Chamonix

Introduction

Chamonix is a town and popular ski resort in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in central eastern France. It is located in the eastern portion of The Alps and the scenery is stunning here. Chamonix has about 10,000 inhabitants living in one of the highest communes of the country at around 1,000 metres above sea level. Officially, the Mont Blanc is within its boundaries as well, and at 4,810 metres is the highest mountain in Europe outside of the Caucasus region.

Sights and Activities

Chamonix is heaven for outdoor enthusiasts. Activities include ice climbing, skiing and snowboarding in winter and trekking, paragliding, canyoning, rafting and rock climbing in summer. Chamonix is especially famous for its spectacular cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842 metres), the highest in Europe.

Other sights include:

• Montenvers Railway
• Mont Blanc Tramway
• Panoramic restaurant at the top station of the Brévent cable car with great views of the Mont Blanc
• Alpine Museum Chamonix
• Statue Horace Bénédict de Saussure (first ascent of Mont Blanc initiator)
• Statue Michel-Gabriel Paccard

Events and Festivals

Getting There

By Plane

The nearest airport is Geneva International Airport (GVA). Dozens of airlines serve cities in Europe and further away. Lowcost airline Easyjet has many flights to/from Ajaccio, Alicante, Amsterdam, Asturias, Barcelona, Bastia, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Bournemouth, Bristol, Brussels, Budapest, Cagliari, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ibiza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lisbon, Liverpool, London, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Marrakech, Nantes, Naples, Newcastle, Nice, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Porto, Rome, Sharm el-Sheikh, Split, Stockholm and Toulouse. Some of them are seasonal only. Many other airlines mainly serve European destinations (as far away as Moscow and Reykjavik.
Cities further away include Montreal, Toronto, Algiers, Mauritius, New York, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Kuwait, Tehran, Beirut, Amman, Riyadh, several places in Tunisia and Morocco, and Tashkent.

By Train

From Chamonix-Mont Blanc train station the Mont Blanc Express narrow-gauge train travels between Saintt-Gervais-le Fayet, 23 kilometres west of Chamonix, to Martigny in Switzerland, stopping en route in Les Houches, Chamonix and Argentière. There are nine to 12 return trips a day taking roughly 40 minutes.

By Car

Chamonix is just a short hop by car from Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel and Switzerland over the Col de Montets to Martigny. The A40 highway runs towards Geneva, starting about 25 kilometres west from Chamonix.

By Bus

Buses connect Chamonix three times daily with Geneva Airport, taking almost 2 hours on average. There are also regular connections towards Courmayeur in Italy.

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

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