What are the 10 highest cities in France?

In order: Val-d'Isère, Tignes, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Courchevel, Cauterets, La Clusaz, Briançon, Bagnères-de-Luchon, Morzine and Passy.

What is the top 5 of highest cities in France?

Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m) and Cauterets (1,941 m).

Which city is 2nd in the ranking of highest cities in France?

Tignes, at 2,465 m, just behind Val-d'Isère (2,583 m).

In which département is Val-d'Isère?

Val-d'Isère is in département 73, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

What is the difference between Val-d'Isère and Tignes?

Val-d'Isère is at 2,583 m, Tignes at 2,465 m. The table gives the same figure for all 50 places, so any two of them can be compared the same way.

How many French cities does this ranking compare?

1,111, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.

What are the highest cities in France in 2026?

This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: Val-d'Isère leads with 2,583 m.

Is there a complete ranking of highest cities in France?

Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,111, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.

Is Briançon the highest city in France?

Briançon is the highest city in France above 10,000 inhabitants, which is the claim it is famous for and it holds. Several resort communes rank above it here because this ranking sorts on mean altitude across the whole commune, and theirs reach far up the mountain.

What is the altitude of Val-d'Isère?

2,583 m, as a mean over the commune's territory rather than the height of its church square, which is the figure a town hall usually quotes.

Which is the highest ski resort in France?

The resort communes at the head of this table, in Savoie and the Hautes-Alpes, are the highest inhabited communes in the country: Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m) and Cauterets (1,941 m).

In order: Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m), Cauterets (1,941 m), La Clusaz (1,619 m), Briançon (1,586 m), Bagnères-de-Luchon (1,559 m), Morzine (1,548 m), Passy (1,517 m).

Isn't Briançon the highest city in France?

It is, and this ranking agrees: Briançon is the highest commune in France with more than 10,000 inhabitants, which is what the usual claim means by "city". The communes above it here are Alpine resorts of one or two thousand residents (Val-d'Isère, Tignes, Chamonix), and note that the figure ranked is the commune's MEAN altitude over its whole territory, so a village whose land runs up to a glacier scores far above the altitude of its own streets.

Le Bon Rang

Position and size · IGN, via data.gouv.fr

The highest cities in France

Name: The highest cities in France
Creator: Le Bon Rang
License: https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/licence-ouverte-open-licence/

The highest commune in France is Val-d'Isère, at a mean altitude of 2,583 m, ahead of Tignes (2,465 m) and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m).

Altitude, 1051 cities shown. The coloured surface is a local average over 34,863 communes, 99.1% of the country's population, weighted by the population of each one. Every commune with a published value counts, not only the towns in the table. 60 ranked overseas cities are not plotted: they fall outside this map's frame. Projection: longitude compressed by cos(46.3°N), so east-west and north-south distances stay comparable. Source: IGN, via data.gouv.fr.

Find your town

Top 50 of 1,111 cities
Rank	City	Altitude m	Population	Region
1	73 Val-d'Isère	2,583	1,567	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
2	73 Tignes	2,465	1,919	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
3	74 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc	2,445	8,705	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
4	73 Courchevel	2,026	2,290	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
5	65 Cauterets	1,941	829	Occitanie
6	74 La Clusaz	1,619	1,623	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
7	05 Briançon	1,586	11,411	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
8	31 Bagnères-de-Luchon	1,559	2,076	Occitanie
9	74 Morzine	1,548	2,658	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
10	74 Passy	1,517	10,856	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
11	74 Megève	1,478	2,893	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
12	04 Barcelonnette	1,407	2,518	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
13	2B Corte	1,301	7,819	Corse
14	74 Sallanches	1,285	17,319	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
15	974 Le Tampon	1,282	82,579	La Réunion
16	74 Fillière	1,152	10,075	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
17	05 Gap	1,113	41,293	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
18	48 Saint-Chély-d'Apcher	1,026	3,955	Occitanie
19	974 Saint-Leu	1,017	36,163	La Réunion
20	25 Pontarlier	989	18,067	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
21	974 Les Avirons	970	11,536	La Réunion
22	974 Saint-Joseph (974)	963	39,207	La Réunion
23	01 Gex	949	13,627	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
24	48 Mende	899	12,464	Occitanie
25	04 Digne-les-Bains	868	17,979	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
26	974 La Possession	855	36,568	La Réunion
27	74 La Roche-sur-Foron	838	11,348	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
28	88 Gérardmer	821	7,581	Grand Est
29	01 Divonne-les-Bains	810	10,464	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
30	974 Saint-Paul	791	108,088	La Réunion
31	974 Saint-Benoît	768	38,604	La Réunion
32	43 Le Puy-en-Velay	750	18,540	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
33	974 Saint-Denis (974)	714	155,634	La Réunion
34	12 Millau	688	22,044	Occitanie
35	81 Mazamet	675	10,085	Occitanie
36	974 Bras-Panon	673	13,012	La Réunion
37	15 Aurillac	668	26,214	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
38	01 Oyonnax	667	22,480	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
39	974 Saint-Louis (974)	666	54,941	La Réunion
40	971 Saint-Claude	650	10,177	Guadeloupe
41	74 Bonneville	642	13,335	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
42	42 Saint-Étienne	633	173,136	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
43	974 Sainte-Marie (974)	619	37,093	La Réunion
44	42 Le Chambon-Feugerolles	607	12,314	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
45	73 Albertville	596	19,978	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
46	38 Seyssinet-Pariset	585	11,739	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
47	12 Onet-le-Château	574	12,080	Occitanie
48	12 Rodez	565	23,981	Occitanie
49	74 Annecy	554	132,117	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
50	01 Valserhône	554	16,712	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The table stops at 50. Search any of the 1,111 ranked towns ↑

The other end : The lowest cities in France

All rankings →

The 97 other rankings, by category

Position and size

People

Weather

Money and housing

Getting around

Sport

Drink

Countryside

Everyday life

Scope, method and sources

Scope: France, metropolitan and overseas, Corsica and the DROM included. This dataset holds every commune of 10,000 inhabitants or more, plus smaller communes famous enough to be household names, 1,131 in all. It is not the full list of 35,000 French communes, so a village can sit outside a ranking whose extreme it would otherwise hold.

Method and sources: populations are the INSEE legal populations, boundaries and coordinates come from the IGN commune registry, both served by geo.api.gouv.fr. Density is the population divided by the commune's area; distances are measured as the crow flies from the commune's centre. Data read on August 28, 2026.

15 questions about this ranking

What are the 10 highest cities in France?: In order: Val-d'Isère, Tignes, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Courchevel, Cauterets, La Clusaz, Briançon, Bagnères-de-Luchon, Morzine and Passy.
What is the top 5 of highest cities in France?: Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m) and Cauterets (1,941 m).
Which city is 2nd in the ranking of highest cities in France?: Tignes, at 2,465 m, just behind Val-d'Isère (2,583 m).
Is Val-d'Isère really the highest city in France?: Yes, at 2,583 m, ahead of Tignes (2,465 m) and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m).
In which département is Val-d'Isère?: Val-d'Isère is in département 73, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
What is the difference between Val-d'Isère and Tignes?: Val-d'Isère is at 2,583 m, Tignes at 2,465 m. The table gives the same figure for all 50 places, so any two of them can be compared the same way.
Which city is 10th in the ranking of highest cities in France?: Passy, at 1,517 m.
How many French cities does this ranking compare?: 1,111, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.
What are the highest cities in France in 2026?: This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: Val-d'Isère leads with 2,583 m.
Is there a complete ranking of highest cities in France?: Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,111, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.
Is Briançon the highest city in France?: Briançon is the highest city in France above 10,000 inhabitants, which is the claim it is famous for and it holds. Several resort communes rank above it here because this ranking sorts on mean altitude across the whole commune, and theirs reach far up the mountain.
What is the altitude of Val-d'Isère?: 2,583 m, as a mean over the commune's territory rather than the height of its church square, which is the figure a town hall usually quotes.
Which is the highest ski resort in France?: The resort communes at the head of this table, in Savoie and the Hautes-Alpes, are the highest inhabited communes in the country: Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m) and Cauterets (1,941 m).
What are the top 10?: In order: Val-d'Isère (2,583 m), Tignes (2,465 m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (2,445 m), Courchevel (2,026 m), Cauterets (1,941 m), La Clusaz (1,619 m), Briançon (1,586 m), Bagnères-de-Luchon (1,559 m), Morzine (1,548 m), Passy (1,517 m).
Isn't Briançon the highest city in France?: It is, and this ranking agrees: Briançon is the highest commune in France with more than 10,000 inhabitants, which is what the usual claim means by "city". The communes above it here are Alpine resorts of one or two thousand residents (Val-d'Isère, Tignes, Chamonix), and note that the figure ranked is the commune's MEAN altitude over its whole territory, so a village whose land runs up to a glacier scores far above the altitude of its own streets.

The table below ranks the top 50 of the 1,111 cities in the dataset, each with its département, its region and the figure it is ranked on (altitude), so you can see not just the order but how far apart the places are. The numbers are official public data: INSEE legal populations and the IGN commune registry, with the exact method and the exact scope stated under the table rather than left to be guessed at.

The same data answers neighbouring questions too: see The northernmost cities in France and The southernmost cities in France, or all rankings for the full list. All of it comes from Le Bon Rang, a free daily game that gives you five French cities and one of these statistics and asks you for the order.