The 'French Alps' are those parts of the
Alps mountain range which lie in
France. They are within the regions of
Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and
Rhône-Alpes.
The specific subranges of the Alps that are at least partly in France include (from south to north):
★
Maritime Alps
★
Cottian Alps
★
Dauphiné Alps
★
★
Massif des Écrins
★
Graian Alps
★
Pennine Alps
★
French Prealps
Mont Blanc is the highest point of the French Alps (and of the Alps as a whole).
Notable towns include
Grenoble,
Chamonix and
Chambéry.

Panorama of Chamonix valley
Ski areas
The largest connected ski areas are :
#
Les Trois Vallées (
Courchevel,
Méribel,
La Tania,
Brides-les-Bains,
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville,
Les Menuires,
Val Thorens and
Orelle) : '338' pistes, 600 km of
pistes.
#
Portes du Soleil (
Avoriaz,
Châtel,
Morzine,
Les Gets,
Saint-Jean d'Aulps,
La Chapelle d'Abondance,
Abondance,
Montriond, Swiss resorts) : '288' pistes, 650 km of pistes not entirely connected.
#
Paradiski (
La Plagne,
Peisey-Vallandry,
Les Arcs) : '239' pistes, 420 km of pistes.
#
Via Lattea (
Montgenèvre, Italian resorts) : '214' pistes, 400 km of pistes.
# Évasion Mont-Blanc (
Combloux,
Megève,
Saint-Gervais,
Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce,
Les Contamines Monjoie) : '183' pistes, 420 km of pistes not entirely connected.
# Espace Killy (
Tignes,
Val d'Isère) : '137' pistes, 300 km of pistes.
# Grand Massif (
Flaine,
Les Carroz,
Morillon,
Samoëns,
Sixt) : '134' pistes, 265 km of pistes.
# Les Aravis (
La Clusaz,
Manigod,
Croix Fry,
Merdassier,
Le Grand-Bornand) : '133' pistes, 220 km of pistes not entirely connected.
# Les Grandes Rousses (L'
Alpe d'Huez,
Vaujany,
Auris-en-Oisans,
Oz-en-Oisans,
Villard-Reculas) : '117' pistes, 236 km of pistes.
#
Serre Chevalier : '111' pistes, 250 km of pistes.
# La Forêt Blanche (
Risoul,
Vars) : '104' pistes, 180 km of pistes.
# Les Sybelles (
Le Corbier,
La Toussuire,
Les Bottières,
Saint-Jean-d'Arves,
Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves,
Saint-Colomban-des-Villards) : '96' pistes, 310 km of pistes.
#
Valloire and
Valmeinier : '83' pistes, 150 km of pistes.
# Grand Domaine (
Valmorel,
Saint-François-Longchamp) : '82' pistes, 150 km of pistes
# Espace San Bernardo (
La Rosière, La Thuile - Italie) : '73' pistes, 150 km of pistes.
#
Les Deux Alpes and
La Grave : '69' pistes, 220 km of pistes.
''(ski areas ranked according to the number of marked runs; figure more reliable than the traditional number of km given by the resorts themselves). (2005).''
The other large alpine ski areas are:
★ Le Val d'Arly (
Praz-sur-Arly,
Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe,
Flumet) : 150 km of pistes.
★ L'Espace Cristal (
Les Saisies,
Crest-Volland) : 80 km of pistes
★
Villard-de-Lans et
Corrençon-en-Vercors : 125 km of pistes
★
Valberg -
Beuil les Launes : 90 km of pistes
★ Espace Lumière (
Pra-Loup,
Val d'Allos) : 170 km of pistes
★
Superdévoluy -
La Joue du Loup : 100 km of pistes
See also
★
List of ski areas and resorts in Europe
★
List of national parks in the Alps