The French Alps stretch from Lake Geneva in the north to the Mediterranean hinterland in the south, and they contain some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Europe. This is where Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest peak, rises to 4,808 meters, and where skiers have been coming since the sport was invented.
Lyon is the region's great city, a place where Roman ruins sit alongside Renaissance architecture and where the food is arguably the best in France. The city's bouchon bistros serve honest, hearty Lyonnaise cooking, and Paul Bocuse's legacy looms over everything. Grenoble is the gateway to the high Alps, a university city wedged between three mountain ranges with a thriving cultural scene and the dramatic Bastille fortress reached by cable car.
The ski resorts are legendary. Chamonix at the foot of Mont Blanc is the birthplace of alpinism and still draws serious mountaineers alongside skiers. Meribel sits at the heart of the Three Valleys, the largest linked ski area in the world. Courchevel and Alpe d'Huez offer world-class slopes in winter and cycling routes made famous by the Tour de France in summer.
Away from the big resorts, the Alps reward exploration. The Chartreuse regional park is green and forested with rushing streams and spring wildflowers. The Queyras in the far southeast enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine a year and has some of the finest alpine flower meadows in France. Annecy, with its castle, canals, and crystal-clear lake, is one of the most picturesque towns in the country.
