The French Alps belongs to the big mountain range of the Alps,
especialy to its western part. It is simply that part which is located
in France.
Satellite photo of the Alps
They are within two departments:
- Provence Alpes Cote dŽAzur
- Rhone Alpes
The highest
point in the French Alps is the mountain Mont Blanc (4,808 m). It is
also the highest peak of the whole Alps. Mont Blanc is situated above Chamonix, which is one of the most popular ski resorts a places for
winter holidays in the French Alps. There are plenty of hotels, chalets
or other forms of accommodations available. Most popular holiday
activity is skiing, snowboarding,climbing,hiking, walking or cycling.
Other notable
towns in the region are Grenoble and
Chambery.
There are some
subranges which are partly located in France. Those are:
 |
Maritime
Alps - south western part of the mountain range. It is on the
French - Italian border. They include the Mrcantour National Park.
|
|
Cottian
Alps - also Alpes Cottiennes (French) or Alpi Cozie (Italian).
They are also on the french - italian border and are separated
from the Maritime Alps by the Maddalena Pass. There are 2
important transportation tunnels: Frejus Road and Rail Tunnels
between France and Italy. They connect cities: Lyon, Grenoble and
Turin.
|
|
Pennine
Alps - they are in the western part in Switzerland and Aosta
Valley in Italy. Connected by the Great St. Bernard Tunnel and
Pass.
|
|
Dauphine
Alps - are group of mountains in southeastern part of France. They
have many peaks higher than 3,050 m and the highest one is Barre
des Ecrins with 4,102 m.
|
|
Graian
Alps - include France - Savoie, Italy - Aosta Vally and Piedmont
and Switzerland - western Valais.
|
|
French
PreAlps - medium elevation mountains located at the French Alps
periphery, from Lake Geneva to Drome River. They are to west from
Chamonix, Grenoble and Albertville. |
