France is truly blessed with 2 world class climbing areas; from the mountaineering and rock climbing around Chamonix and Mount Blanc; to the bouldering in the forests of Fontainebleau. However there are many other excellent rock climbing areas in France, some of which are described here. Coupled with the excellent wine and scenery, France is a great place for a rock climbing holiday.

Avignon - To the northeast of Avignon there is a large rock climbing area with over 50 separate crags offering everything from single pitch sports routes to multi-pitch routes on good quality limestone rock.

Chamonix - As well as the traditional mountaineering routes around Mont Blanc, there are many pure rock climbing routes particularly lower down in the valley, on Granite rock.

Corsica - Corsica offers an abundance of beautiful bolted rock to climb, from coarse weathered granite rock, to sandstone or limestone rock. There is climbing all over the island, from single pitch routes to multi-pitch routes up to 300m long, plus many bouldering areas.

Fontainebleau - The forests of Fontainebleau offer the best bouldering area in Europe, on superb sandstone rock! The unique circuits that have been developed here are colour coded that that lead you from boulder problem to boulder problem. This area is huge with many classic sites such as Trois Pignons, Bas Cuvier and L' Elelphant to name but a few.

Hautes Alps - Situated in the southern Alps this area enjoys better weather than and is definitely a lot less commercialised than Chamonix. The Hautes Alps offers an amazing choice of rock climbing with everything from classic alpine ascents of all grades to modern bolted routes with both single & multi pitch crags, plus an extensive bouldering area as well.

Verdon - The stunning Verdon Valley with its steep limestone crags offers a fantastic range of rock climbing and sports climbing. Some of the routes are very committing as you have to abseil into them and set up hanging belays, and are often multi-pitch. Other routes are accessed from the bottom of the valley, which are generally single pitch sports routes.