Citadelle de Briançon

Briançon is the highest city in France, at around 1,300 metres in the Hautes-Alpes, and its fortified upper town is one of the great monuments of military engineering in the Alps. The walled old quarter, called the Cité Vauban, rises on a rocky spur above the meeting of the Durance and the Guisane, and the citadel crowns its top. The works that give the place its present form date mainly from the early eighteenth century, when the engineers of Louis XIV, following designs and principles set by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, strengthened the town against attack across the Alpine passes from Italy.

In 2008 Briançon was included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Fortifications of Vauban, a group of twelve sites across France. Here Vauban's system is applied to mountain terrain. The town walls, bastions and gates, the citadel, and a ring of outlying forts on the surrounding heights all work together to cover the approaches. The Pont d'Asfeld, a stone arch bridge built in the 1730s over a deep gorge of the Durance, links the town with the fort of Têtes, and it is worth seeing for its height and its elegant single span.

Visitors enter the Cité through gates such as the Porte de Pignerol, and the main street, the Grande Gargouille, runs steeply uphill with a gutter running down its middle, a feature that gives it its name. Houses are tall and narrow, with painted sundials on some walls, and the lanes are lined with small shops and cafés. At the top, the citadel and its ramparts give views of the surrounding valleys and peaks. Guided walks, organised by the town's heritage service, explain the defences and the history of the garrison, with meeting points at the Porte de Pignerol. They run on set days in the busy season and in some cases need booking, so check the current programme and bring water, a hat and sturdy shoes, as the streets are steep and paved with stone.

The nearby Église Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens, the Place d'Armes and the Bastion de la Reine give more to see within the walls, and the Musée des Traversées tells the story of the town's relations with the surrounding mountains. Beyond the town, the Vallée de la Clarée is good for walking, the Sentier de Grande Randonnée GR54 passes nearby, and the Fort du Mont-Dauphin is another Vauban site in the region.

A visit takes about two to three hours. The walk suits history lovers, photographers and families who do not mind hills.