L'Ain

Bourg-en-Bresse :
At Bourg-en-Bresse, you ought to visit the Brou’s church and its monastery.

Between ponds and jurassic montains, this department is rich in natural sites as lakes of Nantua, Silan, Génin and Seillon, forest of Portes and also spas of Divonne-les-Bains, Hauteville-Lompnès.

Nordic ski can be practiced at La Faucille (1 320 m), Le Poizat (1 250 m) or Hotonnes (1 350 m).
Do not miss the abbey and the ramparts of Ambronay, and the gates of Pérouges (restored town), the beautiful romanesque church of the 12th century at Saint-Paul-de-Varax, the castle of Conflans and the abbey of Sélignac, the "sarrazine chimneys" on the ancient Sirs of Bâgé’s domain (17th and 18th centuries).

L'Ardèche

This department is the first site for "dolmens" - megalitics - (trace of Celt influence) ; you should visit many grottos, Ebbou (Pont-Arc small valley - with the Ardèche gorges), the swallowholes of La Vache, Orgnac and Marzal (Saint-Remèze)

Marsanne

La Drôme

Valence :
At Valence, the Saint-Apollinaire cathedrale (11th century), the Notre-Dame-de-Soyons abbey and the Heads house (11th century) are a must when visiting the city ;

at Die, the ramparts, the cathedrale, the Saint-Marcel’s gate and the lapidary museum are famous.

Do not miss at Montélimar, the castle ; other sites are not to be missed as the ideal palace of the postman Cheval at Hauterives (1879-1912) ;

at Crest, the highest dungeon of Europe (42 meters) ; the abbeys of Aiguebelle, Léoncel, Valcroissant (Cistercian of the XIIth century) ; the old villages of Mirmande, Sainte-May, Valaurie, Mazenc.

L'Isère

Grenoble :
As olympic city in 1964, Grenoble conserved the village. But, looking Grenoble from above while using the Bastille cableway, you should see the Notre-Dame cathedrale (12th - 13th centuries) and the Saint-André church (13th century) which houses the marble mausoleum of Bayard (17th century), the Dauphinois museum (Arts and popular traditions), the Stendhal museum (writer’s portraits and souvenirs), the court house (ancient parliament house of Dauphiné, built up in the 15th century and remanied under the Renaissance).

For ski lovers, the region has exceptional possibilities with the stations of Chamrousse, (1,650 m to 2,250 m), L'Alpe-d'Huez (1,850 m to 3,350 m), Les Deux-Alpes (1,660 m to 3,423 m), Villars-de-Lans (1,050 m to 1,926 m), for instance ; for some promenades, we recommand the national parks of Vercors or Ecrins ;

You ought to see the Great Carthusian convent, the monastery of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse and the castle of Vizille ; at Vienne, the Roman ruins.

La Loire

Saint-Étienne :
Second arms manufacturer city with Tulle, Saint-Etienne houses the Arm’s museum (Alexis-Rivolier) and museums devoted to Art and Industry (local industries technics and fine Arts), to Mine (gallery’s reconstitution, models and tools) and finally to the Old Saint-Etienne.

Among the sites you should not misst, we can mention the natural and regional Park of Pilat, the  lake of Grangent, the castles of Sury-le-Comtal, Bastie, Urfé (Renaissance), the cloisters of Chaise-Dieu (14th century), Charlieu ; and among your gastronomic trips : Roanne.

Le Rhône

Lyon :
Lyon declines its history from the Roman antiquity with Fourvière (Roman theater of the Ist century BC) to a modern city around the district of La Part-Dieu. Lyon is the capital of gastronomy, as you sample in its famous "mâchon" pubs (typical salad bowl with hot pork butcheries or "tablier de sapeur" - Sapper’s apron, beef meat marinaded, breaded then fried) or its "bouchons", family-sizecooking. In Lyon, you could have many  promenades :

- In the Old-Lyon and Fourvière, you should see  the Saint-Jean Primatial church (12th -15th centuries) with the chapel of Bourbons, the mansion of Gadagne (16th century), the Place of Change, the basilica of Fourvière and also the typical streets of Boeuf, Bombarde or Loge.

- Between the rivers of Saône and Rhône : From the riversides of  Saône, you ought to visit the Place Belcour, the Place of Jacobins, the College’s footbridge (looking onto the Rhône river), the Saint-Nizier church (14th - 15th centuries), the Place of Terreaux (famous for its gables and its leaded fountain by Bartholdi), the Place of Célestins (with its theater), the town hall and its belfry and also the fine Arts museum.

In the outskirts and beyond there, you enter in Beaujolais, notorious for its wines of Lozanne at Châtillon (Castle of the 13th century). You should not miss Villefranche-sur-Saône (Notre-Dame-des-Marais church of the 15th century), and Chessy (church of 1485), Charentay (vestiges of the templar fortress) or Odenas (castle of Chaise - 1675)

La Savoie

Chambéry :
In the city-center of Chambéry the Elephants fountain is a curious and contested monument ; is it a souvenir of Hannibal crossing ? But the masterpiece is the Dukes of Savoy’s castle (rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries) ; it remains hardly nothing of the former edifice of the 10th and 12th centuries). You should see the Place of Château and the street Basse-du-Château  (typically medieval).
Do not miss the Saint-François-de-Sales cathedrale well known under the name of Metropole (gothic style), the Saint-Pierre-de-Lemenc church (built up on a Carolingian crypt), the "Savoisien" museum (in the ancient episcopal palace) and the fine-Arts museum (Italian school paintings).

Walking around the lake of Bourget (and Lamartine cave), the connoisseurs could remember verses of the famous Romantic poet. You could find here the vastest ski area of France with Val-d'Isère (1,850 m), Tignes (1,550 m to 3,500 m), Les Arcs (1,600 m to 2,000 m), Courchevel (1,100 m to 1,850 m), Les Ménuires (1,850 m to 3,400 m), La Plagne (1,250 m to 3,400 m).

For some tours we recommand the abbey of Hautecombe, the castles of La Bathie, Miolans, Rochette, the medieval city of Conflans ; and also some spas : Aix-les-Bains, Brides-les-Bains, Challes-les-Eaux.

La Haute-Savoie

Annecy :
Annecy has a famous lake you could admire from the Amours bridge or hug by the Tournette quay while you go to the Saint-François church (17th century), the castle (11th century, rebuilt in the 15th century) and the  palace of Lisle (located in an island in the middle of the Thiou river which crosses the old city).

Do not miss the mounts which dominate the region from Aiguille-du-Midi to Méribel peak, and several other sites as Évian-les-Bains (spa), Thonon-les-Bains (spa) which sources are notorious ; the chapel of Assy  (tapestries of Lurçat), the castles of Montrotier, Clermont, Yvoire and the Carthusian monastery of Reposoir.