Bauges Cycling Tour - Chambéry Montagnes Stage: From Bourget-du-Lac to Lac Saint-André

Today included in Greater Chambéry Alps Tourism, Chambéry Tourist Information Center exists since 1896 and was one of the first created in France. Do not hesitate to take advantage of its long experience and its services.Detailled touristic documents about the city (accommodation, restaurants, events...) in french, english, italian, spanish and german. Touristic documents about Savoy, France and some European cities (Turin, Cuneo, Albstadt and Geneva). Practical informations about Chambéry and its suburbs ( public transport, activities, students...). Tickets on sale for shows, concerts, sport events (Chambery Savoie Handball), Festivals... Various products on sale ( maps, posters, books, guides, topographical maps...). Free Wifi.

This reception of Greater Chambéry Alps Tourism is dedicated to outdoor activities and the Natural Parks surrounding the city. It hosts a shop of local products (syrups, wines, herbal teas, honey ..).

The Mountain Lab offers you an interactive journey through three great universes: the secrets of life, the challenges of the slope and the wrath of the Earth !In an immersive 500 m² experience, the Mountain Lab will take visitors on a journey through three major themes: the secrets of life, the challenges of the slope, and the Earth's fury. Giant sets plunge visitors into powerful atmospheres, enriched with hands-on activities, observations, tactile displays, experiments, and dedicated spaces for younger children.

The Centre d'Interprétation de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine de Chambéry is located in a former mansion - the Hôtel de Cordon. Originally built in the 16th century, its main outer walls and internal layout were modified in the 18th century.This local cultural facility seeks to educate and inform visitors about the development of the town and raise awareness of architecture and heritage. What makes a town, district or building valuable? Or, more generally speaking, what makes it unique and special? The CIAP de Chambéry is a place of exchange at the frontier of everything that defines the town, from its past to the future. The Hôtel de Cordon is a lively space, with many activities going on: - starting point for guided tours of the old centre - educational activity and conference room - specialist architecture and heritage library (by appointment only) and office of the town's lead architect for protected zones - permanent exhibition about the town and its heritage: heritage conservation, the housing in Chambéry, the development of the town, and more. - temporary exhibitions

Nestling in a quiet valley overlooking Chambéry, this country house was the home of Jean-Jacques Rousseau when he stayed with Mme de Warrens from 1736 to 1742.The House of Charmettes is described in books V and VI of the Confessions and in the 10th of the Reveries of the solitary walker. From the revolutionary period, it became a pilgrimage site for visitors from all over the world and many celebrities (George Sand and Alphonse de Lamartine tell their visit with emotion). Classified as a historic monument in 1905, it is also a preserved natural site, and a botanical garden. This place, where the personality of one of the greatest writers of the French language was formed, is testament to Rousseau's influence in the evolution of universal thought: nature, romance, education, happiness, the century of Enlightenment, human rights and citizenship. With its peaceful atmosphere, Les Charmettes is today a museum of literary memories. The French garden of Les Charmettes contains a collection of medicinal plants, vegetables, fruits and condiments as in the eighteenth century.

The renovated Musée des Beaux Arts contains a collection largely composed of Italian works from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century, but it also displays works that help us to understand the history of art in the Savoy region.The Grenette building This corn exchange, previously known as a ‘grenette’, was located along the Medieval ramparts of the ducal city and surrounded by the Leysse, the river deviating from the Lac du Bourget. Closed down in the 19th century, it was repurposed as a voting booth for the union of the Savoie region and France, before being transformed into a museum-library in the 1880s. Renovated between 2009 and 2011, the unique architectural character of this building was restored, exploiting the diversity of the three rooms: the pillars under vaults on the ground floor, the metallic, Eiffel Tower-like aspect of the first floor, and the large windows of the second floor. Permanent collections Early art The 15th century is considered to be Savoie’s Golden Age. Combining both northern (Flanders, Germany, Switzerland) and Italian influences, these extremely rare wooden paintings demonstrate an exceptional artistic quality, marked with various archaisms. The Renaissance and Mannerism A remarkable collection of Italian works dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, with Sienna and Florence being particularly well-represented. The religious and allegorical scenes are carefully composed, with bright colours and clear, acidic tones. Portraits A wonderful collection of Italian, Flemish and Savoyard portraits, dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries. The social status of the subject can be determined by looking at whether they are alone or in a group. Genre paintings bring together various characters. The 17th century The heart of the Italian collection, the intense, formal quality of the Ecole de Naples is well-documented, which increases the dramatic atmosphere in the paintings. The collection also includes work from Rome, Florence and Venice. Piedmont in the 18th century Ecole de Turin, with its background in the unique history of the Savoie and the special relationship between Chambéry and Piedmont, produced some the most outstanding Baroque and neo-Classic works from Piedmont. L'Ecole savoyarde The Ecole de Peinture de Chambéry produced various artists, who were inspired by workshops in Geneva, Turin et Paris during the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. They painted landscapes, with the constantly-changing countryside being their main source of inspiration. Furthermore, the museum offers a year-round programme of temporary exhibitions and cultural events.

Stronghold, princely palace and symbol of the power of the Counts and Dukes of the Savoie, the Château des Ducs de Savoie brings together a remarkable collection of buildings, constructed between the 13th century and the present day. It is currently the seat of the Préfecture and Département of Savoie.The princes who governed the Savoy State for almost 900 years and the number of administrations that followed have left their mark. Since 1860, when the Savoie region was annexed to France, the Préfecture and the Conseil Général du Département continued this administrative function. Guided tours leave from the Hôtel de Cordon CIAP (71 rue Saint Réal), and allow visitors to see inside part of the Medieval buildings: - Salles de la Chambre des Comptes (except Mondays) - Cour d'Honneur Guided tours in french only. Reservation required (limited number of visitors). Conditions of entry and accessible buildings may be subject to unforeseen change, for reasons of national security and health measures against covid19.

One of the town’s emblematic monuments, this fountain was built in 1838 to pay tribute to General de Boigne, a major benefactor of Chambéry, his native town.At the death of Benoit de Boigne, the town decides to erect a monument to his glory. It chooses the project of Pierre-Victor Sappey for its originality and its importance despite a low-cost. The set is 17,65 meters high, built in limestone from Saint Sulpice. It's a curious and skilled superimposition of three monuments : a fountain, a column and a statue. The fountain shows in its plane a cross of Savoy, represented by four elephants united by their rump. Realized in cast iron, they're dropping the water from their trunk in an octagonal pool. They are carrying a battle tower, ornamented with writings and trophies, remembering the feats in battle of the General in the Indies and his numerous acts of benefaction for the town. On the column, sculpted as if it was a palm tree trunk (again a reference to the Indies), a statue of 3 meters high of the General sat on its top.

This unique railway roundhouse, built between 1906 and 1910, features an articulated metal structure similar to the Eiffel Tower. Mandatory guided tours.The exceptional railway situation of Chambéry has led to build the engine shed, to make easier the manoeuvre and the maintenance of the locomotives. This is one of the last big building of a metal articulated structure of longue range in France, this technique having then disappeared with the coming of the reinforced concrete. It is composed of two parts : a ring of 27m of width and a dome of 55m of diameter. The building is 34m high, 110m of diameter and is weighting 900 ton. While the railway installation were the Allies target, the engine shed has been miraculously spared by the bombing of 1944.When its destruction has been evoked in 1980, some railway workers passioned will succeed in convincing the SNCF direction to preserve this precious industrial testimony of the early XXth century. It has been classified historical monument in 1984. Maintained and restored progressivly by the SNCF, it is still used for the maintenance of about fifty locomotives, including a machine from the 1900's.

The old own of Chambéry is characterised by a maze of streets and private mansions. The Piedmont-style architecture is often enhanced by decorative elements (trompe-l'oeil, ironwork, sculpture, etc.). Guided tours all the year round.Near the castle, the historical center of Chambéry offers an urban configuration dense and original, strongly marked by the presence of water. This set is quite homogene and is protected by a saving area program. The rue de Boigne : This straight street, lined with torinese gantry, was created thank to the liberality of the general de Boigne. Real hole in the urban tissue inherited from the middle age, this is the artery that is linking the castle to the fountain of the elephants. The place Saint Léger : Primitive center of the town, this place has become an area of life thank to its development at the end of the 1970's. Behind its colored fronts, a whole maze of streets and court of hotel particulier, giving to Chambéry its particular appearance. The rue Basse du Château : This strret inherited from the middle age conserves one of the last aerial footbridge of the town. The rue Croix d'or : During centuries, travellers coming from Italy were entering the town by this street. Artisanal district and aristocratic until the XIXth century, numerous testimony are still visibles, for example : the metal gates of the Hôtel of Castagnéry (n°18) and the front of the hôtel des Marches et de Bellegarde (n°19).

On sent que vous en avez sous la pédale ! Au départ des gares de Chambéry ou de Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny en Savoie, élancez-vous pour 2 jours sur les véloroutes V62 et V63 parmi les vignobles alpins.C’est parti pour se remettre en selle ! Après un bon petit-déjeuner, passez dans les « tartines-blocks » pour entamer un périple de 2 jours de gare à gare entre Chambéry et Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny en empruntant les circuits véloroute V63 (depuis le Sud de Chambéry) ou V62 (depuis Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny). Ces itinéraires en vallée, intégralement balisés, suivent majoritairement les voies vertes à l’écart de la tumultueuse circulation automobile. Attendez, attendez, c’est quoi cet air ? On ne parle pas de ce que vous sifflotez à vélo, mais bien de l’air pur de la montagne ! Oui, ça surprend au début, mais pas de panique, vous vous habituerez vite à l’atmosphère de ces paisibles paysages savoyards, entre vignes, lacs et sommets. Au programme : instants contemplatifs devant les majestueux massifs, dégustations de vins dans les vignobles de Cœur de Savoie, petit plongeon dans le Lac de Carouge, visite des villages alpins… La tête dans les nuages, ou dans le guidon, c’est à vous de voir. Pour la nuit (en option) : • À l’hôtel la Clef des Champs à Montmélian au cœur de la Combe de Savoie au pied de la montagne La Savoyarde qui veille sur la vallée. • En chambre d’hôtes vigneronne Chez Sylvie & Guy Quenard à Chignin, au cœur du domaine familial, dans leur bâtisse de charme du 18ème siècle, avec possibilité de réserver pour un dîner mets et vins à leur table d’hôte. Le petit + : Ponctuez votre itinéraire de découvertes œnotouristiques grâce à la webapp de la Route des Vignobles Alpins (thealpinevineyardsroad.com/) qui recense nos prestataires et vignerons labellisés Vignobles & Découvertes Pour la location de vélo électriques, Saboia Vélo à Saint-Pierre d'Albigny sera à votre disposition afin de vous aiguiller dans votre périple !