Rhône-Alpes was one of the administrative regions of France from 1952 to 2015. It included the departments Ain, Ardeche, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Rhône, Savoie and Haute-Savoie. The capital was Lyon. On January 1, 2016, it became a new region with the Auvergne Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes merged.
For the purposes of this travel guide, it is divided into two travel regions:
- Rhône Valley, rather flat to slightly hilly, consisting of the departments Ain, Ardèche, Drôme, Loire and Rhône, the largest city is Lyon.
- French Alps, High mountains, consisting of the departments Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, largest city is Grenoble.