The Col de la Bonette sits at 2,715 m (8,907 ft) in the southern French Alps, and a scenic loop road built around the Cime de la Bonette just above it reaches 2,802 m (9,193 ft). That loop is the highest asphalt road in France, and it is the reason the pass gets called Europe's highest — a claim worth handling carefully, because it depends entirely on how you define the terms. What is not in dispute is the riding: a long, high, wide-open climb from either the Ubaye or the Tinée, generally rideable between May or June and October or November, with a bare lunar summit that feels a long way from anywhere.
About that "highest road in Europe" claim
Here is the honest version. The col itself — the actual pass, the low point in the ridge that the road crosses — is 2,715 m. Above it, a separate loop of asphalt circles the Cime de la Bonette peak (2,860 m) and tops out at 2,802 m. That 2,802 m figure is the one on all the signs and postcards. But the loop is not a pass; it is a scenic detour that returns to the same road, so calling it the highest pass in Europe is a stretch, and English Wikipedia flags the "highest through road in Europe" wording as unverified.
The claim that holds up without argument is the French one: at 2,802 m the Bonette loop is the highest asphalt road in France, and the official Route des Grandes Alpes site describes it as the highest point accessible by road in France rather than in Europe. For comparison within the Alps, the Col de l'Iseran at 2,764 m is the highest paved pass, and the Bonette col at 2,715 m ranks eighth among paved roads in the Alps. If you want a defensible sentence for the pub: it is France's highest road, it is one of the highest in Europe, and the "highest in Europe" claim is marketing rather than geography.
Route at a glance
| Col de la Bonette | 2,715 m (8,907 ft) |
| Cime de la Bonette loop | 2,802 m (9,193 ft), highest asphalt road in France |
| Road | D64 / RM2205, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes |
| North climb, from Jausiers | 23.2 km to the cime, average 7%, 1,588 m gain |
| South climb, from Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée | 25.4 km to the cime, average 6.5%, 1,658 m gain |
| Typical closure | October or November |
| Typical reopening | May or June, snow depending |
Open the Jausiers to Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée crossing in Google Maps — the full north-to-south traverse over the col, ready to send to your navigation.
The north side, from Jausiers
Most riders arrive from Barcelonnette in the Ubaye valley and start climbing at Jausiers. It is 23.2 km to the top of the cime at an average of 7%, gaining 1,588 m — a long, steady, unhurried climb rather than a wall. The lower half runs through larch forest and hamlets, the middle opens into high pasture, and the last 8 km are above anything that grows, on scree and grass, with the road visible for kilometres ahead. Old military barracks from the Camp des Fourches period stand ruined beside the road, which does more for the atmosphere than any viewpoint sign.
Because the gradient is consistent and the surface is good, this is a climb you can ride at a relaxed pace and still enjoy. The corners are open. There are no tunnel sections, no cobbles, and no sudden narrow pinch points. What there is, in quantity, is exposure — long stretches with a drop on one side and no barrier.
The south side, from Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée
From the Tinée valley the climb is 25.4 km to the cime at an average 6.5%, gaining 1,658 m. It is the longer and slightly gentler approach, and it feels different — drier, more southern, with the vegetation thinning earlier. Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée is the last town of any size, and it is the sensible place to fill up, eat, and check the weather.
Riding the pass as a full traverse — Ubaye to Tinée or the reverse — is the best way to take it, because you get both characters and you end up somewhere new. Doing it as an out-and-back from Barcelonnette is a fine half day, but you repeat 23 km you have just ridden.
The cime loop and the summit
At the col, a signed loop branches off and circles the Cime de la Bonette peak, climbing another 87 m to the 2,802 m high point where there is a car park and an orientation table. It is a short, steep, narrow ring of tarmac with genuinely enormous views on a clear day, and it is the reason most people ride here at all. Note that the loop can remain closed after the col itself has opened, and the road authority sometimes runs the col with restricted hours in shoulder season, so the col being open does not guarantee the loop is.
Where the Bonette fits in a trip
The pass links two valleys that otherwise take hours to connect: the Ubaye around Barcelonnette, and the Tinée running down towards Nice. That makes it useful as well as spectacular. Ridden north to south it is a natural final high pass before dropping to the Mediterranean; ridden south to north it is the dramatic way into the Ubaye from the coast.
The obvious multi-day shape is Briançon or Guillestre to Barcelonnette over the Col de Vars, Bonette the next morning, then down the Tinée and either east into the Alpes-Maritimes cols or south to the sea. That gives you three of the highest French passes in about 48 hours without a single dull transit stage.
If you only have a day and you are based in Barcelonnette, ride the pass to Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, take an early lunch there, and come back over the top in the afternoon. Riders report that the two crossings look completely unlike each other because the light direction reverses, which sounds like a small thing and is not.
Season, weather and practical detail
Season. The Col de la Bonette and the cime loop close in October or November and reopen in May or June, with the exact dates set each year by snow depth and clearance work. As of August 2026 that remains the official pattern. Verify before you commit a day to it: the departmental road information services at inforoute04.fr (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) and inforoutes06.fr (Alpes-Maritimes) publish current status, and the Ubaye valley tourist office covers the northern approach. Riding a hundred kilometres to a closed barrier at Jausiers is a long way back.
Weather. Above 2,500 m the pass makes its own conditions and does it fast. Cloud can sit on the summit while the Ubaye is in sunshine. Snow flurries in June and in September are unremarkable. Wind at the cime is the thing riders underestimate most — the loop is completely exposed and a crosswind at the orientation table is a different experience from the sheltered climb below it.
Fuel and services. Nothing on the pass. Fill up in Barcelonnette or Jausiers on the north side, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée on the south. That is a 50 km stretch with no fuel, no shop and no reliable food.
Tolls and zones. The road is free and France has no motorway vignette; motorways are tolled per journey. Crit'Air low-emission rules apply in some French cities but not on the col — check the official Crit'Air site if your wider route goes through Nice or Marseille.
Animals and surface. Sheep and marmots use the upper road as if it were theirs. Gravel washed onto the tarmac at hairpin exits after storms is common, and the outer edge of the loop is where you find it most.
Gear notes for a high, remote pass
The Bonette is a long way from a garage, and that shapes what matters. Mobile coverage in the upper Tinée and around the col is patchy, so a route that lives on a phone with a live data connection is a route that stops working exactly where the decisions are. Loading the whole corridor for offline navigation on a handlebar screen before you leave the valley solves that, and if you want the technical reason a purpose-built receiver holds a fix better than a phone in a deep alpine valley, multi-band GNSS on a motorcycle covers it.
The second thing is that this is a 1,600 m climb, which is a genuine thermal event for your tyres and brakes. You will start warm and finish cold, and then reverse it on the descent. Our tire pressure guide explains what that does to your numbers, and a TPMS sensor tells you at the summit rather than at the next garage 50 km away. Riders on the JADO S6 get pressure, offline maps and cameras on the same display, which is convenient here mostly because there is nowhere sheltered to stop and dig a phone out.
The Bonette is the optional high-point detour on the Route des Grandes Alpes, and it pairs naturally with the Col d'Izoard a day to the north.
FAQ
Is the Col de la Bonette really the highest road in Europe?
Not on any strict reading. The 2,802 m figure comes from a scenic loop around the Cime de la Bonette, not from a pass, and the loop returns to the same road. It is accurately described as the highest asphalt road in France. The highest paved pass in the Alps is the Col de l'Iseran at 2,764 m.
When is the Bonette open?
Typically it closes in October or November and reopens in May or June, depending on snow. Check inforoute04.fr and inforoutes06.fr for current status, and be aware the cime loop can stay shut after the col opens.
Which side should you climb?
The north from Jausiers is 23.2 km at 7% and the classic approach; the south from Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée is 25.4 km at 6.5% and drier in character. Riding the full traverse gives you both.
Is it hard on a big touring bike?
No. The road is a properly surfaced two-lane climb with open corners and no cobbles or tunnels. Exposure and wind are the challenges, not technical difficulty.
Where is the nearest fuel?
Barcelonnette or Jausiers to the north, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée to the south. There is no fuel on the pass itself, and the gap between them is around 50 km of high mountain road.
