The French Alps

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in the French Alps, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Hotel Les Cygnes and lake

Hotel Les Cygnes. Enjoy beautiful Lake Geneva on your doorstep.

Surprising as it seems, the three star Hotel les Cygnes is the only hotel situated on the Lake Geneva waterfront in the French resort of Evian les Bains. Of course the town is famous for its bottled water of the same name, but the hotel has its own spring and was once the bottling plant for the rival Graziella brand.

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Samoens. The French Alps’ beautiful little secret

Mention the French Alps and a few famous names spring to mind; Chamonix, Val d’Isere and Courchevel perhaps, but there is one village tucked away in the Giffre Valley which has been a firm favourite with those in the know for many years, in both winter and summer. Yes, Samoens is the French Alps little secret.

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Chamonix for Non Skiers

It is not often the French thank the English for anything, but in the case of Chamonix for non skiers and good skiers alike, they cannot thank us enough. It was a bunch of intrepid Englishmen in the 1800s, men like Whymper, Kennedy, Ball, Wills and Tyndall, who, armed with precious little equipment, first explored the Alps and Mont Blanc in particular. They formed The Alpine Club and returned many times to climb the peaks.

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Villa Rose Boutique Hotel

The good people of Samoens, a charming little village tucked away in France’s alpine Savoie Mont Blanc region, have been doing daily life the same way for centuries, whether it be stonemasonry, cheese making or skiing. So when the local taxi driver is at a lost to find Villa Rose, the town’s new luxury boutique hotel, I’m not really surprised. New things clearly take a while to register here in Samoens.

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