Rhone-Alpes

Lyon
Lyon is the capital of the region Rhône-Alpes, the préfecture of the Rhône département, with a total population of about 1,8 million (city + suburbs). It's the second biggest city in France (when including the suburbs) after Paris. Lyon is a major centre of business and has a big student population. Situated between Paris and Marseille, the city is perfectly located 2 hours from the French Alps ski resorts and 3 hours from the Mediterranean sea. Lyon is also well known as the French capital of gastronomy and has a significant role in the history of cinema. For more general information about Lyon, you can check out the Lyon Wikipedia page.

Grenoble


Grenoble is surrounded by mountains. This is the the préfecture of the Isère département, witch 560,222 inhabitants at the 2007 estimate. This is a big student's city.

Chambéry
Chambéryis a middle town, the préfecture of the département of Savoie. The metropolitan area has more than 125,000 inhabitants.

Saint-Etienne


Saint-Etienne is a city of about 180 000 inhabitants 45 minutes from Lyon by train and we love to pretend there is a war-like atmosphere between the two cities. This is the préfecture of the département Loire.

Annecy


Annecyis the préfecture of the département Haute-Savoie. Close to Geneva, Lyon and Grenoble, the town is located between its lake and mountains. Annecy has a preserved medieval old town often known as the Venice of Alps. It's a quiet and peacefull city with 52000 inhabitants during most of the year (140 000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area). However, in summer and winter, population is growing a lot because of the tourism.

Valence


Valence is the préfecture of the département Drôme, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, 65 miles south of Lyon on the railway to Marseille.

Aix-les-Bains


Aix-les-Bains

Getting to The Rhône-Alps - By Road
There are a lot of motorways in Rhône-Alpes, so it's quite easy to come by car.

Getting to The Rhône-Alps - By rail
Main train stations in Rhône-Alpes, with TGV (High speed train)

Lyon Part Dieu,

Lyon Perrache,

Lyon Saint Exupéry airport,

Saint Etienne,

Chambéry,

Annecy,

Grenoble,

Valence TGV,

Montélimar,

All info, schedules and bookings on voyage SNCF

Getting to The Rhône-Alps - By air
- Lyon-Saint-Exupéry international airport (25 km from Lyon ) :

- Geneva Cointrin international airport (in Switzerland) :

- Grenoble airport (35 km from Grenoble and 80 km from Lyon). The closest option to LES 2 ALPES and ALPES D'HUEZ ski resorts 

- Chambéry airport (10 km from Chambéry) The closest option to Savoy world's top ski resorts (3 VALLEYS, ESPACE KILLY, etc.) 

Getting to The Rhône-Alps - By bus
Main cities are served by coach : Eurolines

Couch Surfing in the Region
Look at the groups to see what are the differents CS activities : Rhône-Alpes group

Grenoble's group

Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains's group

Annecy's group

Lyon's group

Saint-Etienne's group

Valence, Drôme Ardèche group

The CS Activity in the Region
If you don't want to miss a CS meetings in Rhône-Alpes, check at the CS Calendar!

Family Welcome


In the region, there is a very nice, active and developped CS Families network. If you travel with your children, if you would like to be hosted by a family, if you are searching for a host who accept a family, meeting other families making to your children more different cultural friendship, you are welcome to join the French Family's group !

A tool exists to localise easily where you can find the CS families' in the region, please check the Family Welcome Map of the area.



Rural Couchsurfing
In Rhône-Alpes you have the chance to have the possibility to couchsurf a bit everywhere, even in the countryside ! Check the map of the Rural CSers in Rhône-Alpes, you can find them easilier on this way ! There is also a CS group called "Rural CS France" where you can talk with all Rural CSers in France.

But not all Rural CSers appears on the map or are members of the group "Rural CS France". To find the others, join the Regional CS group of Rhône-Alpes !

Links
Rhône-Alpes tourist informations in many languages : Informations

hitch:Rhone-Alpes