Getting There
By car
From Grenoble, Lyon, Paris : Exit A51 motorway at Pont de Claix. Take the N91 to Briançon. Check local traffic information for the exposed
Col du Lauteret.
From Marseille: Take the A51 to La Saulce, continue in the direction for Tallard & Briançon (RN94).
By air
The nearest airports are Grenoble,
Lyon-St Exupéry(160km),
Marseille (250 km), and Turin (110 km).
By train
TGV Paris (Gare de Lyon) - Grenoble with a bus connection.
Briançon station is 6 km from the resort
( Autocars Rignon : 0033(0)4 92 21 00 56).
A direct night train links Paris to Briançon.
Ski Serre Chevalier
Briançon-Serre Chevalier is the collective term for thirteen villages which lie along the valley floor from Grenoble to Gap with the slopes rising up towards the north-east, giving Serre Chevalier its name. The main ski areas are Monêtier Les Bains, Villeneuve, Chantemerle and Briançon, where the mountain stage of the Tour de France 2007 was featured. 'Serre Che' boasts a remarkable 300 days of sunshine annually and is a year-round resort. The ski area is the fourth largest in France with high altitude skiing up to 2830m.
Find out more:
Serre Chevalier ski resort review
Skifrance website
Official Tourism Website
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Self-drive ski holidays in France
Travel to France by ferry and some of the best self drive skiing in the world. Enjoy the freedom of taking unlimited baggage and up to 9 people per car via .
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Winter & Ski Home
Property & Living
Briançon, Hautes-Alpes
Highly Desirable
MountainPassions visits Briançon in the French Alps - the second highest town in Europe and a perfect base for mountain living.
Whichever way you look at it, Europe’s second highest town (after Davos) is just extraordinary. Perched like an eyrie and surmounted by a brooding military citadel, Briançon’s historic upper town or Vieille Ville looks and feels like nowhere else, particularly when suddenly and dramatically transformed by the first snows of winter. This really is living on a higher plane.
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From Roman times (when it was known as Brigantium) its siting, at the meeting point of five river valleys and two strategic routes, made it an important stronghold. The development of artillery, however, made it vulnerable to attack from the even higher surrounding peaks flanking the Franco-Italian border, so three defensive fortresses were constructed during the late 17th/early 18th Centuries on the summits which posed the greatest threats.
L-R: Limited space within the ramparts encouraged multi-story construction; The high-altitude town is enfolded by the even higher surrounding peaks.
Most of the upper town - often referred locally to as the Cité Vauban - lies within a system of defensive ramparts designed by the celebrated French military engineer, yet its lofty setting overcomes any sensation of oppressive enclosure. In fact, there’s a real feeling of exhilaration which comes from just being here, and which climaxes at the panoramic viewpoint above the Fort du Château.
Important stronghold
The narrow streets, tall ochre façades and brightly-painted sundials (not to mention around 300 days of sunshine per year) create an Italianate mood not unlike those of Menton or Vieux Nice. There’s even a genuine Italian coffee-shop and patisserie which offers possibly the ultimate chocolat-chaud. Add the location, between the ski areas of Serre-Chevalier and Montgenèvre, and it’s hardly surprising that Briançon attracts plenty of visitors from across the border including second-home buyers from Turin. 
L-R: Sculptures on the Renaissance façade of la Maison Jean Prat; Children still play safely in the Vielle Ville’s otherwise calm cobbled streets.
Late evening finds the atmospheric streets of the upper town almost deserted.
© Roger Moss
Ski Review Serre Chevalier
Resort profile with map, facts & figures, MountainPassions ratings and recommendations, and ski area description.
Profile:
Living in Briançon
Ski coach Gavin Crosby and his wife Mel talk about their work and lifestyle based in Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes. Gavin Crosby, a familiar figure in the Serre Chevalier mountains, is now running the New Generation ski school whilst Mel manages their EurekaSKI resort-based services company.
The Collégiale Notre-Dame, dating from 1703-1726.
The Pont d’Asfeld, built in 1730 and spanning the 55m deep Durance chasm in a single, slender 40m arch.
Les Gargouilles
Two medieval waterways descending through the heart of the Vieille Ville: la Grande Gargouille in Grande Rue and la Petite Gargouille in Rue Mercerie. Local residents were often referred to as ‘les Gargouillards’.
Cadrans Solaires
A series of large, colourful painted sundials adorning the ochre façades around the Vieille Ville, including the Place d’Armes.
Panoramic views beyond Bourdelle’s bronze ‘la France’ across the rooftops of the Vieille Ville from the windswept viewpoint perched above the Fort du Château.
