Briancon introduction
General Information
Briancon, one of the famous ski resorts of France is one of the Grande Galaxie Ski Area which provides an entry to around 256 different pistes. This is an average sized ski resort which has nine ski lifts with one lift chair, two gondolas and six surface lifts. The town of Briancon is actually divided into two parts. There is the upper town and the lower town. It’s right by the Alps and is said to be the highest town in Europe. Briancon is a great destination for skiing and the Mecca for beginners and intermediates. It can be easily accessed by any of the three ways - through air, the nearest airport being Turin; by road through Nice, Grenoble or Marseille and by train, the station being at Briancon, Serre Chevalier 1200.
Winter Activities
Briancon offers 24km ski runs which are pisted, and by getting a ski Lift Pass a skier or snowboarder can go skiing or snowboarding in Puy Saint Vincent, Serre Chevalier, LA Grave and Les Deux Alpes, some of the major ski resorts of the Grande Galaxie Ski Area. The resort offers 1301m of skiing decent which is vertical. Briancon is connected directly to by Ski Lift to Serre Chevalier, another favorite skiing destination. It is apt skiing ground for both beginners and intermediates. Snowboarding and skiing can be done the year round with over 2500m of pistes running around the Briancon resort. Seven extensively spread terrains provide great thrill to the snowboarders.
Summer Activities
However, summer brings on a whole new variety of things that can be found to do in this area. Some like to venture into the caves. Some like to bungee jump. Others like to golf while some like to go rafting. There are many who go diving and then follow that with a hike around the beautiful and all natural scenery. There are opportunities to wind surf as well as to go camping. As you can never get bored when it comes to this area. The swimming pool at the Briancon’s leisure centre is quite an attraction and can be visited. There are some health spas which offer thermal bath and other rejuvenating treatments.
Other Information
The Briancon area is home to many well known people, which this town really likes to brag about. One of those well noted people is Ernest Hemmingway. Napoleon was from this area as well. Samuel Beckett, a famous writer and also dwells from this region. The famous painter, Van Gogh happens to be from here as well. And with three easily accessible airports skiing at weekends and quick snowboarding breaks are never too far.