Prepare
Training for the GR20: the 3-month plan
The GR20 packs 182.4 km and 11,220 m of climbing into 16 official stages. What wears hikers down is not any single day: it is the repetition. This three-month plan prepares exactly that — walking for hours, carrying your pack, handling the climbs, then doing it all again the next morning.
Principles
Four rules before you start
Four principles run through the whole plan. Progression first: increase one thing at a time — duration, then elevation gain, then load — without skipping steps. Consistency second: modest but frequent outings prepare you better than one heroic hike followed by a long break. Third: train with your own gear — the pack you will actually carry, 8 to 14 kg depending on your sleeping setup, and boots that are already broken in, never a brand-new pair discovered on day one. Finally, listen to the signals: pain that settles in or fatigue that will not lift is information, not weakness. A missed session has never ruined a GR20; a training injury has.
The programme
Three months, three phases
Weeks 1 to 4 — Building the base
The first month lays the foundation: walk often, without pushing. Short, regular outings during the week, plus one longer walk at the weekend that you gradually extend. Terrain barely matters at this stage — trails, forest, town streets: the goal is simply getting your body used to spending hours on its feet, moving. Walk at a pace where you could hold a conversation; duration is what counts, not speed. Use these weeks to break in the boots you plan to wear on the trail, unloaded or with a small daypack. If you already cycle or swim, keep it up as a complement: it maintains endurance without loading the joints.
Weeks 5 to 8 — Elevation and load
Keep the rhythm of the first month, but point your long outings at elevation: repeated climbs, hills, stairs — whatever your area offers. On the GR20, stages stack up 400 to 1,400 m of daily ascent: your body needs to learn to climb and, above all, to descend — downhills are what wear out the knees. Meanwhile, the pack enters the picture: start light, then add weight gradually, outing after outing, until you approach your real starting load. Adjust it properly — the hip belt carries the weight, not just the shoulders — and note anything that rubs or digs in: now is when you fix it, not on the trail.
Weeks 9 to 12 — Getting specific
The final month simulates the GR20 as closely as possible. Long outings become full walking days, loaded pack, with sustained elevation gain. The centrepiece is the test weekend: two back-to-back hiking days with every piece of gear you plan to take — full pack, boots, poles, clothing, and a night outdoors if you intend to camp. This is where you discover what the GR20 will really ask of you: setting off in the morning on legs that are already tired. Anything that rubs, hurts, is missing or weighs too much during this test gets fixed or dropped before departure. Out there, stages run from 5 to 25 km: far better to find out trained.
The finish
Final week and special cases
The final week. In the final week, ease off. The work is done: nothing you add now will pay off in time, while a late injury can cancel everything. Keep a few short, easy walks to stay loose, sleep well, and put the spare energy into logistics: final pack, bookings, GPX tracks. The goal is to reach the start rested, not worn out by your own preparation.
No mountains nearby? Living in flat country does not stop you preparing — it just takes some creativity. Stairs — apartment blocks, stadium steps, embankments — repeated with your pack on stand in for a continuous climb, and the same short hill done over and over does comparable work. Volume remains your best ally: long walking days, even flat ones, build the endurance the GR20 demands. Be honest about the limit, though: nothing fully replaces mountain terrain. If you can fit a few weekends in real hills before departure, do it.
Signals to listen to. Soreness that fades within a few days is part of the process. Pain that returns on every outing, settles in the same spot or changes the way you walk is not: back off and let it clear before resuming. The same goes for unusual fatigue that rest does not fix. When in doubt, consult a doctor — and if you are starting from scratch or after a long sedentary period, see one before beginning the plan at all.
The best training for the GR20 is walking itself — long, often, loaded, and uphill.