Luxury holidays to the French Alps

Stretching from Lake Geneva in the north almost 230 miles south to Provence, the French Alps are quite simply one of the most spectacular mountain ranges in the world. Offering probably the finest skiing and snowboarding on the planet, the Alps are nevertheless a holiday destination for all seasons: when the snow melts, the lakes and mountains, meadows and valleys transform into a delightful summer playground for walkers and hikers. 

Divided into two distinct regions – Savoy and Dauphiné – the chain reaches its 15,782ft zenith on the junction of its borders with Italy. Here, the snowcapped summit of Mt Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe. Backdrop to a foreverness of chocolate box villages and picture postcard towns, the Alps offer a fantastic setting for a holiday, whether you’re into skiing and walking, mountain-biking and river rafting, or simply travelling about in stunning scenery. Towns like Meribel, Chamonix, Courchevel and Val d’Isere are well known holiday destinations for their skiing and summer hiking, but the Alps also have some of the prettiest towns in France which you don't have to be active to enjoy, including Annecy, Chambery and Grenoble. 

Spectacularly situated against an amphitheatre of peaks at the confluence of the Drac and Isere rivers, Grenoble is the ‘capital of the Alps’, with a bustling university town ambience and uperb modern art museum; at the northern end of the French Alps, Annecy is a beautiful lakeside town, with a stunning old town, 13th century castle, and wonderful boat trips to medieval villages around the lake. 

From the gentle southern shores of Lake Geneva, to the clear, dark waters of Lake Annecy, from pretty alpine pastures to the rugged mountain peaks that culminate in Mont Blanc, the Alps is a land of dizzying beauty. In the summer you`ll appreciate the scent of alpine flowers by the roadside as you wind your way along mountain passes, the sound of cowbells in the distance, the odd ibex disappearing into the crags, and of course, the famous hillside vineyards. Hiker or not, there’s something here for everyone to fall in love with during a holiday in the French Alps. 

We have selected a range of luxury hotels in the French Alps which provide the perfect location from which to explore the region. A self-drive touring holiday of the French Alps offers a wonderful opportunity to explore and discover the diversity of this stunning region.

Climate

Average air temperatures in Centigrade: Jan 3.1, Feb 3.7, March 7.9, April 13.8, May 15.7, June 22.4, July 26.8, August 25.7, September 22.7, October 15.9, November 10.7, December 6.3
Source: Direction de la Météorologique de France

Local highlights

Walking in Parc National de la Vanoise, France’s first national park, studded with peaks, lakes and glaciers, and home to France’s largest colony of Alpine ibex; summer skiing in Les Deux Alpes; elegant Chambery with its 14th century castle and enchanting old town; the resort of Les Trois Vallees, offering superb skiing of course, but also wonderful walking in summer, with cable cars whisking even the most indolent right to the top of the mountain ridges; Annecy with its picturesque lakeside setting and medieval villages closeby, which you can reach by ferry; rondue and raclette, traditional French Alpine dishes that are an absolute essential, preferably washed down with a sharp Savoy white, in a mountain-top café overlooking the snowcapped summits; cheese-makers right across the region; Grenoble with its small but bustling university-town ambience and superb modern art museum.

Getting out and about

Grenoble is gateway to, and the capital of the French Alps. The city lies 30 minutes by car from the Grenoble-St-Geoirs airport, 40 minutes from the Lyon-Satolas international airport, and 90 minutes from Geneva's Cointrin airport. Grenoble is also connected to the Paris-Lyon-Marseille motorway on the west and to the Chambéry-Geneva motorway on the east. Buses and trains provide an excellent service around the French Alps.

Travel arrangements

Self-drive: You can reach our hotels in the Alps in about 9 hours' drive from Calais. However, most visitors tend to stop en route, perhaps in Burgundy on the way out and the Champagne region on the way back, or even extending the trip with a couple of nights in Alsace too.
By air: Geneva is served by British Airways; it is around 20 to 90 minutes drive from Geneva airport to our various hotels. It is also possibly to fly to Chambery.