Tarentaise Valley: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Valley of the Isère River in the Savoy region of France}}

:''For the town in France, see [[Tarentaise, Loire]].''

{{Other uses|Tarentaise (disambiguation)}}

The '''Tarentaise Valley''' (French: ''Vallée de la Tarentaise'') is a valley in the heart of the [[French Alps]], in the [[Savoy]] region. It is the valley of the [[Isère River]].

{{More citations needed|date=May 2008}}

[[File:Bozel jcc.JPG|thumb|right|General sight of [[Bozel]], in Tarentaise Valley.]]

The '''Tarentaise Valley''' ({{langx|fr|Vallée de la Tarentaise}}, {{IPA|fr|vale də la taʁɑ̃tɛz|pron}}; {{langx|frp|Tarentèsa}}) is a valley of the [[Isère (river)|Isère River]] in the heart of the [[French Alps]], located in the [[Savoy]] region of [[France]]. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the capital of the pre-Roman [[Centrones]] tribe.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=D6QPAAAAYAAJ&dq John Lemprière, Lorenzo DaPonte, & John David Ogilby (1839), ''Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms''], (Tenth American Edition), New York: W.E. Dean. ''Centrones'', p. 69</ref>

== Description ==

At the foot of the valley, in the west, is the city of [[Albertville]]. Going east up the valley, [[Moûtiers]] is reached, then [[Aime]], and finally the last large town, [[Bourg-Saint-Maurice]].

The area is internationally best known for its world-renowned [[ski resort]]s, including [[Les Trois Vallées]] (off[[Courchevel]], [[Méribel]], [[Val Thorens]] etc.—off a side valley from [[Moûtiers]]), [[Paradiski]] with [[La Plagne]] above [[Aime]], and [[Les Arcs]] above [[Bourg-Saint-Maurice,]]. and[[Espace Killy]] with [[Tignes]] and [[Val -d'Isère]] is further up the valley. These communities hosted most of the events for the [[1992 Winter Olympics|1992 Albertville winterWinter olympicsOlympics]]. A weekly [[lift ticket]] in any of the described systems gives skiers a choice to ski one day in each of the other two systems mentioned. There were once plans to interlink all systems and resorts to create the—by far—largest ski area in the world. However that vision was ended with the creation of the [[Vanoise National Park]]. Other ski areas includes [[Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise]], [[La Rosière, Savoie|La Rosière]], and [[Valmorel]].{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

In the winter, the valley is a cul-de-sac, with its road finishing at Val d'Isere. In the summer, there is a pass over to the [[Maurienne Valley]] at the head of the valley (the [[Col de l'Iseran]], and a couple of others further down, including the [[Little St Bernard Pass]] eastwards to Italy via [[La Rosière, Savoie|La Rosiere]] and [[La Thuile, Savoie|La Thuile]] and the [[Cormet de RoselandRoselend]] northwards.

Both sides of the valley, but especially the sunnier northern side, have rural farming communities all the way along. The colder southern side tends to be dominated by the ski resorts but has occasional small hamlets.

==Transportation Transport ==

The valley has a railway as far as Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which, in the winter season, has various direct sleeper trains from [[Paris]] and [[Eurostar]] trains from London. The valley road [[N90 road (France)|N90]] is dual carriageway as far as Moûtiers, after which it becomes a standard two-lane but single-carriageway road, which can see substantial queues in winter. This road is currently receiving funding from the [[European Union]] for a significant improvement project between Aime and Moûtiers, one of the narrowest pointpoints in the valley.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

== References ==

{{commonsCommons category|Category:Vallée de la Tarentaise|Tarentaise Valley}}

[[Category:Savoy]]

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:geography of France]]

[[Category:Alps]]

{{Authority control}}

[[de:Tarentaise]]

{{coord|45|33|N|6|39|E|type:landmark_source:frwiki|display=title}}

[[fr:Vallée de la Tarentaise]]

[[it:Tarentaise (valle)]]

[[Category:geographyLandforms of FranceSavoie]]

[[nl:Tarentaise]]

[[Category:SavoyValleys of France]]

[[pl:Tarentaise]]

[[Category:Valleys of the Alps]]

[[Category:Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes]]