The Alps south of the Vanoise get a Mediterranean climate and roughly 300 sunny days a year, which is why Briançon — the highest town in France at 1,326 m — has Vauban fortifications rather than chalets. The Gorges du Verdon cut 700 m into limestone and run turquoise from glacial rock flour; you can drive the rim, paddle the bottom or climb the walls. The Écrins National Park holds glaciers and 4,000 m peaks with no ski lifts on them at all, and the Queyras is one of the last valleys in the French Alps to have escaped resort development.
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Headline places
What you come to The Southern Alps for.
Cities & bases
Where to sleep inside the area.
Ski areas
The region it sits in
Tourism areas and administrative regions are different geographies — both are true, and both are browsable here.
