About Grenoble

Grenoble, known as the “Capital of the Alps”, lies in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère. The climate in September ranges between 12°C and 25°C on average.

Check out this three-minute video about Grenoble on YouTube!

Grenoble was well known in the 18th and 19th centuries for its glove industry. Because of its location near the Alps, hydropower industry played a significant part in its development in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Grenoble hosted the X Olympic Winter Games in 1968. The city is now a significant European scientific centre, and boasts a large university with an estimated 50,000 students. Grenoble is also well known as a large scientific centre (nanotechnologies, computer science, physics) with more than 20,000 people working in research-related activities (11,800 academics and 7,500 in private research), 3,400 PhD students and interns, 450 patents per year, and 220 public research laboratories.

The city’s railroad is served by the French high speed rail network, with frequent trains to Paris (3h) and Marseille (2h). There are also two main international airports (Lyon Saint Exupéry and Geneva) near the city with frequent airport shuttles (every 30 minutes) to Grenoble’s train and bus station.