10 largest cities in France
Paris
Marseilles
Lyon
Toulouse
Nice
Nantes
Strasbourg
Orleans
Reims
Avignon
Grenoble is a city in the South-East of France, in the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the capital of the Isère department.
Located between three massifs of the Alps, the Vercors, the Massif
de la Chartreuse, and the Belledonne range, its geographical
position and the shape of its urbanization give it the nickname of Y
Grenoblois. It is crossed by two rivers, the Isère and the Drac,
which meet there. It has the geographical particularity of being a
city with a singularly flat relief in a mountain environment.
6th most popular city in France according to the ranking
established by the magazine Le Point ("Where do we live best in
France?", No. 689 of January 27, 2005). Grenoble, already organizer
of the international exhibition of white coal in 1925, is also known
for having organized the Olympic Winter Games in 1968. On the
occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Olympic Games, numerous
sporting and cultural events took place. held in Grenoble in
February 2008.
Arts, Hi-Tech and Sport are the three words
which best characterize this agglomeration of nearly 500,000
inhabitants which combines the infrastructures of a modern city with
the superb setting of the high Alpine mountains which surround it.
Arts - It is first of all a city known for its writers and
artists, native or passing, like Stendhal (who hated Grenoble but
said that you could see a mountain there on every corner), Debelle,
Hache , Hébert ... Many museums in Grenoble and its surrounding
region bear witness to their works. The Musée de Grenoble (located
in the heart of the city, Place Notre Dame and the stop of the same
name for tram B and bus) has a large collection of modern works, but
also more classic collections and a park with many statues.
Hi-Tech - It is then a very active city with three universities
(with more than 60,000 students), an international management
school, nine engineering schools, several public and private
research centers, focused in particular on new technologies
(synchrotron, MINATEC, LETI). Most of these research organizations
are concentrated north of Grenoble in what is called the scientific
polygon. It is not uncommon to meet Quebeckers, Americans, Germans,
Italians ... whether they are businesswomen and men, researchers or
technicians.
Sport - Finally, it is one of the most sporting
city in France, where weekends are turned towards the surrounding
nature. Grenoble gives quick access to winter sports resorts -
possible on the three massifs: Belledonne, Chartreuse and Vercors -
and can be a stopover towards the larger ones, or even towards the
hiking trails of Belledonne and Chartreuse. We can denote 3
high-level sports teams: Grenoble Foot 38 (amateur football
championship but which wants to regain league 1 before the end of
this decade), FC Grenoble Alpes Rugby (Top 14, rugby) and Les
Brûleurs de Loup (Magnus League, ice hockey). The Stade des Alpes
(20,068 seats) is located in the Paul-Mistral park, to the east of
the city. One can see there in particular the matches of GF38.
Finally, Grenoble regularly hosts stages of the Tour de France given
its position in the Alps, as well as each year a stage of the
Critérium du Dauphiné, the second cycling race in France.
By plane
Two airports exist in the vicinity of
Grenoble:
Grenoble-Isère International Airport (IATA: GNB)
(40 km from Grenoble) - Allowing year-round flights to London and
Dublin with Ryanair, but also to many destinations (Stockholm,
Hamburg, Amsterdam, several cities British…), this airport being the
access hub to alpine ski resorts.
Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport
(IATA: LYS, ex-Satolas) (100 km away, direct shuttle from Grenoble
train station) - Provides access in one hour to all major French
cities by Air France and most European metropolises .
Grenoble-Le
Versoud aerodrome (13 km from Grenoble in the town of Le Versoud) -
It is one of the most used in France with a number of flights
varying from 70,000 to 80,000 annually. Its track is 900 m.
By train
Grenoble is connected to Lyon (1 hour 30 minutes),
Chambéry (45 minutes) to Valence (1 hour) to Gap (1 hour 30 minutes)
by TER, and to Paris 9 times a day by TGV (3 hours). Also several
daily connections to Briançon.
Grenoble station 1 place de la
Gare 38000 Grenoble.
By car
Highways:
A480 Rocade Ouest
A41 from Geneva (via Chambéry)
A48 from Lyon
A49 from Valence
A51 from Aix-en-Provence and Sisteron
There are 13 park-and-ride
facilities (TAG) distributed in and around the city.
By
intercity bus
Regular bus lines exist. These are organized by the
General Council of Isère (Transisère network), and tickets (zonal
pricing: Transisère) are valid for all companies in the network. The
Transisère lines provide access to winter sports resorts and
Grenoble-Isère airport in particular (timetables).
A Satobus line is also organized between Lyon airport and the
Gare Routière. Buses leave from the bus station and the airport
every hour. It takes 1 h 05 for this trip. The price: € 20 for a
one-way ticket and € 30 for a return ticket. The ticket can be
bought on the bus and paid for by Carte Bleue.