A tightly hairpinned road starts in the woods near the village of Vinádio (876m) in Italy on the north side. This road is often steep, but never above ca. 13%. On the south side the climb starts in Isola (861m) if coming down from the Col de la Bonette (2715m) or Col de la Moutière (2444m) or in St. Sauveur-s-Tinée (504m), if you come via Col de la Couillole (1678m). There are some steep sections on this side too, but it seems like the easier side.

One could also start further down the south side: if you come via Col St-Martin (1503m), you start at the height of 482m down the Tinée valley. If you happen to come over the road from Col de la Sinne (1438m) and Ilonse, you start at 430m. You could start at Pont de Clans (301m) and you could have visited Col d’Andrion (1681m) or travelled over the road passing by the Madone d’Utelle. In the later case you would have travelled via La Tour and started the climb at Pont de la Lune (233m). You could also start at the start of the tinée valley (187m).