Chambéry

From World travel guide

Chambery is a beautiful town in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. Chambéry is the birthplace and historic capital of Savoie. Throughout history, it has been both Italian and French. It lies in a valley in the Alps surrounded by the Bauges and Chartreuse mountain ranges and provides almost 360-degree views of the French Alps. To the north, it is bordered by Lac du Bourget, the largest natural lake in France. Chambery has long been a "crossroads to the Alps" dating all the way back to the 11th century. For many years, it was ruled by the Duchy of Savoie before being annexed to the King of France. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man (the French version of the Declaration of Independence) while living in Chambery.

Chambery is a charming, peaceful place to visit with beautiful architecture, good food and wine, and friendly people. There are many vineyards in the area that visitors can enjoy, and on Saturdays, the city public market is abuzz with the freshest cheeses, meats, and local produce from the Alps. The area offers many recreational activities to choose from in all seasons, from skiing and snowshoeing, to sailing and rock climbing. The famous Tour de France bicycle race comes through the area in the summer. Chambery also boasts the Savoie Technolac research park and the Universite de Savoie, and a mountain research center.

1 Get in
2 Get around
3 See
4 Do
5 Buy
6 Eat
7 Drink
8 Sleep
9 Get out
10 External links

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Get in

Chambéry has direct TGV from Paris and other trains (TER, Train Express Regional) to all major destinations of the region. It takes 3.5 hours to get to Chambery on the direct TGV. Chambery is easily accessible to Lyon, Grenoble, Chamonix, Geneva (Switzerland), and Turin (Italy.)

It is linked by motorways to

Lyon via A43 in the west
Grenoble via A41 in the south
Aix-les-Bains, Annecy and Geneva via A41 in the north
Torino, Italy via ... and the tunnel of Fréjus in the east

There is also a small airport 10km north of the city, next to Lac du Bourget, that is served by a number of cheap airlines, especially during the winter months.

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Get around

Chambery is compact in size and is easily explored on foot. The medieval section of the town is quite well preserved. There are also local and regional buses. If you wish to explore the mountains or go on a wine tour, car rentals are available in town.

If you want a bit of exercise, you can also rent a bicycle and explore a bit further. Bicycles can be rented from the Vélostation in front of the train station: Agence Ecomobilité http://agence.ecomobilite.free.fr/ Only 3 euros for a half day and 5 euros for a full day. Open Monday-Friday 6:30 am to 7 pm and from 9 am to 7 pm on weekends and holidays.

Cycle paths: a cycle route goes from the centre of town north to the Lac du Bourget (mostly a cycle lane which is separate from the road) and another goes south into the vineyards (mixture of separate cycle lane and quiet country roads).

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See

The medieval quarter of Chambery holds many well-preserved streets and alleys. The most famous is the XIII-century Rue Basse du Château, which was tragically destroyed by a fire on January 1, 2001.

The Chateau de Chambery, once the residence of the Ducs de Savoie and whose chapel once housed the Shroud of Turin, is now the department of Savoie government offices.

Place du Palais de Justice

Hotel de Ville

Place St-Leger

Cathedral de Chambery

The Elephants Fountain (on lots of postcards, the fountain with these four elephant "busts" is affectionately called the "four buttless" by locals)

Croix du Nivolet

Mont Granier

Lac du Bourget

Museums

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