Located at 1,860 metres altitude in the Grandes Rousses mountain range in the Oisans, the ski resort of L'Alpe d'Huez is a renowned winter sports destination. Offering abundant sunshine, pure air, good snow coverage and 240 km of runs, the resort is paradise for skiers and snowboarders. Other reasons for its popularity include the 16-km La Sarenne run (one of the longest in the world!), night skiing, fantastic sports facilities, an outdoor ice rink, shops, entertainment and great après-ski spots.
Alpe d'Huez is also a fitness resort in the summer season, offering numerous activities like rambling, mountain biking, climbing, via ferrata, horse riding, fishing and pool swimming, to name but a few.
Well-known among cycling enthusiasts is the Alpe d'Huez ascent. This legendary stage of the Tour de France has 21 hairpin bends and is a challenge taken up by thousands of cyclists every summer.
Located in the Isère department, in the heart of the Grandes Rousses massif, the winter sports resort of L'Alpe d'Huez takes place at 1860 meters altitude, about sixty kilometers from Grenoble and its airport. The island known as the Sun Island enjoys all year long excellent sunshine, as well as clean air and good snow.
Also a health resort, L'Alpe d'Huez is a site permanently occupied since the Middle Ages. A medieval town developed there at the end of the eleventh century. She was best known for her silver mining on behalf of the Viennese dolphins. Today, the town is mainly based on the activity of its ski resort opened in the early 1920s. Renowned for many years, it has hosted the bobsleigh events of the Grenoble Olympics in 1968.
Lovers of tradition and old stones will also find their happiness in the old center of this city of Isère.
Walking through the town, you can admire the modern and original church whose exterior architecture recalls a silhouette of the Virgin. Completed in 1970, it is decorated with colorful stained glass made by Arcabas and presents a unique organ in the world in the shape of a hand raised to the sky.
Do not miss out on the Brandes archaeological site to appreciate a 12th and 14th century mining village, or the 12th century Brandes Castle. Located at 1180 meters above sea level, it was abandoned in the first half of the 14th century after the flooding of galena mining galleries. We can admire here the only medieval coron of Europe known and preserved in its entirety. It is now classified as an historic monument.
Highly appreciated by speleology enthusiasts, the Théophile cave takes place above the altiport and offers an aquatic course and exceptional concretions.
Museum of France, the Heritage House of Oisans reveals the history of the region, and houses since 2017 a model of the bobsleigh track used in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Grenoble.
But it is especially for its ski resort that L'Alpe d'Huez is mainly known. It is part of one of the largest ski areas in the country, and unveils more than 250 kilometers of trails of all levels on 10,000 hectares. The site has 135 marked trails, as well as off-piste facilities. One of the peculiarities of the station is its black track of sixteen kilometers descending from 3,300 to 1,510 meters above sea level. L'Alpe d'Huez is also open in summer, offering its visitors many activities such as hiking or mountain biking.
During your walks, you will be able to admire magnificent natural sites like the necks of the Couard and the Shoe, the rocks Pilliozan or Rissiou, or the lakes of Balme Rousse and the Fare.
