The Alps is not just for skiing and in fact some of the best holidays in the Alps are not snow or winter holidays at all.
Each season is very much defined in the Alps with winter bringing snow and ice to the mountains. In the French Alps, the winter season starts in December and lasts until April.
Although spring officially begins in March, the snow starts to melt and reveal Alpine pastures scattered with beautiful flowers and butterflies at the end of April, with May and June, the optimal time of year.
It can get hot over the summer with day-time temperatures in the late twenties and early thirties with cooler evenings, ideal for all summer and lake sports.
Early autumn in September is still generally quite summer like. By mid to end of October as the evenings draw in, the leaves start to change colour and the Southern French Alps in particular is stunningly beautiful with its larch forests and mixed woods.
The first snow will start to fall in November and will become more permanent in December as the winter season starts again.
