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The upper Bréda Valley is a blind valley without much urbanisation. It is part of the Belledonne chain and was hollowed out by a glacial diffluence which, at the Sept Laux, separated into two tongues, one to the north (the Bréda, Allevard and Grésivaudan valleys) and the other to the south (the Eau d'Olle Valley).

Due to the authenticity of the valley's villages amidst a typically Alpine landscape, it is one of the most beautiful in the Alps (Gallimard, 1998: 190).

From Allevard, the road passes through a narrow, encased valley, running through fifteen kilometres (nine miles) of dense woodland, with mainly spruces on the ubac and a mixture of deciduous trees on the adret. The beautiful villages of Pinsot, and Ferrière and the hamlet of Curtillard , are in large clearings on the road to Fond-de-France, at the foot of a majestic cirque, before a climb up the mountain slopes to the Pleynet resort.

The charm of these heavily visited areas stems from their open meadow continuities , which are arranged in a typically Alpine contrast with the dark surrounding forests. But the continuities associated with these clearings are threatened with enclosure by a process of conifer afforestation. This would significantly undermine the landscape motivation, although the hotel and luxury restaurant facilities would remain solidly attractive features.

In Fond-de-France, the scale and form of the EDF reservoir make it a major landscape feature. This is unmistakable if for nothing more than the chalets surrounding it. Although its cold waters make swimming impossible, it brightens and softens a landscape that becomes more austere towards the mountains and the precipitous slopes that need to be crossed to reach the high mountain landscapes of Pleynet and especially of Sept Laux, a hiking area.

From Allevard, along another road, D 109, there are a series of numerous, long twists and turns through the Ravoire forest before reaching the resort of Collet-d'Allevard , at 1500 metres (4900 ft), from where there are beautiful panoramas over the surrounding valleys. A few openings would be most welcome along the road to Beauvoir through the state-owned forest of Chapelle-du-Bard, in order to provide beautiful views over this high valley.