A beautiful weekend in the French Alps
Ok guys, Chamonix is first of all a MUST SEE place before you die. Chamonix, home of Mont Blanc (the highest peak in western Europe), is the most famous and popular resort in the Alps.
It is so beautiful and peaceful being in the small village of Mont blanc, everywhere you look, you just see gorgeous mountains. You definitely don’t need to be a climber to visit Mont blanc. You just have to love mountains. The village is so charming, we love it so much, that we had to go back several times, and still it is never enough. We’ve been there five times already, and will keep returning.
Day 1
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The main thing first: Aiguille du Midi
The main attraction here is the Aiguille du Midi which is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif at 3,842 m. What is fascinating is that it is the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3842 m. You don’t need to be a climber to go and catch the breath taking views from Aiguille du Midi, and that is why it is so popular and receives half a million of visitors a year!
If the weather permits, go first thing in the morning to the Aiguille du midi. The opening hours and frequency of departure vary according to the time of year and according to demand. Earliest opening hour are like 7 am! The best time to go is in the morning because there are normally too many clouds later in the day. We did this as our first activity in the morning, and had breakfast at the café up in the clouds!
From the centre of Chamonix, the Aiguille du Midi cable car takes you high up in the Alps at the height of 3,842 m in just 20 minutes! And of course, if the sky is clear, you get amazing panoramic views of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. We went all the way up, but you can also just get off on the first stop of the cable, “Plan de l’Aiguille” which is at a height of 2,310 m, if you don’t feel like going all the way to Aiguille du Midi. But once you are up there, trust me you would not want to come back on down. It is like seeing heaven on Earth!
This is how busy it can get as early as 9:30 am
The first stop midway: Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,310 m
Tip: Best advices I can give here is GO AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. And secondly, even if you are there on a hot summer day, don't forget that it is below freezing and windy up there! And the same cable car brings you down, so waiting in line while the freezing air is blasting at you is less than pleasant. So be sure you bring lots of warm gear as if you were visiting the Artics in the winter.
There is a great souvenir shop up there, and we didn’t find a big difference in prices from this shop compared to ones in downtown Chamonix, so you can easily get shopping done there! In the summer, there is a restaurant that serves Savoie culinary specialties, we have that planned for our next trip to Chamonix. But I can definitely recommend having breakfast up in the sky, with panoramic views. For us, it felt like we are eating in heaven. It definitely is a treat.
Up above the world so high...
Lunch
Then we headed to our favourite chinese reataurant of Mont blanc: Le Dragon d'Or. For all my chinese friends, eating at this restaurant was a real treat.
Montenvers - Mer de Glace
After having lunch, we headed towards the Montenvers Mer de Glace. It is this little train that takes you up to the top of the mountain where you can catch breathtaking views of Mer de Glace glacier, the Aiguille du Drus and the Grands Jorasses mountains. The train itself is a very fun ride, if the train is not packed you can get panoramic views of the mountains.
If you still didn’t have lunch, you can eat at the restaurant up there. You can also walk or hike the place a little bit to get a panorama view of the glacier running through the valley.
There is also an ice cave up there that is pretty worth visiting as well as the Glaciorium. The ice cave is resculpted every year, and describes the life of mountain people in the early 19th century. The Glaciorium features an entire exhibition dedicated to glaciology, with presentation on how they form, their history.
Pretty neat stuff you get to see in the Glaciorium
Ice Cave
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Tip: I would recommend to take the gandola to the Ice cave, because the walk is 20 minutes, a long walk down, and coming back up is tougher, about 400 quiet steep steps!
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Take a train ride
After getting these 2 main things done, we headeded towards Downtown Chamonix. On our way there, when we saw a train going around the whole area, we thought it's best to find out what is around us and where we are in Chamonix, and it is absolutely free! Of course it would have been better if we took this ride first thing in the morning to get to know the area, but the weather was nice and we absolutely wanted the Aiguille du Midi experience.
Downtown Chamonix
Chamonix’s main street Rue du Docteur Paccard, is pedestrian street about a half kilometer long, and is filled with endless amount gastronomic restaurants, bakery shops and souvenir shops. Wandering on the street is itself an activity that is so much fun! From everywhere, you can smell the delicious pastries and crepes that are served to visitors on terraces, with views of the mountain everywhere you turn. It is truly magical.
One thing though, the stores and restaurants close quiet early, except of this place, and even this place cant be guaranteed open until one am like the sign says!
Downtown Chamonix is such a cute little village, you will just want to wander in the streets
Oh and everywhere you turn, you will definitely see visitors big bagpacks everywhere! They are real mountaineers that are here for moutain climbing
Such a pretty view from everywhere you look. Looks like the statues are pointing to the Glacier!
Dinner at Le Caveau
Then we headed towards our favourite restaurant Le Caveau. the reason why we love this place is that the setting of the restaurant is really like a cave! and they have suvh good pizza. We always eat here everytime we are in Chamonix! The restaurant has such a cosy atmosphere and you would never expect the restauarant to be dosntairs with a staircase made out of stone, actually the whole restauarnt is made of stone. Nothing cosier than having a delicious pizza in the middle of French Alps. Very nice staff as well!
But just a note here: the restaurant claims they are open till 1 am but that depends on how busy they are!!
Go for Ice cream
After a nice meal, we headed for desserts. there are many choices for desserts here, but I highly recommend Chamnon'ice! they have tons of absolutely delicious flavours!!!! There hasnt been one time where we came back from Mont Blanc without having our Chamon'ice
Day 2
Go Hike
The next day we went for breakfast early morning, because we wanted to go for a hike. There are way too many trails you can find here and go hike. We were tempted by The Glacier des Bossons at 2,589 m, this particular view catches our attention everytime we go to chamnonix, and no matter how many pictures you have taken pictures of this glacier, you will probably end up taking more everytime you go there. That is how beautiful it is to look at, and that is the reason why we wanted to hike it to get an even closer look! it is a very easy hike, just head towards the Information center, and grab a map, and there you are! Spectacular views just around the corner. There is even a restaurant up there where you can eat if you feel hungry after your hike.
YUM!
The Glacier in the back just makes a picture perfect postcard of Chamonix!
A closer look
Amazing feeling after everytime we hike
Lunch at Monchu
After the hike, another restaurant I can recommend is the Monchu. It sounds chinese, but its actually french food, and it is AMAZING! The food specially tasted better after a hike, I guess because we were so hungry!
Tempted enough by my meal?!
Wander the streets
After lunch we wandered the streets and took more pictures of the beautiful landscapes around downtown, it just seems never enough. You would just want to keep wandering in this small little village in the middle of the Alps! This is by far my favourite european church: St. Micheal's church in the mountains.
Cute little church in the french alps
Go for a bike ride
There are several places you can rent a bike from such Intersport etc. We were lucky our Hotel L'Heliopic offered bikes for free if you stay there. I will be talking about my stay at l'heliopic later on in my post! So we went on our adventure and biked around several areas such as Les Houches. It is a lot of fun checking out other areas than the main downtown. We saw people camping, and particpating in other activities like rock climbing.
Lake and river
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While biking we found a nice water stream to sit by, this is a great place for picnics! It was really peaceful sitting there and reading. We had a good time. There is also lac des Gaillards which is really peaceful to sit by.
Relax
Depending on where you stay, many hotels offer spas and many other way to relax. we stayed the evening in the hotel and just took it easy on second evening in Chamonix. After all, where can you relax more than in a place like Mont Blanc! so we stayed that evening to enjoy the facilities the hotel comes with. We stayed in the pool and jacuzzi which is even more relaxing in the Alps!
Dinner at Annapurna
This time we headed towards an indian restaurant of the Alps. For my indian friends, there is Annapurna as your indian choice of Chamonix. It wasn't bad at all, considering it is a restaurant in the middle of nowhere!
Day 3
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Paraglide
This was the moment I was waiting for this whole time in Chamonix. I didn't sleep much last night because I was too excited for today. Today is the day where we planned for paragliding. This, if you are in Chamonix, is not to be missed. I mean paragliding is offered everywhere but when you have the views to the alps, it changes the whole experience up!
There are a numerous companies that offer this activity all pretty much the same price. If you love being in the air, and of course looking at the alps from the top, this is a real treat.
Tip: Best time to go is in June to September, when they fly from PlanPraz, because that way you get a view of Mont blanc, inquire with the company before booking. Important thing is, this activity is weather dependent, if it is cloudy the company will take you, but I don't recommend it since you there will obtruction through clouds.
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Lunch and Tour du Mont Blanc
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After Paragliding we had luch. If you are lucky you can catch the TMB or Tour du Mont Blanc just like we did when we were visiting Mont Blanc. This tour is one of the most popular long-distance walks in Europe, covering a distance of 170 Km and passes through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France.
Col de Forclaz
Then, we headed towards switzerland to get different views of Mont Blanc. We headed towards the Col de Forclaz for an amazing but very easy hike. After the hike, you won't believe where you can find the smallest cafes in the area, where you least expect it! We had coffee here and then headed towards HOME.
Accomodation - My authentic review
We stayed at Hotel Heliopic. So far, we have stayed at Le Morgane, Heliopic and Les Aiglons. My favourite out of all of them, is Heliopic for the following reasons:
It is close to downtown. It offers you a pool, jacuzzi, sauna etc. Their rates are affordable and the staff is very friendly. they lend you a bike for free to go around town. I definitely recommend this hotel! Les aiglons, I like it, it is probably best in the summer to stay here, because of the outdoor pool and jacuzzi, as well as turkish bath and sauna they offer you outside. Also, they have a very nice lounge. They offer refreshments time to time in their lobby.
Le Morgane is a small boutique hotel and is the closest one from downtown, but thats about it.
Other activities
Ski
Of course, if you are a skier, and you are here in the winter time,you will probably want to come to Chamonix just for skiing purpose. It is the hub of skiiers, and there are many many tracks you can do, just head to the information center to get a map with all the ski trails available.
Camino in the Alps: Walk the Tour du Mont Blanc
Tour du Mont Blanc known as TMB is the most popular long-distance walk in Europe. It is 168 Km walk that can take typically 7-11 days about 55 hours of walking time. What is special about this walk is that it covers 3 countries and 7 different valleys. The French alps, the Italian alps, and finally the Swiss alps. Quiet a scenery.
The whole walk typically covers a distance of running 4 marathons. You need to be prepared for this trek. Most people stay at the alpine huts or hotels found en route, but you can also set up a tent and just camp, if you are a camper! This is our next project in Mont blanc, since we already did a one-week camino on the coast of spain.
Budget tips for shoestring traveller
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Camp in the alps
Of course, the first tip here I would give you is to camp in Chamonix. There are many campsites such as camping Les Marmottes, camping de la Mer de Glace, to name a few. This is the cheapest way for accomodation. The prices start from around 7 euros a night per person.
Stay at les houches
Les Houches is a good option if you want to stay in a nice hotel and still pay less. Why it is convenient to stay here is that you can still easily commute in the bus number 16, the internal shuttle of les Houches that runs all day in the village.
Free bus service
There is a free shuttle service "Le Mulet" that runs all year long, every 15 minutes, and that enables you to go around chamonix for free. It stops by the main sites and parking lots.
Night Bus: Chamo'Nuit
This bus runs everyday from December to March, and the trip costs only 2 euros! I would recommend to check out Chamonix's website for the timetable.
Guest card
This guest card can be provided by the hotel you are staying in. With this card, you get free train service between the nearby town of Servoz and Vallorcine to Chamonix. That depends if you want to go explore the nearby areas, and you didnt come by car. It doesnt qualify for free trips of night buses. On top of that, it also gives you other advantages like discounted rates to the museum nearby and free entrance to some house exhibitions in the area. few museums, to name a few.
Free parking
If you plan to go to Chamonix by car like we did, most hotels will have parking available but you will have to pay for it, usually 15 euros day. I would suggest you free parking that we found ourselves right next to the Hotel Heliopic that we stayed at. We park there with no problem for free, everytime we go to Chamonix!
Hike to Aiguille du Midi
You can hike mont Blanc to the Aiguille du midi if you dont want to buy the lift tickets. But I do not recommend this at all. You have to be an expert hiker, and come fully prepared with all your gear to hike the mountain, and that over a few days, since it is impossible to hike it in a day! If you want to hike, there are many small hiking trails around the mountain that you can find out about at the information center. The experience of Aiguille du Midi, is definitely so worth the price though!
Have you ever been to Mont Blanc? I would love to hear about your experience there! Scroll down to leave a comment!