Twenty miles south of Grenoble, the small town of La Mure (population around 5,000) is an easy place to drive past on the Route Napoléon. That would be a mistake, because it's the departure point for one of the prettiest short train rides in the French Alps: the Petit Train de La Mure.
The line dates back to the 1880s, built to haul coal from the Matheysine plateau down to Grenoble. It was a pioneer too — the world's first railway to run on high-voltage direct current. Regular passenger services ended in 1950 and coal traffic finally stopped in 1988, and the red locomotives survived partly by luck: a mid-1970s oil crisis delayed closure long enough for a tourist operation to take root. Then disaster struck in October 2010, when a landslide dumped more than 3,000 cubic metres of rock onto the viaduct at La Clapisse and shut the whole line for over a decade. After repairs by operator Edeis, half the route reopened in July 2021, from La Mure to the viewpoint at Le Grand Balcon.
What you get now is a gently paced 50-minute ride (trains trundle along at about 19 mph) on metre-gauge track, hauled by original locomotives and restored carriages, supplemented by Swiss-built rail coaches — a natural choice, since the Swiss know narrow-gauge mountain lines. The route threads through five towns, five tunnels and three viaducts, with the longest tunnel running over a kilometre before reaching La Motte-d'Aveillans, another old mining town.
Some departures let you break the journey there to visit the La Mine Image museum, which covers the region's coal-mining past, before hopping on a later train. At the end of the line it's a 400-metre walk to the Belvédère du Grand Balcon, where the payoff is a sweeping view over the artificial Lake Monteynard, created in 1962 for hydroelectric power. On a clear day it's hard to beat in the Alps.
Round trip takes about three hours including the stop. Fares are €28.50 for adults and €22.50 for children aged 4–15 in high season, dropping to €26.50 and €21 off-peak; family tickets run €94 (€85.50 low season), and under-fours travel free. The museum add-on costs €7 per person — pack a warm layer, as it's chilly underground. The train runs April to December, up to six times daily in July and August but just once a day in December.
This one's for travellers who like their sightseeing unhurried: industrial heritage, cliff-hugging track and a big alpine panorama, all in a morning. Book ahead for summer dates, arrive 15 minutes early, and keep your return ticket handy on your phone.
