Five good reasons to explore Savoie-Maurienne
© Raphaël Sandraz
Above all because here, at an altitude of over 1,000m, you can still pick apricots. With one foot in Italy, the Maurienne valley is the southernmost valley in Savoy, enjoying over 300 days of sunshine a year.
1/ Breathe the purest air in Europe
How can you tell ? One of the most vulnerable varieties of lichen thrives on the mountain tops, and in the mountain streams, the wild trout share the water with plants that were already around 450 millions years ago. Open wide your senses and your lungs...
2/ To the End of the Earth
This is how the last inhabited village at the end of the valley - Bonneval-sur-Arc – is called. Travelling through the valley, a fantastic trip in itself, Mont-Cenis can resemble Alaska in wintertime or Mongolia in autumn. Hardly surprising that this sanctuary was the birthplace of the first of France's national parks, the Parc de la Vanoise.
3/ History in stone
A giant monolith and fairy chimneys, together with hundreds of mysterious petroglyphs hidden away in the mountains, the imprints of human presence here 5,000 years ago. The easily accessible "Footprint Stone" is a fine example.
4/ Get close to the heavens
In the Maurienne, the more you climb, the closer you get to the heavens. We're not only joking! Just pay a visit to any church or chapel and experience a sublime vision of paradise. Outside, the untamed majesty of the mountains. Within, the splendour of gold and azure, and of angels.
5/ By train
Only 3h40 from Paris to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, the cradle of the House of Savoy.
- Modane: 4h from Paris
- Direct connections from Nantes, Rennes and Le Mans in winter
Regular shuttle services from all railway stations to the ski resorts.
By car
- Motorway A43 from Lyon and Chambéry. All high altitude resorts are less than 120km from Chambéry.
- Motorway A32 from Turin, via the 12.87 km long Fréjus motorway tunnel.
- Local transport (map)
- Regional trains (TER)
- o Taxis in all train stations: Saint-Arves - La Chambre; Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne; Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne - Valloire; Modane
- Bus - Altibus.com
