Annecy Region - French Alps

Just one hour from Geneva, and set amidst stunning scenery, the medieval town of Annecy provides the setting for our alpine studies. Located at the head of the glacial Lac d’Annecy, the town has a quaint pedestrianised centre and yet is a busy industrial and administrative centre for the region. Within easy reach of our base in Faverges, locations such as Chamonix, Albertville and La Clusaz are all possible destinations for our study units. There is a wide range of investigations in this area together with leisure activities that ensures a happy balance between work and play. We would recommend that groups travel between May and October.

SAMPLE ITINERARY - GCSE
Day 1: Depart from school for overnight journey to France.
Day 2: Arrive at your accommodation mid afternoon and settle in. It may be possible to do a local activity depending upon your arrival time.
Day 3: Visit Annecy. Land use survey of the town centre and a honey-pot site. A tourist questionnaire provides the main source of data. Begin to understand the local landscape with a boat trip on the lake and a visit to the glacial overflow channel of the Gorges du Fier.
Day 4: This is it! Chamonix. Glaciers and tourism inextricably mixed. About 1-2 hours from base depending upon the season it is worth combining activities or consider 2 days here. Travel by cable car to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi, and Mont Blanc, take a gondola trip over the ice fields with towering seracs and cavernous crevasses, walk the Balcon Nord to the Mer de Glace and return by train to Chamonix.
Day 5: Hauteluce and Les Saisies village study. A traditional alpine village and ski station are united in their involvement in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games. A mapping and land use study.
Day 6: A morning study of suburbanisation in Faverges before departing for the overnight jouney to the UK.
Day 7: Ferry/tunnel crossing and return home.

SAMPLE ITINERARY - AS/A2
Day 1: Travel arrangements as for GCSE.
Day 2: Following discussion, visit a local ski station.
Assess the area and determine aims, hypotheses and methods of data collection. On the return, visit the caves of Seythenex.
Day 3: Chamonix. There are several study options that can be combined possibly over two days.
  a) Glaciation. Aguille du Midi and Mont Blanc, take a gondola ride over the ice fields with their towering seracs and gaping crevasses. Walk the Balcon Nord to the Mer de Glace and return to Chamonix by train.
  b) Glacier des Bossons. Morphological mapping, vegetation transect from snout, till fabric analysis.   c) Tourism in Chamonix. A honey-pot location that allows a wide variety of data to be collected: tourist questionnaire, car park survey, land use survey, pedestrian and vehicle counts.
Day 4: Annecy. Delimit the tourist CBD by transect study. Tourist questionnaire. Examine the existence of a shopping hierarchy, shopping questionnaire. Combine these studies with relaxation at the Gorges du Fier or at the lake.
Day 5: Hauteluce and Les Saisies. A Mapping exercise. Local river channel characteristics, infiltration capacities or soil studies are all possible in this area.
Day 6: A morning study of suburbanisation in Faverges before departing for the overnight journey to the UK.
Day 7: Ferry/tunnel crossing and return home.

These are only suggested itineraries. Study units can be any length and combined to include the excursions you require. Cable car and excursion entry fees are not included in the tour price. Please contact us for flight options.

Tourism
There are plenty of opportunities to study tourism within the area. Chamonix again provides a location where copious amounts of data can be collected. The medieval city of Annecy with its network of narrow pedestrian streets and quaint alleys is bustling with visitors in the summer months. The Savoie village of La Clusaz also lends itself to a study of tourist facilities. Investigations examine clustering of facilities and land use, includes interviewing to obtain primary date using questionnaires and car park surveys. Based upon pre-determined hypotheses, the data can be analysed and presented on pre-prepared diagrams and graphs to reach conclusions about the interests and characteristics of visitors to the region.

United Nations Visit
A guided tour of the impressive buildings and grounds in Geneva. Live debates can be observed and students appreciate the work of the UN by negotiation to promote world peace.

United Nations Visit
A guided tour of the impressive buildings and grounds in Geneva. Live debates can be observed and students appreciate the work of the UN by negotiation to promote world peace.

Slope Studies
Les Saisies, a ski station, is the location for investigation. Here it is possible to undertake infiltration studies on a slope that is a ski piste to understand the impacts of compaction. On the same or similar slopes soil pits can be dug to study changing soil profiles downslope. Natually all holes are filled and turf replaced!

Settlement Studies
These units can be studied in a variety of places and combined with other study units in the same locality. In Annecy recording landuse to assess the importance of tourism is popular. Land use transects can also be done to try to delimit the CBD. Is it the same as textbook theory? Is it the same as a UK city? For AS and A2 students further studies might include studying shopping hierarchy around Annecy CBD which entails both land use survey and a shopping questionnaire. Hauteluce is an alpine village unchanged for many years. The Winter Olympic Games of 1992 has seen some growth. Students can undertake a mapping exercise of this compact village to determine age and growth before visiting Les Saisies which was the centre for cross-country skiing events in 1992. A comparison between the two settlements enables students to see the different provision that has been made.

River Studies
This explores a section of a mountain river near to Les Saisies. The morphology can be studied along a channel that includes a steep section, small meander and braiding within easy reach of each other and accessible from the bank. Data collection will include measuring width and depth, velocity and gradient.

Additional Activities
Boating on Lake Annecy. Ice Skating, Bowling, Restaurants and cafes, swimming. Mini golf/crazy golf at Hauteluce.

Price Guide
Based on 40 paying passengers

LS: May, September & October
HS: June, July & August