The seven wonders within the Savoy Alps
The French Alps stretch from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean but are at their highest and most splendid in Savoy.
1 Ascend the Aiguille du Midi
Tourist town and ski centre Chamonix wins no prettiness prizes but gets a platinum medal for its location beneath Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest peak. Numerous lifts take you to splendid belvederes but the best is this vertigo-inducing cable car – the world’s highest vertical ascent – to the 3778-metre summit of a needle-like splinter of rock surrounded in mighty snowfields. Once there, step out into a glass box 1000 metres above the void if you dare. See chamonix.com
2 Be impressed (and dismayed) at the Mer de Glace
This once immensely thick, 7.5-kilometre long glacier, deeply crevassed and crawling down the northern side of Mont Blanc, has been a famous tourist site for 300 years; its lower end could once be spotted from Chamonix. The glacier is now in rapid retreat but still an astonishing sight, as is the grey, scraped landscape left by its shrinking. You can reach it by the Montenvers cog railway and a cable car, or on a two-hour uphill hike from Chamonix. See chamonix.com
3 Escape into the Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval
If you veer off to the left as you ascend towards Chamonix from Geneva you’ll discover a high valley, centred on Samoens and a few hamlets, that is well off the international tourist circuit. Keep going and you get to Six-Fer-a-Cheval or the Horseshoe, the Savoy Alps’ best-kept secret. The valley’s end – a glacial cirque – is ringed in mighty 700-metre cliffs streaked with numerous waterfalls, showcased on a largely flat walk through meadows. Late-autumn foliage is glorious. See haut-giffre.co.uk
4 Drive around Lake Annecy
If you’ve ever made an alpine jigsaw puzzle, chances are this was the lake featured, or Annecy town, draped in geraniums and petunias. The lake, cupped in alpine peaks and edged with beaches, is a scenic jewel that merits circumnavigation. It’s only 42 kilometres, but you could take all day, breaking for a heart-stopping swim in glacial water, lunch at a lakeside restaurant, and an old-fashioned paddleboat excursion. Chateau de Menthon-Saint Bernard is absurdly romantic. See lac-annecy.com
5 Go scuba diving at Tignes
Exchange ski gear for a wetsuit in Tignes during winter and plunge into an ice hole in an alpine lake for a view you never expected. Below are glacial boulders and trout, while above are surreal views of translucent blue ice, pockmarked with air bubbles. With the water at just 2 degrees above freezing, 15 minutes is the limit of a toe-tingling dive tour. Advanced divers can swim beneath the natural ice rink and see skaters twirling upside down. See tignes.net
6 Take a hike in Vanoise National Park
France’s oldest national park covers a chunk of eastern Savoy and is a superb destination for hiking and (heart-pounding) cycling. Its hairpin bends and high passes often feature on the Tour de France. With over 100 summits above 3000 metres, the scenery is glorious, and wildlife includes ibex, chamois and marmots. Villages include beautiful Bonneval and others picturesquely abandoned on high pastures. Best of all? Scant international tourists, only glorious tranquillity. See haute-maurienne-vanoise.com
7 Get a dose of culture in Chambery
While landscapes, hiking and skiing are the main drawcards, the Savoy Alps provide history and culture too. Exhibit A is Chambery, the former capital of independent Savoy at the foot of the Alps, which has a handsome, Italianate old town beneath a castle. Explore back lanes, hidden courtyards, a fountain incongruously decorated with elephants, and the cathedral with its unusual trompe l’œil architecture. Head north along Lake Bourget and you’ll find an old abbey and posh spa resort Aix-les-Bains. See chamberymontagnes.com
The writer travelled at his own expense.
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Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.