Must-see attractions in French Alps & the Jura Mountains

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…

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…

Chambéry's medieval Old Town reveals its beauty gradually. Rush through its lanes and you risk missing hidden courtyards, murals and well-preserved 14th-…

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…

One of the greatest summertime pleasures of the French Alps is hiking in France’s second-largest national park. The glacier-carved, 918-sq-km park has…

More than 100 mountain peaks tower above 3000m in this spectacular preserve. Between June and late September, 400km of walking trails grant access to the…

Bringing to mind a ship's sail or a lighthouse summoning the faithful, modernist Chapelle Notre-Dame (1955) roosts hilltop above the small town of…

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…

Twenty-three generations of the De Menthon family have lived within 1000-year-old Château de Menthon-St-Bernard. The birthplace of St Bernard in 1008 –…

This highly impressive museum unveils the secrets of a 12th-century church and cloister using light effects, a haunting choral soundtrack and an…

Belfort's icon is a monumental lion statue that sits astride the citadel, scowling down on the town. Created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, best known for…

Literal and figurative interpretations of time are woven together at the Musée du Temps, which places allegorical paintings about the passage of time next…

Situated at the confluence of five river valleys, Briançon was highly vulnerable to attack by France's Alpine arch-rival of the 17th century, the Duchy of…

Clinging to a limestone outcrop, Château de Joux, 10km north of Métabief, used to guard the route between Switzerland and France. Its foundations date to…

Mountains, limestone cliffs and dense forests create a high-drama landscape within this 2062-sq-km preserve, a few kilometres southwest of Grenoble. The…

These wondrously symmetrical early–Industrial Age saltworks were designed to be an 'ideal city' by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. Though Ledoux's plans never came…

Limestone promontories, dense forests and a powerful liqueur are the signature features of this 767-sq-km regional park. The 1300km of marked walking…

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…

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…

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…