Best Attractions In Chamonix

The European Alps are home to many of the world’s most beautiful and impressive mountains.  The Matterhorn, for instance, is a classic Toblerone mountain shape, and towers over the Swiss alpine town of Zermatt.   The Eiger, with its vertical north face, can be seen from your hotel room in the central Switzerland Grindelwald resort.

But for this post I want to concentrate on the best attractions in Chamonix, the third main Alpine centre.

Chamonix is an hour’s drive from Geneva airport.  It is a French town,  but has an international feel because it is a stone’s throw from Switzerland and Italy.  It is best known for the 4,810 metre Mont Blanc (Monte Bianca), meaning the White Mountain, the highest peak in western Europe.

First climbed in 1786, Mont Blanc draws thousands of mountaineers to Chamonix each year.  They attempt the one-day ascent after spending the previous night in one of Chamonix’s excellent mountain refuges (such as the 3,613 metre high Refuge Cosmique).  Alternatively, for those with less energy, you can take the Teleferique l’Aiguille Du Midi to an observation platform at 3,842 metres.

But Mont Blanc is only one of Chamonix’s seventeen 4000-metre peaks.  Other impressive summits include the Dent de Gent (4,013 metres, meaning Giant’s Tooth), the Aiguille de Rochefort (4,001 metres, reached by the finest snow ridge in the Alps), the Aiguille Verte (4,122 metres) and Mount Maudit (4465 metres).

You don’t have to summit these giant mountains to appreciate them.  Chamonix also offers some of the world’s best mountain walks, such as the 11-day Tour du Mont Blanc; a 168-kilometre circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, with a maximum height of 2,537 metres at the Grand Col Forret.  Other great walks lead to Lac Blanc and Montenvers.

Or you could go for Chamonix’s ski season.  The resort offers four principal ski areas, Brevent/Flegere, Grands Montents, Les Houches and Le Domaine de Balme, with skiing of all levels of difficulty to be found at altitudes of between 950 and 3300 metres.  The area is particularly recommended for advanced skiers and snowboarders and for great après-ski.

Another start attraction is the mountain railway to Montenvers, to inspect the seven-kilometre long Mer de Glace glacier.  Mer de Glace is the third largest glacier in the Alps, with a width of up to 2 kilometres and an ice-depth of up to 400 metres!

Many visitors prefer to stay in the town centre.  Chamonix’s main street, Rue du Docteur Paccard, is pedestrianised and has over 500-metres worth of cafes, restaurants and mountain clothing and equipment stores.  For good food, we recommend Atmosphere, Cap Horn and Munchie.

Chamonix offers loads of other things to do, such as high class cycling (try a company called Breathe Bike), paragliding, golf, swimming in mountain lakes, and a number of festivals.