Chamonix

Haute-Savoie · Village

At the foot of Mont Blanc

Mountains

Ski

Hiking

Scenic

About Chamonix

Chamonix is the capital of mountaineering, a valley town of chalets and belle-époque hotels at the foot of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe, and the host of the first Winter Olympics.

Cable cars climb straight from its streets: to the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842 m and its glass box over the void, while a rack railway runs up to the Mer de Glace glacier. Summer brings the trails and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc; winter, some of the steepest skiing in the Alps and the Vallée Blanche.

It's busy, sporty and expensive, a place to be outdoors from dawn, with a lively après-ski scene.

Eat a Savoyard fondue or tartiflette made with reblochon, and a slice of blueberry tart after the walk down.

Get to Chamonix

Round trip from Prague, any dates in November 2026.

Chamonix has no airport. Flights land in Geneva (then 1 h 30 by bus ≈ €25).

Buses from Chamonix

Day trips from Chamonix

Half day
Aiguille du Midi
~20 min
A cable car from the town centre to a rock needle at 3,842 m, with Mont Blanc across the glacier and a glass box hanging over a thousand-metre drop.
Half day
Mer de Glace
~20 min by rack railway
France's longest glacier, reached by a rack railway running since 1908, with an ice cave carved into it every year at the bottom of a long staircase.
Day trip
Annecy
~1 h 15 min , ~1 h 30 min
A lake town of canals and flower-hung bridges, with a twelfth-century prison on an island in the river and one of the clearest lakes in Europe for swimming.
Day trip
Lac Blanc
~15 min , then ~1 h 30 min on foot
The classic hike of the valley: an alpine lake on the sunny side of the valley that mirrors the whole Mont Blanc massif, reached on foot from the top of the Flégère lift.