Long distance hikes known as Grandes Randonnées (GR) are signposted in white and red. Sometimes this will be painted on, rather than a properly printed signBruno M Photographie/Shutterstock
Did you know that 180,000 km of footpaths and trails across France are catalogued by hiking, horse riding and cycling federations? Here is our guide to the sign meanings.
These footpaths and trails tend to be categorised according to letters.
The colour-coded hiking trail signs are maintained by volunteers from the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestreffrandonée
GR: Long-distance hiking route through a region, with a number and usually a name, signposted in white and red. Sometimes this will be painted on, rather than a properly printed sign.
GR de pays: A circular route with just one name, to discover a country or geographical area. Marked in yellow and red.
PR: Circular or return walking or hiking route, less than a day's walk. Yellow colour with a name or number.
Change of direction: An arrow, in a colour that corresponds to the type of route.
Wrong direction: A cross in a colour corresponding to the type of route.
Horse riding routes: An orange rectangle.
Horse-drawn carriage routes: Two rectangles on 2 orange circles.
‘La variante’ (variant/alternative route): Sometimes offered as an alternative route to the main route. May depend on season (e.g. during hunting season or during the summer), or the difficulty of terrain.
This sign, for the GR 653, can be identified by the white and red stripes and the number. It also happens to be the way for one of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage routes (the yellow and blue symbol), which ends in Spain.sylv1rob1/Shutterstock
Cycling trails are known as ‘itinéraires VTT’ (vélo tout terrain, or mountain biking).
They are signposted with two circles under a triangle. The colour depends on the type of trail.
Yellow triangle: Local loops
Brown: Regional nature parks
Red: Major routes of more than 80 km
Orange: Major tourist routes.
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The direction of the triangle sign depends on the direction of travel:
Go straight on: Point of the triangle upwards and round at the bottom.
Go right: Point to the right.
Go left: Point to the left.
Local loops usually have a number to help differentiate them.
The difficulty of the route (both physically and technically for riders) is shown by the colour of the number on the sign, or the background colour of the number. They use the same colour scheme as ski pistes.
Green: Very easy
Blue: Easy
Red: Difficult
Black: Very difficult.
Other mountain bike routes for other types of bike (enduro, downhill, electric mountain bike, Fat) have special signposting.
