The French Alps in 5 days

A clear turquoise lake ringed by mountains, with beaches, jetties, villages such as Talloires and Duingt, and a cycle path along its western shore.

Canals lined with pastel façades, arcaded streets and the Palais de l'Île in the middle of the Thiou, overlooked by a castle holding a museum.

Ten minutes from Annecy, a walkway fixed to the cliff since 1869 runs deep into a narrow canyon, in places 25 metres above the torrent.

A village resort with a medieval square and horse-drawn carriages, stylish since the 1920s; in summer a gondola climbs Mont d'Arbois facing Mont Blanc.

At 2,525 metres, the fullest face-on view of Mont Blanc, reached from central Chamonix by gondola and cable car in about twenty minutes.

The red Montenvers train climbs in twenty minutes to France's largest glacier, where an ice cave recut every year lets you walk inside it.

A lake at 2,352 metres mirroring the Mont Blanc peaks, 1.5 to 2 hours' walk from the Flégère cable car, often past marmots and ibex.

Twenty minutes by cable car from Chamonix to 3,842 metres, with terraces over the glaciers and the glass-walled Step into the Void.