71 Best Sights in Lyon and the Alps, France

Founded in 1903, this is the last bastion of original pottery in Cliouscat and a registered historic monument. You can learn about the manufacturing operations here and purchase some lovely pieces, both traditional and contemporary.

The last vestige of the city's sizable Roman baths is a Roman gateway decorated with delicate friezes.

Rue des Orfèvres (off Rue de la Charité) is lined with Renaissance facades and distinguished by the church of St-André-le-Bas, once part of a powerful abbey, with beautifully restored 12th-century capitals and a 17th-century wood statue of St. Andrew. It's best to see the cloisters during the music festival held here and at the cathedral from June through August.

Follow some steep-curbed alleyways, called côtes, from the banks of the Rhône into the Vieille Ville to discover, at its center, the imposing cathedral of St-Apollinaire. Although begun in the 12th century in the Romanesque style, it's not as old as it looks: parts of it were rebuilt in the 17th century, with the belfry rebuilt in the 19th.

Although religious wars deprived the cathedral of St-Maurice of many of its statues, much of the original decoration is intact; the portals on the 15th-century facade are carved with Old Testament scenes. The cathedral was built between the 12th and 16th centuries, with later additions, such as the splendid 18th-century mausoleum to the right of the altar. A frieze of the zodiac adorns the entrance to the vaulted passage that once led to the cloisters but now opens onto Place St-Paul.

Beside the Rhône is the church of St-Pierre—note the rectangular 12th-century Romanesque bell tower with its arcaded tiers. The lower church walls date from the 6th century, and there is a collection of Gallo-Roman architectural fragments on display.

The remains of the Temple d'Auguste et de Livie, accessible via Place St-Paul and Rue Clémentine, probably date in part from Vienne's earliest Roman settlements (1st century BC). The Corinthian columns were walled in during the 11th century, when the temple was used as a church; in 1833 Prosper Mérimée intervened to have the temple restored.

Two ruined, semicircular, Roman-built theaters are tucked into the hillside, just down from the summit of Fourvière. The Grand Théâtre, the oldest Roman theater in France, was built in 15 BC to seat 10,000. The smaller Odéon, with its geometric flooring, was designed for music and poetry performances.

One of the joys of Val d'Isère is that the easy slopes aren't concentrated at the bottom of the mountains. Beginners can take the gondola to the top and ski for hours at the upper altitudes. Val d'Isère and neighboring Tinges form the Espace Killy, a massive ski area with 154 runs of various ski levels extending for a total of 300 km (186 miles).

Wish the ski season didn't have to end? Val d'Isère's Pissaillas Glacier and Tignes's Grand Motte Glacier both offer summertime skiing. And there are plenty of other activities in both resorts during warmer weather.

Europe's highest ski resort, Val Thorens has such a lofty position that you see nothing but snow-covered mountains in every direction. The landscape is so iconic that the three adjoining peaks that grace every bottle of Evian are found here. The season here lasts longer than at resorts down the mountain, often from mid-November to early May.

High-speed lifts of all types transport you up to 68 runs of various ski levels. More than 50 are best suited for intermediate-level skiers, but there is also a handful for beginners or experts. Val Thorens is connected to the Trois Vallées ski area, so you have access to more than 600 km (373 miles) of slopes in nearby Les Menuires and elsewhere.

It was first built in the 1970s, so Val Thorens isn't the loveliest resort in the French Alps. But it buzzes with energy day and night, thanks to a clientele of couples enjoying romantic getaways and groups of friends challenging the slopes and taking advantage of a wild après-ski scene.