Old Town of the Dukes of Savoy

Fontaine des Éléphants

The elephant fountain, head of Rue de Boigne and the medallion route.

Start around ten on a Tuesday to Saturday morning, so the market is open when you get there and the cathedral is unlocked later. Four cast-iron elephants carry this fountain, and locals have called it the four without backsides for as long as anyone can remember. It went up in 1838, eight years after the death of the man standing on top: General Benoît de Boigne, born in Chambéry in 1751, who made his name and his fortune in India and then, by the tourist office's account, gave his native town more than a third of what he brought home. The street behind you, a theatre, a college and a retirement home all came out of that money, and after his death the town put up this fountain in his honour.

Before you set off, look down at the paving. Gold elephant medallions are set into the stones, and they mark the tourist office's own route through the old town. The statue on top is bronze; the elephants below it are iron.

Château des Ducs de Savoie

The dukes' castle and Sainte-Chapelle, seen on booked guided tours.

Chambéry was the seat of the counts of Savoy, and from 1416 of the dukes, until 1563, when the court moved to Turin. This castle is what it left behind: a fortress and a princely palace, now the prefecture and the departmental offices, built and rebuilt from the 13th century to our own. The Sainte-Chapelle inside is the part worth the ticket. Amédée VIII, the first duke, put it up in the 15th century in flamboyant Gothic, lit by Renaissance stained glass, its vaults painted in trompe-l'œil in the 19th century.

From 1502 to 1578 it held the Holy Shroud, which then followed the court to Turin. The chapel and the historic rooms can be seen only on a guided tour, 45 minutes long, leaving from this square in front of the gates at the top of the stairs. Tickets cost 7.50 euros, 5.50 for children, students and jobseekers, free for under 12s, and you have to book ahead: no tickets are sold at the meeting point. Tours are in French and run on published dates, each with an afternoon departure, so book one for after lunch.

The château museum in the medieval wing is free and needs no tour.