GR 65 Geneva to Le Puy

GR 65 Geneva to Le Puy (Via Gebennensis) is a long walking pilgrimage route linking Geneva, Switzerland to Le Puy-en-Velay, France, and it’s commonly used as the Geneva “feeder” toward Santiago de Compostela.

The route distance is about 360 km and the typical walking time is 16 to 18 days, depending on the stage lengths you choose.

Expect a varied itinerary that follows the Rhône for a large part of the way, then works its way through mountain environments—Alps, the Pilat area, and onward toward the Massif Central and the Velay highlands.

In the middle-to-late stages you gain a more decidedly mountainous character, including steady climbs up to around 1,200 m in the volcanic highlands of Velay.

Navigation is based on GR marking: the standard red-and-white stripes of the GR system, with the route also associated with the blue-and-yellow scallop-shell signage used on the Way of St James.

The Geneva-to-Beaumont section is described as Stage 1 (16 km on foot), starting in front of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral square and then joining the Rhône corridor; later guidance breaks the route into numbered stages through Seyssel, Chanaz, Yenne, Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers, Valencogne, and the Isère/Velay approach.

Season-wise, it’s presented as suitable for walking in the warmer months; one itinerary guidance recommends an April to October window, and notes that in winter some sections can be snow-covered from December to April.

If you’re planning to complete it as a through-hike, build stages around the listed day-by-day distances (around 14–26.5 km per day in the early stage list) and treat it as a multi-day GR pilgrimage rather than a single long day.

More information: GR®65 From Geneva to Puy-en-Velay, GR®65 De Genève au Puy-en-Velay, Via Gebennensis, de Genève au Puy-en-Velay