Down stream, the river passes through the plain of Annemassy, before emptying into the Rhône in the Swiss canton of Geneva.

[2] The Valley came into being during the last ice age when the Alpine glaciers extended beyond Geneva.

The broadest definition makes the start upstream of Sallanches, including Passy and the valleys of Mégève, Montjoie, and Chamonix.

This valley stretches, from downstream, through the communes of Servoz, Les Houches, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and Vallorcine.

[4] Historically, the valley was a part of Farcigny, which was ceded to the Count of Savoie during the reign of Amadeus VI in 1355.