Travel Guide Le Grand-Bornand

The village of Grand-Bornand is a harmonious site of stone and wood, surrounded by a forest, with the Aravis mountain range to the south-east and the Bargy to the north as a backdrop. It is the gateway to the Bouchet valley, dominated by the Pointe Percée and the Col des Annes, and is bordered by the Borne torrent which gives it its name. It is a pleasant locality rich in a preserved natural heritage, which boasts authentic multi-centennial chalets grouped around the church and its bulbous bell tower or scattered on the surrounding slopes. The exploitation of wood, one of its historical economies, has allowed the development of know-how in construction and craftsmanship that can be found in the characteristics of the Bornandine farms - the Maison du Patrimoine is a telling example. They are the witnesses of a traditional mountain agriculture still very much alive today. The large herd of Abondance - the famous Pie-Rouge - fed from its mountain pastures makes it the "cradle of Reblochon". Between tradition and modernity, this happy village blossoms in the heart of one of the sunniest valleys of the Aravis, on the borders of the Borne valley and the Thônes valley, and is characterized by a tourist activity as rich in winter as in summer. Its natural annex of Chinaillon, a must on the road to the Colombière pass - blocked by snow from the end of November to the end of May -, installed its first ski lift in 1953.