7 pitches180 m★★★

France · Aravis

Le sirop pour machin

An introduction to mountain multipitch that tops out right under the summit cross of the highest Aravis peak. Grippy fluted limestone is linked by cairned walking sections, and the last pitches are the best.

5b+11 pitches400 m★★★

France · Ariège Pyrenees

Pink Floyd

Consistent, low-angled slab climbing on compact granite, with 10 pitches of 5a–5b+ on the big east face. Above all it is a long, sunny-morning moderate.

5b+10 pitches400 m★★★

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France · Vanoise (Grand Bec)

Vendredi 13

A short, sunny high-mountain route at 2800 m in the Vanoise: five 25 to 30 m pitches of 4b to 5b with one or two moves of 5c that can be pulled through, then an easy scramble. The bolting is generous enough that parties with little experience enjoy it. The setting, below the south-west face of the Grand Bec, is the reason to walk up.

5c6 pitches180 m★★★

France · Chamonix valley

Voie Câline

Nineteen very short pitches of easy slab above Les Bois, never harder than 4b and bolted like a climbing school. It is the standard first multipitch of the Chamonix valley, long enough to feel like a real outing and finishing at a mountain café with a view of the Mer de Glace.

4b19 pitches260 m★★★

France · Chamonix valley

Voie Jaune

A short, friendly slab route on the sunny gneiss of the Chéserys, facing the Mont Blanc range. Five pitches with one vertical step of 4c, chain belays and an abseil descent make it a standard introduction to multipitch climbing.

4c5 pitches150 m★★★

France · Chamonix valley

Méduse

A direct line up the big south-facing slabs of Barberine: three pitches of friction slab to warm up, then steeper, technical walls on small holds. The two top pitches are graded 6b+ and 6c+ if you step round the bolts and 7a if you climb straight up them; 6c is obligatory.

7a7 pitches230 m★★★

France · Aravis

Voie des Cristaux

Sixteen pitches of easy slabs and water-worn runnels above the Col de la Colombière, on the border between scrambling, climbing and mountaineering. Nothing is harder than 4b and most of it is grade 3, on sculpted, grippy limestone among ibex and edelweiss. Many parties carry on up the Arête des Bouquetins to the summit for a very long day.

4b16 pitches400 m★★★

France · Aravis

Heididoune

A ten-pitch line to the summit of the Pointe Percée, the high point of the Aravis, following green hangers up the cool north-west face. Seven long pitches, mostly easy with a 6a+ wall, reach the notch of the Arête du Doigt; three independent pitches finish it, including a memorable slab traverse of 6b+ that can be aided on the bolts.

6b+10 pitches400 m★★★

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France · Verdon

L'Herbetto

The easiest way to climb out of the Verdon gorge: a long, wandering ridge of short pitches at grade 3 and 4 that starts close to the river and finishes near the rim road. The climbing is modest but the setting is the full Verdon. You walk down a steep path with fixed ropes to reach the start, so the route is your way back up.

4c9 pitches180 m★★★

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France · Calanques

L'Atelier Bleu

An oddity: easy slabs and a long water-worn runnel up a dome of puddingstone above the sea, reached by abseiling into a cove from the Mugel park. The climbing is grade 3 and 4 on surprisingly solid pebbles. It was fully rebolted in 2024 and is a popular first multipitch.

4c6 pitches220 m★★★

France · Verdon

Dans les Yeux d'Hervé

Seven pitches of compact grey water-pocketed wall high above the mouth of the Verdon gorge, with a view over the Lac de Sainte-Croix. It zigzags a great deal, so both leader and second need to be happy on traverses. A short, bouldery 6c+ bulge (6a/A0) is the only move above 6b+, and the final pillar pitch is the highlight.

6c+7 pitches160 m★★★

Committing

France · Baou de Saint-Jeannet

Jardins secrets

One of the essential long routes of the Baou: seven pitches that hardly drop below the sixth grade, each with a different problem, from thin slab to a steep bulge and a superb layback corner at 6c. The single 7a section on pitch 2 is closely bolted and can be aided. Expect a few loose blocks and a scrappy link pitch across the Vernet ledge.

7a7 pitches200 m★★★

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France · Ariège Pyrenees

Arabesque

The hard classic of the Calamès pillars above Bédeilhac: technical slabs, a well-bolted roof and a sustained 6c wall, capped by a short 7a slab pitch after a walk across a garden. Compact rock and close bolts make it a good place to try harder grades on a multipitch. The middle pitch is vegetated.

7a5 pitches180 m★★★

France · Bavella

Acqua in bocca

A sampler of everything Bavella granite does: a technical 7a wall, layback and jamming cracks, an off-width, a squeeze slot behind a tree, and three pitches of pure friction slab to finish. Bolted well enough to climb on quickdraws, which is rare here. The wide pitches are awkward and bruising if you are not used to the style.

7a10 pitches300 m★★★

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France · Dentelles de Montmirail

Traversée des Florets

A west-to-east traverse of the six towers of the Florets crest, alternating short pitches with five short abseils and ending on a knife-edge. First climbed in 1928, it is the classic introduction to ridge climbing in Provence. The moves of 5 are short but polished and cannot be avoided, and all the rope work makes it slower than its length suggests.

5b9 pitches120 m★★★

France · Verdon

Golondrina

A modern (2019) line up a staircase of limestone pillars above the Chalet de la Maline, with short walking links between them. Harder than its old 6a grade suggests: recent parties report obligatory 6a+/6b moves on the first three pitches, and the last pitch is 6b+ or A0.

6b+10 pitches300 m★★★

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France · Gorges de la Jonte

Zébulon

Probably the most approachable multipitch in the Jonte: four pitches of grade 3 and 4 on excellent, juggy rock up the right side of a pillar, with solid chained belays where leader and second stay in sight. Vultures circle past by late morning. The walk-off needs a little care.

4c4 pitches100 m★★★

France · Barousse (Central Pyrenees)

Princetza d'Euskadi

A short, friendly pillar of wonderfully rough, sculpted limestone above a Pyrenean village, bolted in 2022 as a first multipitch. Five pitches of grade 3 and 4 with single moves of 5a (4c obligatory), fifteen minutes from the car. Ideal for learning rope work; experienced parties move together and are up in an hour.

5a5 pitches132 m★★★