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Thinking of moving to Grenoble/Gap: feedback appreciated

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 simon manc 06 Oct 2016
Afternoon All,
Me + my partner are wanting to move to the area around Grenoble/Gap for the obvious reasons: skiing adventures in the winter + mt biking, trail running + trekking in the summer. Plus of course it's close to some great places + the weather isn't bad either.
Initially looking at getting a place for hols + then if work/pensions permit would move out full time.
Could do with some feedback on the pros and cons of the area + some suggestions as to where to start looking.
Got a modest budget so a two/three bed flat/cottage would work.
Not too keen on being in the middle of nowhere, so close to or in a small town with easy access to Grenoble/Gap would be grand. Finally would be good to be somewhere with an outdoor community to access.
ta.
In reply to simon manc:

I spent 6 months in Grenoble a couple of years back and loved it. I was always out in the Vercors and it wasn't too far to Ceuse, St Leger etc. I really enjoyed it as a city; there wasn't loads going on but it did have some sort of charm to it. It may have been the proximity of the mountains adding to that though.

I lived in St Martin d'Hères just on the outskirts, so it was still urban but on the right side of the city for Gap. I don't know any of the villages in between, but Embrun to the East is very nice but possibly a bit too out of the way for work if it's in Grenoble. There you are near Mt Dauphin and the biking/skiing/running in Serre Chevalier Valley.

The walls in Grenoble are very good, notably Ablok for bouldering and Espace Vertical 2 and 3 are good for leading and toproping. There's a good climbing scene and it's very easy to find partners. The annual film festival, Les Rencontres du cinéma de montagne, was a great event and showed me just how huge the outdoor scene is out there. In the summer everyone is climbing, then winter arrives and they abandon climbing for skiing!
 Carless 06 Oct 2016
In reply to simon manc:

Can't add anything from personal experience - never lived there

But a friend from there always said never live too close to the town centre and be aware of the way the fog hangs around - apparently a few hundred metres can make a big difference from seeing the sun or not
 Doug 08 Oct 2016
In reply to Carless:

Grenoble has a reputation for being very bad for air pollution as its in a basin formed by the Chartreuse, Belledone & the Vercors which traps mist, pollution etc and gets very hot in summer. Go a few hundred metres higher & its much more pleasant; I have friends who live in the Chartreuse who are less than half an hour from the centre of Grenoble but in the hills and I'm sure there are similar options in the Vercors etc. Grenoble is pretty well placed for transport links as its served by the TGV network & is on an autoroute, Gap is a more isolated if you need to travel regularly for work
 yorkshireman 08 Oct 2016
In reply to simon manc:

About five years ago me and the wife moved to a place about an hour south of Grenoble and an hour west of Gap in the southern tip of the Vercors. We're in a small hamlet, part of the bigger village but we wanted to buy a lot for our money so it was necessary to be further out.

We both work for international firms, mainly from home but travel a lot so I spend a lot of time on the road to and from Lyon airport so sometimes wished we were closer to civilisation, but I love where I live.

Some of the comments about the pollution in Grenoble are quite valid. It is a bit of an air trap.

I love being in the country but think if I wasn't travelling with work to one of several European capitals every couple of weeks for work I might feel a bit isolated. Are you close to retirement or planning on still earning a living? How much French do you speak?

PM me if you have specific questions that you might not want to share on the forum.
 RomTheBear 08 Oct 2016
In reply to simon manc:
I lived in Grenoble for a couple of years.
Very nice town, good size but not too busy, excellent public transport with a good tram system and exceptionally good connection to the motorway and rail system.

Lots of cultural events and stuff going on but of course that's not London or Paris .
It's quite a wealthy area, lots of good jobs available especially in high tech industry / science / it, and has very good universities.

Can get really hot in the summer, and does get get a lot of pollution because the place is locked between four mountain ranges so the wind doesn't go through, most days it's absolutely fine though.
People are quite chilled, a bit of an international community living there, but speaking or learning French would be a must if you don't already speak it.

Housing is pretty expensive in Grenoble itself, so if you're on a modest budget, look for the smaller towns in and around - they are for the most part very well connected.
Post edited at 10:26

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