The Tarentaise Valley (french: Vallée de la Tarentaise, ; frp, Tarentèsa) is a valley of the Isère River in the heart of the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

, located in the

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the capital of the pre-Roman Centrones tribe. John Lemprière, Lorenzo DaPonte, & John David Ogilby (1839), ''Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms''
(Tenth American Edition), New York: W.E. Dean. ''Centrones'', p. 69

Description

At the foot of the valley, in the west, is the city of

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

. Going east up the valley,

Moûtiers Moûtiers (; Arpitan: ''Motiérs''), historically also called Tarentaise, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 3,511. Moûtiers is the main access poi ...

is reached, then

Aime Aime (; frp, Éma) is a former commune in the Savoie ''département'' in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Aime-la-Plagne.Bourg-Saint-Maurice Bourg-Saint-Maurice (; Arpitan: ''Bôrg-Sant-Mori'' or simply ''Le Bôrg''), popularly known as Bourg, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. Located on the Italian border south of Cham ...

. The area is internationally best known for its world-renowned

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s, including

Les Trois Vallées Les Trois Vallées (; ''The Three Valleys'') is a ski region in the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie department of Southeastern France, to the south of the town of Moûtiers, partly in Vanoise National Park. Since 1971, it has been possible to ...

(

Courchevel Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 (Moriond), and Cou ...

Méribel Méribel () is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps. Méribel refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie department of France, near the town of Moûtiers (), called Méribel Centre, Méribel ...

Val Thorens Val Thorens (), is a ski town located in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, French Alps at an altitude of . It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoie department. The resort forms part of the Les Trois Vallées ski ar ...

etc.—off a side valley from

Paradiski Paradiski is a ski-area in the Tarentaise Valley of France that offers uninterrupted skiing in between the areas of Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne. The area is linked, since December 2003, by the Vanoise Express lift. In total over the ...

with La Plagne above

Bourg-Saint-Maurice Bourg-Saint-Maurice (; Arpitan: ''Bôrg-Sant-Mori'' or simply ''Le Bôrg''), popularly known as Bourg, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. Located on the Italian border south of Cham ...

Espace Killy Espace may refer to: *ESPACE, a complexity class in computational complexity theory *Espace musique, a Canadian radio service *Espace 2, a Swiss radio station *Radio Espace, a French radio station *Espace Group, a French media company *Group Espace ...

with

Tignes Tignes () is a commune in the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France, known for the highest skiable area and the longest ski season in Europe. It is located in the Savoie region with good tr ...

and

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère'') is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department ( Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) in southeastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise Na ...

is further up the valley. These communities hosted most of the events for the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. A weekly

lift ticket A lift ticket or lift pass is an identifier usually attached to a skier's or snowboarder's outerwear that indicates they have paid and can ride on the ski lift(s) that transport people and equipment up or down a mountain. Types of lift tickets ...

in any of the described systems gives skiers a choice to ski one day in each of the other two systems mentioned. There were once plans to interlink all systems and resorts to create the—by far—largest ski area in the world. However that vision was ended with the creation of the

Vanoise National Park Vanoise National Park (french: Parc national de la Vanoise) is a French national park between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys in the French Alps, containing the Vanoise massif. It was created in 1963 as the first national park in France. ...

. Other ski areas includes

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise () is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise is a village in the Tarentaise Valley in Savoie, France. The old village lies on the main road b ...

, La Rosière, and

Valmorel Valmorel () is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley, located in the communes of Les Avanchers-Valmorel and La Léchère, in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The station was opened in 1976. The domain is connected to the ...

. In the winter, the valley is a cul-de-sac, with its road finishing at Val d'Isere. In the summer, there is a pass over to the Maurienne Valley at the head of the valley (the

Col de l'Iseran Col de l'Iseran (el. ) is a mountain pass in France, the highest paved pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is in the department of Savoie, near the border with Italy, and is crossed by the D902 roadway. The pass is part of the Route ...

), and a couple of others further down, including the

Little St Bernard Pass The Little St Bernard Pass (French: ''Col du Petit Saint-Bernard'', Italian: ''Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo'') is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between S ...

eastwards to Italy via La Rosiere and La Thuile and the Cormet de Roselend northwards. Both sides of the valley, but especially the sunnier northern side, have rural farming communities all the way along. The colder southern side tends to be dominated by the ski resorts but has occasional small hamlets.

Transport

The valley has a railway as far as Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which, in the winter season, has various direct sleeper trains from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

trains from London. The valley road (the N90) is dual carriageway as far as Moûtiers, after which it becomes a standard two-lane but single-carriageway road, which can see substantial queues in winter. This road is currently receiving funding from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

for a significant improvement project between Aime and Moûtiers, one of the narrowest points in the valley. Costume de la vallée de la Tarentaise

Notes

External links

{{coord, 45, 33, N, 6, 39, E, type:landmark_source:frwiki, display=title Landforms of Savoie Valleys of France Valleys of the Alps Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes