Besançon
Dominating the city from Mt St-Etienne, more than 100 vertical metres above the old town, the 17th-century Citadelle de Besançon – designed by Vauban for…
Must-see attractions in French Alps & the Jura Mountains
Chamonix
The great rocky fang of the Aiguille du Midi (3842m), rising from the Mont Blanc massif, is one of Chamonix’ most distinctive features. The 360-degree…
Chamonix
France’s largest glacier, the 200m-deep 'Sea of Ice', flows 7km down the northern side of Mont Blanc, scarred with crevasses formed by the immense…
Grenoble
For lovers of European art, this museum is an uplifting place to get lost for a day. There's an even spread of artistic eras on display: an antiquities…
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Chambéry
Chambéry's medieval Old Town reveals its beauty gradually. Rush through its lanes and you risk missing hidden courtyards, murals and well-preserved 14th-…
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Grenoble
This highly impressive museum unveils the secrets of a 12th-century church and cloister using light effects, a haunting choral soundtrack and an…
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Besançon
Literal and figurative interpretations of time are woven together at the Musée du Temps, which places allegorical paintings about the passage of time next…
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Chambéry
Geneva-born philosopher, composer and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a key figure of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, lived the happiest years…
Grenoble
After a fun ride in the téléphérique, or a steep, hour-long climb, the reward is a magnificent mountain panorama from Grenoble's stocky fortress, built…
Cathédrale St-François de Sales
Chambéry
All is not as it seems inside Chambéry's 15th-century Franciscan cathedral, decorated with 6000 sq metres of trompe l’œil painting. The largest such…
Grenoble
This ever-evolving museum unleashes a century of regional history on visitors. Suits of armour are back-lit in brightly coloured rooms, 3-D family trees…
Chamonix
The highest peak on the western side of the Chamonix Valley, Le Brévent (2525m) has tremendous views of the Mont Blanc massif, myriad hiking trails…
Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie
Besançon
France's oldest public museum, founded in 1694, is famous for its stellar collection of local Gallo-Roman archaeology; its Cabinet des Dessins, with some…
Besançon
The base of 18th-century Cathédrale St-Jean's bell tower houses an incredible astronomical clock, powered by 11 weights, that has run the church's bells…
Besançon
Erected in AD 175 in honour of Marcus Aurelius, this 16.5m-high Roman triumphal arch stands very near where the columns of a Roman theatre and the…
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Chambéry
Medieval walls, Gothic tracery, trompe l'oeil detailing…Chambéry's château has acquired a wealth of styles since its founding in the 11th century. Once…
Annecy
It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…
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Annecy
With commanding views across the ochre rooftops of the Vieille Ville (Old Town) to the Massif des Bauges, the Château d’Annecy is at once imposing and…
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Besançon
This spiffy museum gives an engaging account of the life and works of Besançon's best-known literary son, Victor Hugo, famous for masterpieces such as Les…
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Chambéry
With its four carved elephants, this 17.6m-high fountain looks like the model for an old Indian postage stamp. It was sculpted in 1838 in honour of…
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Annecy
Sitting on a triangular islet surrounded by the Canal du Thiou, the Palais de l’Isle has been a lordly residence, a courthouse, a mint and a prison,…
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Chamonix
This diverting two-level museum allows you to wander through Chamonix history, from butter moulds and farming tools of yore to the dawn of the 18th…
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Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Isère
Grenoble
This thoughtfully curated exhibition presents the history of Grenoble's vigorous resistance to Italian and then German forces during WWII, with plenty of…
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Besançon
The earliest parts of Besançon's cathedral date to 1127. Though heavily modified in ensuing centuries, following a 13th-century fire and the collapse of…
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Chamonix
Beautifully lit collections of crystals, many from around Mont Blanc, are exposed within this small museum. The adjoining Espace Tairraz focuses on the…
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Chambéry
Occupying a former corn exchange, Chambéry's grand fine-arts museum exhibits mostly 14th- to 18th-century Italian works. There's a particular emphasis on…
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Grenoble
A run-through of regional history, from prehistory through medieval times to the 20th century, is presented within the atmospheric walls of the 13th…
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Chamonix
Step directly inside the glacier at this tunnel of ice, reshaped every year for the past half-century, which sparkles with perennially recreated ice…
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Grenoble
This modest museum, housed in the restored apartment of his maternal grandfather, Docteur Gagnon, celebrates the work of the author of The Red and the…
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Chambéry
This former hôtel particulier (historic private mansion) has interactive displays on local culture on its upper floor. It's also the starting point for…
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Annecy
A pale sandstone church, Annecy's oldest, made all the more dazzling by the turquoise Canal du Thiou running alongside it. Step through the 15th-century…
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Annecy
Largely built during the mid-19th century after its 14th-century predecessor was damaged during the French Revolution, the Church of Our Lady of Liesse…
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Grenoble
A cavernous glass-and-steel warehouse built by Gustave Eiffel has been turned into one of France's leading centres of contemporary art. Many of the…
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Téléphérique Grenoble-Bastille
Grenoble
Hop into a clear-panelled spherical pod for dreamy views of Grenoble's red roofs and magnificent mountains on this cable-car ride up to the Bastille. Les…
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Besançon
Dating in its earliest parts from the late 14th century and later decorated with Italian Renaissance-style flourishes, Besançon's town hall was gutted by…
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Besançon
Created in the 19th century, this leafy promenade is the ideal spot to stroll by the Doubs River and it's popular with local cyclists. It's a good place…
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Grenoble
Though the subject is niche, this museum exploring France's elite Alpine regiments, which date to 1888, is riveting. An audioguide (in French, English,…
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Grenoble
The rose-brick rib vaults of Grenoble's elegant cathedral rise from the site of a 4th-century church. Its present form dates to the 1200s, though its…
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Chambéry
Due for a grand reopening in 2020, this museum housed in a Franciscan monastery was closed to undergo a massive renovation when we passed through. When it…
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Annecy
Inspired by the design of Rome's Church of the Gesù, this Catholic church is also known as the Church of the Italians (and hosts mass in Italian). Dating…
