Combe de Savoie, U-shaped valley in Savoie, France

Combe de Savoie is a U-shaped valley lying between the Bauges Mountains and the Lauzière massif, carved by the Isère River flowing through its floor. The valley stretches roughly 40 kilometers in length at an elevation of approximately 300 meters.

The valley served as a crucial passage in ancient times, as evidenced by a Roman milestone from 285 CE discovered near Chignin. This artifact shows that a major road once connected Vienne to Milan through this corridor.

The Route des vins de la Combe de Savoie links about twenty crus, two of them AOC, on slopes of the Bauges' sunny adret side. Vineyards belong to communes such as Montmélian, Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny and Fréterive, and the wine route is presented as an invitation to taste them.

There is no continuous cyclotouring route along the valley from Chambéry to Albertville, which makes that trip awkward. The Bella Via véloroute (V62-V63) is signposted from Annecy to Montmélian and from Chambéry to Myans, but in 2025 a link between Myans and Montmélian is still missing. Mountain bikers have about 270 km of FFC-labelled circuits.

Savoie is France's second-largest producer of vine plants after Vaucluse, and growers at Fréterive, Aiton and Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny multiply and graft rootstock so vines resist phylloxera. Output reaches 20 million plants a year; Champagne takes half, Bordeaux 15%, Chablis-Sancerrois 10%, Burgundy and Beaujolais 5% each.