Properties & Villas For Sale In Grenoble

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Grenoble is a city located in the Rhône-Alps region in south-east France at the foot of the Alps. Surrounded by mountains Grenoble is often called the “capital of the Alps”. The city is mainly built on the alluvial plain of the River Isère and lies at an altitude of around 214 metres. Ski sports are an important tourist attraction with some 20 ski stations surround the city, the nearest being Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse which is about a 15 minute drive away. Other famous ski resorts within a 30 minute drive include Chamrousse, Meribel and Les 2 Alps.

In the summer, walking, trecking, rock-climbing, horse-riding and paragliding are popular sports, and even skiing as glaciers such as 'Les 2 Alpes' are open all year round.

Easy access to Grenoble makes it a perfect base to explore the rest of France and Europe, Grenoble is close to Switzerland and Italy.

By road Grenoble is approached by the A48 motorway.

The nearest railway station is 5 km (5-10 minutes); services included Eurostar which goes to Grenoble.

Nearest airports include: Saint-Exupéry International Airport near Lyon, 90 km (80 minutes). Grenoble-Isère airport 40 km (30 minutes) flights from Luton, Bournemouth and Birmingham with Easyjet. The Geneva Cointrin International Airport is only 2 hours away.

Grenobles has a long history from being a small town in the 3rd century when the Allobroges built strong walls around the town, later the Emperor Gratian visited the town and had the city walls improved. After the collapse of the Roman Empire the city became part of the first Burgundian kingdom only to be taken by Clotaire I, king of the Franks, later it passed into possession of the Carolingian kings, then the second Burgundian kingdom of Arlés, and finally became a possession of the counts of Vienne.

In 1788 the townspeople assaulted troops of Louis XVI in the “Day of Tiles”.

Modern history saw travelling guillotines going from village to village to exact vengeance. The Bastille was historically named the Place de la Guillotine.
During World War II many resistance fighters were betrayed in Grenoble. The old Gestapo HQ is now a well-known hotel.

As well as being a popular centre for skiing, Grenoble is now a major scientific centre, especially in the fields of physics, computer science and applied mathematics.

Miscellaneous information:
- The area is famous for its walnuts and the manufacture of gloves.
- Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics and is preparing to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- Famous for its many nearby ski resorts in the surrounding mountains, and its Italian quarter “Quartier Saint Laurent”.
- Home to the rugby union team “FC Grenoble, football team “Grenoble Fott 39” and an ice hockey team “Bruleurs de loups”.
- A vast assortment of restaurants from the cheap the expensive of almost every cuisine, particularly common are Italian and Asian.

Sister/Twin Cities include:
Oxford, UK
Phoenix, USA
Catania, Italy
Corato, Italy
Innsbruck, Austria
Essen, Germany
Chisinau, Moldova
Rehovoth, Israel
Pecs, Hungary
Kaunas, Lithuania
Sfax, Tunisia
Constantine, Algeria

Extracts from "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia".