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France: Rhône-Alpes

Overview

The Rhône-Alpes region (population 5.65 million) runs from Lac Léman (‘Lake Geneva’), the largest lake in western Europe, southwards towards the Mediterranean and is bounded by the Italian border to the east and the Rhône to the west. It includes the departments of Ain (01), Ardèche (07), Drôme (26), Isère (38), Loire (42), Savoie (73), Rhône (69) and Haute-Savoie (74). (The former province of Dauphiné corresponds approximately to the north-eastern part of Drôme and the Isère and Hautes-Alpes departments.) It’s the most mountainous area of France, the Alps being Europe’s biggest mountain range, ‘shared’ between France, Italy and Switzerland. The average altitude of the mountains in the Alps is 1,150m (3,772ft); the eastern area of the Alps has the highest peaks and forms a natural barrier with Italy. The most mountainous department is Isère, followed by Hautes-Alpes, Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Drôme. Mont Blanc, altitude 4,807m (15,767ft) in Haute-Savoie is the highest peak in Europe (excluding the mountains of Georgia). The Mont Blanc road tunnel and the Tunnel du Fréjus road and rail tunnel cut through the Alps, from Haute-Savoie and Savoie respectively, linking France to Italy.

The Alps area is of course noted for its majestic mountain scenery, which is unrivalled at most times of the year, and it’s probably France’s most picturesque region with its dense forests, lush pasture land, fast-flowing rivers, huge lakes and deep gorges. It’s a paradise for sports fans and nature lovers with superb summer sports, such as rock-climbing and canyoning (abseiling and water-chute descents), hiking and walking, all-terrain cycling, hang-gliding and paragliding, and white-water sports, while winter sports and ski resorts offer some of the best facilities in Europe for downhill (Alpine) and cross-country (Nordic) skiing and snowboarding. Albertville (73), Chamonix (74) and Grenoble (38) have all been venues for the Winter Olympic Games. Top ski resorts include Chamonix, France’s mountaineering capital, Courchevel, Megève, Méribel and Val d’Isère. The Alps therefore have two high seasons: the usual summer period, and the winter skiing season (December to April), the two peaks within the latter being the school holidays at Christmas and Easter.

The Alps is the third most popular tourist area in France, after Paris and the Côte-d’Azur, and Annecy is one of the most popular tourist towns in France after Paris, but property prices are well below those of Paris and prestigious towns on the Riviera. Lower property prices than neighbouring Switzerland attract many Swiss who live in the area and commute to work in Geneva and other Swiss cities.

Although largely unspoiled by development, the Rhône valley is one of France’s major industrial regions. Lyon (69), which is the regional capital and France’s second-largest city (the French spell it Lyon) as well as its gastronomic capital, has a beautiful medieval quarter. The Rhône river (whose source is high in the Swiss Alps) is a vital artery for river, road and rail traffic between the north and south of France. Rhône’s other major towns include Bourg-en-Bresse, Privas and Saint-Etienne.

The price of property in the Rhône-Alpes region is well above the average, although the most expensive areas are mostly in the Alps. Ardèche with its spectacular gorge is increasingly popular with foreign buyers and is consequently becoming more expensive. Like Franche-Comté, Rhône-Alpes is popular with the Swiss, many of whom live in the region and commute to their workplaces in Geneva and other Swiss cities. The region is noted for its extremes of temperature and is usually freezing in winter and hot in summer, and most pleasant in spring and autumn. The Rhône-Alpes has excellent road, rail and air connections and Lyon is just two hours from Paris by TGV.

© Survival Books Limited 2005

“Buying a Home in France 2006” 6th Edition, David Hampshire.

Reproduced with the permission of Survival Books Limited.

Further information on this topic can be found in “Buying a Home in France 2006” 6th edition, by David Hampshire.

For extensive, annually updated information about buying a property in France, you can purchase this book at www.survivalbooks.net

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