Isère by guest writer Fiona Quinn

How much do you know about Isère? I would guess it’s less than Provence or the Dordogne. But it’s an impressive part of the country so I hope this call to visit Isère will get you planning a trip. Summer or winter, Isère is a year-round destination.

If you do know about Isère it will be for its mountains and ski resorts (Alpe d’Huez and les Deux Alpes are world famous). But it’s also a summer playground where the natural parks offer a get-away-from-it-all experience. And it’s also the part of France where some of the world’s toughest cycle races have been won – and lost – on its precipitous mountain passes.  

Isère has great cities, pretty medieval villages and spa towns. It’s the place to hike or cycle, swim in the clean waters of mountain lakes and explore the wildlife. Even in the height of summer, there’s space for everyone.
Discover more from the Isère Tourism website.

Isère – A Short Introduction

Isère’s Location

Isère is the second largest département in the Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes region. Named after the Isère river, it’s part of the historic province of Dauphiné which consisted of Isère, the Drôme and Hautes-Alpes until it was acquired by the King of France in 1349. It extends from the banks of the River Rhône to the summits of the French Alps and takes in the historic cities of Grenoble and Vienne.

Isère also includes four mountain ranges that make up its spectacular natural parks of Belledonne, Chartreuse, Vercors and Écrins.

Nature’s Playgrounds

Isère’s mountains are one of the big draws, appealing to lovers of the great outdoors.

In winter, snow-sports take priority. With a range of 23 ski resorts, Isère is France’s third largest ski region after Savoie and Haute-Savoie.

But come summer, when the snows have melted, a vast open-air landscape reveals itself with intense blue lakes and alpine meadows covered in flowers. Cities, towns and villages offer festivals which range from those celebrating the rich terrain and the food to sporting events that showcase the magnificent landscape.

Sports in Isère

The extensive mountain scenery makes Isère a perfect place to stretch your legs – either hiking or trail running. If you’re really keen on the pastoral life, hike between the mountain refuges that dot the landscape.

Or take to the waters; Isère’s lakes and rivers make for great sailing, white water rafting and canyoning.

And don’t forget winter and its snow-sports.

Cycling in Isère

Isère attracts cyclists of all abilities and types with a network of routes that cover more than 1,000 kms/621 miles. The famous Tour de France cycle race showcases some of France’s toughest climbs, and thousands of amateur cyclists flock to the winding mountain passes to test out the thigh-busting routes, like the legendary Alpe d’Huez climb with its 21 hairpin bends. The less ambitious can hire hydro-electric bikes.

Visit Isère but which part?

The northern borders of Isère, surrounded by parts of Greater Lyon, follow the Rhône river. Here the land is flatter with steep slopes along the Rhône valley where vineyards flourish.

Central Isère, Grenoble and parts of north eastern Isère encompass the Chartreuse and Belledonne mountains and regional parks.

Southern Isère is the more mountainous region. The southeast part of Isère, which neighbours Savoie, lies within the French Alps. The Oisans area covers parts of the massifs of Taillefer, Grandes Rousses, Arves and Écrins with the Ecrins National Park furthest south.

Isère’s southwestern border is the Drôme, where the Vercors massif mountains feature heavily with their dramatic, undulating steep cliffs and valleys. This part is particularly popular with cyclists.

Isère’s Major Cities and Towns

Cosmopolitan Grenoble

Grenoble, popularly known as the ‘Capital of the Alps’ is the capital of Isère. Its position is fantastic, between the Drac and Isère rivers and surrounded on either side by the mountain regions of Chartreuse to the northeast and Vercors to the southwest.

A famous university city, and the cultural heart of Isère, Grenoble attracts high-tech industries. It all makes for a lively city, with bars and restaurants filling the maze of streets where medieval and modern buildings mix happily.

The old town is fascinating with museums ranging from the Musée de Grenoble which has one of the best art collections in France to the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Isère, telling the story of one of the major centres of the Resistance in France during World War II.

The standout attraction is the 18th-century fortress of La Bastille with its spectacular, panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Getting there is equally as exciting. Take the téléphérique cable car from the centre of the city where  spherical gondolas – called ‘Les Bulles’ or bubbles – whisk you up the 263 m/826 ft to La Bastille.

Worth checking out is the new Champollion museum in Vif near Grenoble. It’s one of the major events of 2021. Set in the Champollion family home, it’s dedicated to the 19th-century quest and obsession with Egypt.

Roman Vienne

The river Rhône runs through the historic city of Vienne linking it to Lyon to the north and down to the south of France.

Vienne was a major Roman city, the vital port for wine and other goods. Roman monuments are scattered all around the city from the Temple of Augustus and Livia built by Emperor Claudius (a smaller version of Nîmes famous Maison Carré) to the Roman theatre, the garden of Cybele, remnants of ramparts and aqueducts.

The Pyramid is the only part left of the old Roman circus which once throbbed to the shouts of the charioteers and gladiators. Now the streets throb to the sound of the Jazz à Vienne Festival, held most years in the first two weeks of July, with some performances held in the 1st-century Roman Theatre.

From Vienne to…Voiron

To the east of Vienne, between Lyon and Grenoble, the Pays Voironnais surrounds the town of Voiron. The sparkling 6 km/3.7 mile long Lake Paladru is one of Isère’s great lakes and the fifth largest natural lake in France. You can swim in the turquoise-clear mountain waters, hire a sailboat, rowing boat, kayak, paddleboard or idle away a few hours waiting for fish. Walk or cycle along the 7 km/4.3 mile greenway that runs along its shores, connecting the beaches and villages from Paladru to Charavines.

Voiron

In Voiron one of the main attractions is the Chartreuse Cellars where Chartreuse liqueur is manufactured. Guided tours in French or English show you the equipment and stills of the longest liqueur cellar in the world. The tour finishes, of course, with a sip or two of the green-coloured alcoholic beverage.

Isère’s Historic Villages

Medieval Crémieu

The medieval village of Crémieu sits in the far north-west of Isère and 40 kms/25 miles due east of Lyon. Surrounded by 14th-century ramparts and defensive towers, the streets of this town with half-timbered houses come alive on Wednesdays with a weekly market held in its 15th-century marketplace.

If you’re visiting in September, take in Crémieu for its spectacular Medieval Festival.

Saint-Antoine-l’Abbaye

Saint-Antoine-l’Abbaye, 62kms/38 miles west of Grenoble, is one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages. Once a staging post on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, the village is dominated by the all-important abbey church.

The building dates from the 13^th to the 15^th centuries, its entrance is a grand Gothic portal. It’s huge: 62 m/203 ft long with 17 chapels running off the main nave and altar.

Its fame lay in its possession of the relics of the 3^rd century St Anthony of Egypt. He was the first monk and hermit in the history of Christianity, giving his name to the now defunct Antonine order of monks whose purpose was to look after the sick.

Pont-en-Royans

A little further south and on the other side of the Isère river, Pont-en-Royans sits at the gateway to the Vercors Natural Park. Centuries-old houses seem suspended on a ledge of rock over the Bourne river.

The Parks of Isère

For many, the parks of Isère are the main reason to visit summer and winter.

Four mountain ranges of Isère make up the spectacular natural parks. Oisans is part of Ecrins Park in Oisans, which was created in 1973 as the first of the nine National Parks in France. The three other are Regional Natural Parks: Belledonne, Chartreuse and Vercors.

There’s fabulous skiing in all of these parks with resorts running from the world-famous to small village resorts. Summer brings hikers, cyclists, bird watchers, horse riders; the lakes offer swimming and water sports.

Read more about Isère’s parks, mountains and ski resorts here.

The Lakes of Isère

Lake Monteynard

South of Grenoble between the Vercors and Ecrins, the vast 20 km/12.4 mile Lake Monteynard was created in 1961 when the hydroelectric dam was built. Renowned for its lengthy Himalayan suspension bridges (220m and 180m long) that span high above the Drac and Ebron rivers, it’s a popular spot for hikers (without a fear for heights) as well as kite surfers.

If you want a more leisurely visit, take the boat trip along the length of the lake on the La Mira boat.

Lake Laffrey

Nearby in Matheysine Lake Laffrey is the 8th biggest natural lake in France. At 900 m/2.953 ft above sea level, its cool temperatures and glistening blue mountain waters make it a perfect place for windsurfing and dinghy sailing.

The Food of Isère

Alpine influences are dominant in the hearty flavours of Isèrois produce.

All French mountain regions are famous for their cheeses, and Isère is no exception.

Two famous cheeses are produced here. Saint-Marcellin is a fairly small flat round soft cheese, becoming softer as it matures. It’s especially good served warm with bread or crackers. Le Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage is a mild blue cheese that can be used in quiches or served with salad. It goes well with light red wines such as Chatillon en Diois.

If you’re a cheese fan and want to discover more, check out the 87 routes across the region devoted to the Vélo et Fromages (bike and cheese) concept connecting farms and cheese dairies. There are two cycling itineraries in the Vercors.

The region is also famous for its big Murçon sausages, which have a slight aniseed flavour.

The area is France’s top producer of walnuts. The highly prized nuts are added to products like chocolate and brioche, beers and ravioles.

Ravioles have been a speciality of the region for centuries. These little square-shaped pasta are stuffed with cheese and parsley.

Gratin Dauphinois – creamy oven-baked potatoes – is probably one of France’s and the region’s best-known dishes, believed to date back to 1788.

Top Restaurants in Isère

While not as famous as its neighbour Lyon for gastronomy, the region has several acclaimed restaurants, including La Pyramide in Vienne, a Michelin-starred restaurant where famous chefs including Paul Bocuse trained.

Other Michelin-starred establishments in the area, specialising in refined Isérois cuisine, include Le Domaine de Clairefontaine in Chonas l’Amballan, about 10 km/6miles from Vienne, and La Table d’Uriage in a grand spa hotel 20 km/12 miles from Grenoble. And for top dining book at the 2-star Maison Aribert in Uriage les Bains which also has 5 very chic rooms in its boutique style hotel.

And as for Drinks…

Sitting on the terrace of a mountain restaurant with a Rhône Valley wine in hand makes for a perfect day in Isère. Alongside lesser-known appellations such as Château Grillet, Balmes Dauphinoises, and Côteaux du Grésivaudan, some of the region’s best-known wines include Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie, a fragrant red wine.

Côte-Rôtie vines grow on the right bank of the Rhône just south of Vienne where steep hillside vineyards bask in long hours of sunshine.

Better known outside the region is the green-coloured Chartreuse liqueur. Made by Carthusian monks to a centuries-old recipe devised and kept in the Chartreuse Monastery, this sweet drink is infused with a secret combination of 130 mountain herbs, plants and flowers.

The rise in popularity of craft breweries has brought at least twenty brewers to the region. Among these are the Brasserie du Dauphiné producing award-winning Blonde des Alpes beer; the Goodwin Brewery, making British-style craft ales, and Biere du Vercors, producing a certified organic mountain beer as well as lemonade and whisky.

The Domaine des Hautes Glaces manufactures a number of organic alpine whiskies, including Vulson White Rhino Rye, and is one of only a handful of distilleries that both grows and malts its own cereals.

In their iconic metal bottles, the popular syrups from Teisseire found throughout French supermarkets are produced in Isère at Crolles.

How to get to Isère

By Air

Grenoble Alpes Isère (GNB) serves Grenoble and many of Isère’s 23 ski resorts in less than two hours, with the smaller resorts of Villard de Lans, Corrençon, Chamrousse, Les 7 Laux, as well as Oisans and Belledonne, closer still to the airport. By opting for a resort with short transfers, savvy skiers can squeeze in extra time on the slopes.

Actibus “Navette Grenoble Aéroport” connects the airport with Grenoble bus/train station. Schedules coincide with flight arrivals and departures. The journey takes 45 minutes. Tickets must be bought in advance.

In winter, several direct shuttle services leave from the terminal taking skiers to the resorts of Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes and Chamrousse (Sat only), as well as stops in Grenoble city centre, Bourg d’Oisans and Rochetaillee to connect to other resorts in the area. Lyon Saint-Exupery(LYS) serves northwest Isère and the city of Vienne, and offers more flights to the region than Grenoble.

By train

From the UK, Eurostar trains connect via Paris to Grenoble. Paris to Grenoble trains take about 4 hours.

Other nearby stations include Saint-Marcel-Lès-Valence, Lyon Saint-Exupéry (50 minutes from Grenoble) and Lyon Part-Dieu (1hr 15mins).

By car

Travelling to Isère by car takes between 8 and 10 hours from Calais and around 5 hours 15 minutes from Paris.

Parking

In ski resorts, there are plenty of car parks where you can leave your car for the week. The average cost is around €45-70 a week.

Cross-Channel Operators

By Eurotunnel

Eurotunnel Le Shuttle operates up to 4 shuttles per hour to France taking just 35 minutes between Folkestone and Calais. All chunnel ticket prices include your car and up to 9 passengers.

By Ferry

Check out the ferry possibilities here.

More about the 7 great mountain ranges of France.

About guest writer, Fiona Quinn

Fiona Quinn is a francophile travel writer and editor. She’s lived in France on and off during the past 30 years, including as a student in Paris, ski saisonnaire in Savoie and Haute Savoie, and a home-owner in sunflower-filled Charente. 
Check out her website.

The post Visit Isère: a Year-Round Destination appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

If you haven’t tried ski touring but like mountains and have skied before, even badly, I would thoroughly recommend it. It’s a cross between Nordic (on the flat) and alpine skiing. Where possible you ski in back country on unmarked trails, so you need a guide or a very good map and sense of direction. On our ski touring in the Pyrenees the snow wasn’t good enough for our group to go properly off-piste but we weren’t in a resort to attract would-be ski Olympians. So there were gentle runs to be enjoyed without experts flying past.

Who does it suit?

Almost everyone who has done a little skiing and any age. It can be as strenuous or as gentle as you make it.

My Ski Touring Adventure

This is intended as a call to arms for those like myself who are unfit and out of practice. Read and struggle on! Sure I’d been slogging up hills in London (hardly hills, but needs must), and standing against a wall crouching down and staying there until my thighs ached, then doing it again 20 times.

Easy I thought.

How wrong can one be?

A perfect short break

I was on a short break organised by Purely Pyrenees, intended as a gentle immersion in the sport. An early Saturday morning Ryanair flight left Stansted at 8am and arrived at Lourdes at 10.55am French time. The plane appeared to have 2 categories of flyers: those going skiing or mountain trekking and those crossing themselves on taking off and landing who were clearly going to Lourdes on a pilgrimage.

The start was easy with Sally Simmonds from Purely Pyrenees and Laurent Cavaillès, our guide for the next 3 days, meeting us at Lourdes. It’s a 40 minute or so drive to Luz Saint-Saveur where we were based. You’re in the Pyrénées National Park in the Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments, and in the relatively new and huge Occitan region of France.

Luz Saint-Sauveur

Luz Saint-Sauveur is a pretty town, at its height in the 19^th century when Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie discovered the Pyrenees, thermal waters and Luz. There’s a delightful 13^th-century, sturdy little Templars church protected by walls and lit up at night; Napoleon’s formidable bridge over the Gavarnie Gave river (there’s a good 3km walk built around the Emperor), and just outside the town, Château Sainte-Marie. Rebuilt by the English in the late 14th century (yes, they got this far), it’s perched on a small outcrop as protection for the town.

More usefully, there are plenty of ski equipment and clothing shops and a good tourist office.

We get kitted out

The first stop was Oxygène Ski Montagne to get kitted out.

Ski touring boots are slightly different from those used by alpine skiers. Choose a boot where your toes just touch the front end but when you tip the boot up as if you’re going uphill, your foot slides very slightly back.

Skis are different as well: lighter, shorter and wider. Your boot locks onto the ski at the front with 2 small bolts that fit into the boot and click shut. You then ram down your heel to get it into the back lock. When you’re walking uphill, you unlock the back of the boot which needs to be free so you can easily glide along and uphill.

An uncertain start

We started that afternoon, driving from Luz up through Baregès to the Station du Grand Tourmalet. It was for a couple of hours’ skiing so Laurent could assess the different levels of skill of the group and plan accordingly.

I put on the rigid boots, and asked Laurent to help get my boots into the notoriously difficult skis. I felt supremely confident…then fell over on the way to the ski lift and had to be helped ignominiously to my feet.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the magic carpet getting my admittedly pathetic ski legs back, and great fun it was too.

You step onto a moving walkway (remember to bend forward; it moves quite fast), then emerge at the top of a slope with enough space for the ski instructors and their pupils, anxious parents and apprentice skateboarders to wobble their way downhill.

After five descents I felt like a pro.

Two days of ski touring

The next two days took us around the Domaine du Tourmalet then on the second day to Gavernie Gèdre, around 2,000 metres high up in the Haute-Pyrénées. 

The Col du Tourmalet at 2,115 m (6,939 ft) is the highest paved mountain pass in the Pyrenees and is one of the most famous passes in the Tour de France (it’s featured 87 times in the world’s greatest cycle race). The Col itself is closed in winter, but you ski around it on the western side through part of the forest of Lienz. In summer the high pastures are full of cows and sheep brought up at the transhumance in May or early June and living off the grass until October. In winter, snow covers the rocky landscape and the streams and waterfalls are silent. You catch glimpses of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, 2,877 metres high and dominating the surrounding 300km.

But before you start climbing

Nothing is easy. We had to fit ‘skins’ onto the skis to walk uphill. You put them on at the bottom of the slope, slog upwards, then take them off at the top before skiing downhill. It’s all part of ski touring in the Pyrenees.

Gavernie Gèdre is due south from Saint Sauveur close to the Spanish border. The Station is delightful, with enough climbing upwards to keep you fit but not steep enough to put you off. The downhill slopes are forgiving. Hey, ski touring in the Pyrenees turned out to be great fun.

You’re not high enough to look down onto the famous Cirque de Gavarnie. So do what we did, take a picnic lunch in the little village of Gavarnie then walk beside the river as far as you want to. To get close up and to the Hotel du cirque et de la Cascade takes about an hour. We walked for half of that but got close enough. It was getting late in the afternoon and the sun was falling behind the mountain.

The Cirque is a natural phenomenon, carved out over millions of years by glacial erosion. It’s an extraordinary site, an amphitheatre for the gods, described by Victor Hugo as ‘nature’s Colosseum’. 800 metres wide at the bottom and 3,000 metres wide at the top, the rocky surrounding walls rise up to 1,500 metres above the Cirque’s floor. The Gavarnie Falls are frozen during the winter, the waters cascading in spring and summer down a series of three huge vertical steps. Fed by Spanish rivers, the falls are the second highest waterfall in Europe.

The Brèche de Roland towards the top is a natural gap, bordered by slender walls over 100 m tall cut into the limestone. Its name comes from yet another legend, this time of Roland, Charlemagne’s nephew (another legend as he probably was not the great Emperor’s nephew). Fatally wounded in the wars against the Moors, Roland hurled his sword into the mountain, which miraculously split.

Apres ski touring in some great spas

Both full days of skiing were followed by a couple of hours in local spas. This isn’t part of the package, but you can add them on and they really do wonders. The pools are super heated (34 degrees), with jets around the walls and underground while water pours down periodically in the centre. Hammams and saunas are spacious and peaceful and showers copious.

Balnéo Cieléo in Barèges has excellent facilities which include a large pool, and a series of small baths or pools taking from 1, 2 or up to 10 people offering powerful hydro jets.

Luzea in Luz Saint-Sauveur offers smaller general facilities. But spend some time in the magnificent vaulted room where you lie on loungers looking out at the mountains. Easy to imagine yourself as Empress Eugenie (or Napoleon III) whose patronage put the small resort spa town on the map.

Where we stayed

The Hôtel de Londres in Luz Saint-Sauveur may only have two stars, but it’s an excellent hotel. Bedrooms are good sized; mine looked out over the river which gushed and gurgled over the rocks. It was either that sound or sheer exhaustion that sent me off to sleep so well. Bathrooms have good decorative touches like natural rocks making the floor of the shower and a large granite basin. Downstairs a terrace looks out onto that gushing river. There’s a spacious restaurant and a small bar with a big screen occupying one wall. We were there for the start of the 6 nations rugby matches. The bar was packed with French, English and Welsh; frogs legs were offered after France beat England which we graciously accepted.

We ate here on two evenings. Food is honest, plentiful and local. If you’re a charcuterie fan, take the platter of saucisson and hams. This is the area of the famed black pig of Bigorre so take advantage.

The hotel and all meals are included in the Purely Pyrenees package, but I recommend the hotel if you’re doing your own trip.

Dinner at an Auberge

The first night we ate at Chez Louisette, a 20-minute drive from Luz. The only problem was the last stretch which was cut off from the car park by snow. Laurent’s torch just about lit the way over the bottom end of a piste, but take your own torch and go well shod if you’re going there at night.

It was worth it. The auberge is large, still owned by the same family who started a cremerie here in 1905 selling dairy products. A roaring fire, large wooden tables and chairs, and specials chalked up on a blackboard set the tone.

Food, particularly in winter, is hearty with starters like charcuterie from Bigorre pork or smoked trout, followed by perhaps the local specialty of garbure (Pyrenean stew), or duck breast. This is not the place for vegetarians though they did provide a plate of vegetables when asked. My dessert of fromage blanc with slightly sharp red fruit proved the perfect end to the meal.

It’s also a great place for lunch if you take that particular piste down from the Station du Grand Tourmalet.

The day of departure

The flight from Lourdes to Stansted leaves at 3.35pm so there’s a last morning to fill. We were intending to go up the Pic du Midi, one of the great attractions of Occitanie but strong winds closed it. (Be ready for that; we learnt the day before and it happens quite frequently in winter.) The only good thing? I’ll have to go back.

Instead we spent the morning in Argelès-Gazost at the Tuesday market. It’s a small town on the way to Lourdes with an animal park devoted to the wild animals of the region: foxes, ibex, and marmots as well as wolves.

The town’s other main claim to fame is, rather bizarrely, the Maison Lagure boulangerie which was elected world champion of pain au chocolat in 2019. They are pretty good. Local producers fill the squares of the town, including a man making gâteaux à la broche, a Pyrennean rib sticking delicacy. Brioche are turned on a spit while he poured a liquid paste over it, solidifying the brioche into a shape of a pine tree. To serve, you cut slices off then add whatever you want – ice cream, jam, or cream.

Fact Box

For more information please visit the Purely Pyrenees website. The Ski-Touring Try-it Weekend is a guided tour lasting four days with prices starting from £712 per person. It includes transfers to and from Lourdes airport, all accommodation and meals, all equipment, ski passes, English-speaking tour/skiing guide and some sightseeing including the Pic du Midi (if open) on the final day.

Flights from Stansted to Lourdes by Ryanair cost from £74 round trip depending on when you book.

Good luck on your ski touring adventure in the Pyrenees and have fun!

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