14
votes

I use Google Maps to plan my bike routes inside Paris. However, it is missing height graphs of the routes (which is essential for biking). I would like such a site that would be capable of this. I may be Paris-only and in may be in French.

6
  • 1
    some would say Paris is flat so you don't need it ;)
    – Vince
    Oct 1, 2012 at 7:57
  • 3
    Paris is definitely not flat. Come to the Netherlands and see what flat means.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 13, 2013 at 17:36
  • 1
    Well, I am probably beginning to become known for nitpicking but the way I see things, there is flat and then there is everything else. Sure, there are degrees of non-flatness and you can have bigger or smaller differences of elevation (I used to live in the Alps, in a municipality spanning about 800 m of altitude, so I would know) but as soon as you have even a small hill, that's just not flat (there are in fact several hills in Paris, Belleville in the 20th arr. but also Montmartre, the Butte-aux-Cailles in the 13th arr. and even a tiny one made of waste, the butte Bonne-Nouvelle)
    – Relaxed
    Jun 13, 2013 at 23:01
  • By the way, I am totally serious when I say that you should come to the Netherlands (if you haven't already). There are vast tracts of lands that are not just plains or gentle slopes but really, absolutely flat. Until I saw it, I didn't realize what it means, it's impressive.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 13, 2013 at 23:01
  • I've been using Maps.me throughout my travels, you can use it for both navigation and it will show you the altitudes of the route. You can also download the maps for offline use. It's based on OpenStreetMap
    – Bas
    Jun 20, 2017 at 20:23

6 Answers 6

14
votes

I think what you probably want is the OpenStreetMap powered OpenRouteService.

When using OpenRouteService, once it has calculated your route, the left pane will show the Altitude graph, which can be expanded to show an interactive graph, coloured by steepness, waytype or road surface:

Height profile from OpenStreetMap/OpenRouteService

If you want to try it out, and see a steep climb profile, try this link and then scroll to the Altitude panel when it has loaded. It's a long long climb up from the centre of Heidelberg to the lookout above it, but much more fun done the other way round ;-)

OpenRouteService will work anywhere there's good OSM coverage for, so you'll be fine in Paris, but you might hit the odd area in the countryside without all the off-road routes. It's available in a few language,including in French, so that part of your question is covered too!

2
  • The French would be a must-have in case there was a good French site for it. Anyways: you helped me to find a good way for me, so thanks a lot!
    – yo'
    Sep 30, 2012 at 22:43
  • The graph is useful, but I found that Komoot does better planning in general (see also Arne Burmeisters answer). Openrouteservice is not bad, but it makes some rather strange routing choices at times.
    – gerrit
    Jan 4, 2022 at 12:54
8
votes

You could use GPSVisualizer. You can easily plan your tour with Google Maps or whatever tool you like and then use GPSVisualizer to genera a height chart.

For example I used Google Maps to navigate from Sacre Coeur to the Eiffel Tower:

enter image description here

And here is the corresponding height profile:

enter image description here

1
  • I like the height graph here more, but OSM Router is more "interactive" and allows me to find a good way easier, so I'll go for that one! Thanks anyways!
    – yo'
    Sep 30, 2012 at 22:42
6
votes

Update: A couple of years after this question was first asked, Google Maps started including elevation data as part of their cycling directions. I don't think the coverage is universal, but it does include much of the US and Europe. enter image description here

1
vote

You can use komoot, a well working bike and hiking planning tool. Also available as an app offering offsite maps but those have to be payed for (Paris is available for about 4€).

App Tour Overview App Tour Profile

I only used it for Germany yet but it also knows about the paving!

0
votes

Garmin Connect http://connect.garmin.com/course/create

I can't screenshot, but here is a screenshot of it:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s12/sh/356cfa54-45b5-47ad-846b-68a64006880f/23b818215392ef7d911ca44c337b4202/res/a9f9471f-8802-479d-91f5-d9caafa83a0d/skitch.png?resizeSmall&width=832

Then pop it into your garmin device for directions on your bike :)

1
  • 1
    I am getting an error message following your link.
    – Bernhard
    Aug 18, 2013 at 19:32
0
votes

You could use https://www.plotaroute.com/routeplanner which supports a "By Bike" button up on the toolbar and, once a route has been created by clicking a series of locations on the map, offers a "Hills" profile that can be selected from the right-hand toolbar.

Example Paris bicycling route

You can then hover your mouse over the elevation profile and see a marker move along the route that corresponds to the same location.

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