Date de la randonnée : lundi 02 mars 2020
Fiabilité de la description : ★★★★☆ Bien
Facilité à suivre l'itinéraire : Non utilise / Inapplicable
Intérêt du circuit de randonnée : ★★★★★ Très bien
I was confused by the comment and discussion around the difficult section at the end so I thought I'd add my thoughts.
First, the hike was closer to 1.5 hrs moving time round trip for my wife and I starting from the switchback on the road. I would estimate pretty close to 2 hrs round trip starting and ending at the tourist info centre. Some descriptions made it sound like 2 hrs each way which is not the case.
We did the hike in February and had very decent weather. We enjoyed the hike and the views. It fit in perfectly for a day trip from Nice combined with lunch, the free museum and a walk through the old town. The chapel itself was closed but that did not take away from the enjoyment.
The part that was not clear to me is what was described as 'delicate' parts. The majority of the hike is typical but climbs quickly so more on the strenuous side. Towards the end of the hike, while still on the side facing away from Tende, there is a bit of a scramble to get up a rocky section. Some more scrambles put provided with a cable and some steps provided with a cable. After you cross onto the Tende facing side, there is the 'delicate' part. It is part steps, part paved section less than 1 metre wide provided with cable fastened to the wall. The exposed side is more or less straight down to Tende 300 metres below. I believe this feature is intended to be the return for the via ferrata and, as such, would be completed with harness and tether. Without the tether, it should be described as hazardous, not delicate. A misstep here would end very badly, but it would take some time to end because it's a long way down.
It is possible to get to this point of the hike and still have fantastic views without exposing yourself. I offer no suggestions or recommendations other than take a gut check here and remember you must return by the same way you go up.