Chamonix (France) is the largest, oldest and most famous resort in the French Alps. It is located only fifteen kilometers from the border with Switzerland, which runs along the Col de Monte pass, and fifteen kilometers from the border with Italy, passing through the Mont Blanc massif. All three borders converge at a single point - on the top of Mount Dolent (altitude 3820 meters).
Geography and climate
The Chamonix Valley (France), the photo of which is presented below, stretches for seventeen kilometers from Servo to Vallorcine. There are four communes and many small, original villages, each of which is an excellent starting point for a variety of interesting trips through the Mont Blanc massif, towering majestically above the valley. The number of permanent residents of Chamonix today is about ten thousand people. However, with the onset of the tourist season, the number of people living in the valley at a time increases to sixty thousand in winter and one hundred thousand in summer. In the mountains, the weather is always changeable and can bring many surprises:having arrived in the city of Chamonix for a week, you can see both ice, and the sun, and waist-deep snow. Webcams are installed on the ski slopes, thanks to them you can always get information about the current situation. On the low slopes, the skiing season lasts from December to March inclusive, while on the highlands you can ride until mid-May.
The legendary city of Chamonix
France is full of interesting places, but this popular Alpine resort has a special energy. On the streets of a mountainous town, perhaps all the languages of the planet are heard. However, people who come here, although they speak different dialects, have similar feelings and thoughts. They are united by a passion for high mountains and the way of life that they give. And the mountains here are very close, they rise above you every minute, no matter what you do and wherever you go. Just raise your head: Mont Blanc will look into your face - 4810 meters of snow, ice, rocks, heroic deeds, legends, dreams of the future.
Family Lez Ouch
Would you like to share the joy of meeting Mont Blanc with your children? Then come to Les Houches, a place where you can watch an impressive spectacle that never loses its spectacle. You will see how the mountain peaks rise in all their glory above the Chamonix valley (France), and at their foot, among the hilly alpine meadows, dense forests, hasty mountain rivers, houses crumble. For the first meeting with the mountains, this is just the perfect place. The village of Les Houches is located only six kilometers from the city of Chamonix and offers manyentertainment (both summer and winter) for the whole family. Mountain biking, snowboarding, dog sledding, hiking, skiing… It is not for nothing that all skiers come here, regardless of their level of training. The Men's Alpine Skiing World Cup takes place here.
Uncorrupted Servo
The picturesque village of Serveau is located near Les Houches. From a height of 812 meters, the Mont Blanc massif, the Aravis and Fiz mountain ranges, Pormenaz, Le Prapion, Tet Nar offer a stunning view. For a long time Servo has been part of the French mountaineering heritage and is well known to climbing enthusiasts. The village, comfortably nestled at the foot of the Fiz mountain range, has not lost its authenticity over the past years and, like a sentry, stands guard over the valley. To this day, the inhabitants keep the traditions of handicraft, there are many handicraft shops, festivals of handicraftsmen are held here. With a guide, you can visit interesting places such as the Alpine Museum, the Les Gorges de Diosaz gorge, the Christmas market and many others.
Natural Vallorine
And how about seeing red squirrels, wild chamois, forest deer not in the photo, but with your own eyes? If you come to Vallorcine, then you are in their territory. Those in love with the Chamonix resort (France) cannot help but love this charming village hidden behind the Monte Pass. An unpretentious ascent and the same simple descent - and you find yourself in another world, a world of calm and silence. The pass seems to have forever cut off Vallorcine from the hustle and bustle, allowing people to merge with the magnificentalpine nature into a single whole. The village, which is located right on the Swiss border, has been living in harmony for centuries with untouched fields and forests full of fearless birds and animals. Alone with the wild world all around you, you can replenish your energy supply, depleted by urban stress.
First guests
When the young British aristocrats Richard Pocock and William Wyndham first visited the commune of Chamouni in 1741, they could not even imagine what the consequences of this trip would be. The British told friends about the interesting trip, and gradually an increasing number of we althy European tourists rushed to Mont Blanc to see with their own eyes the mysterious and beautiful sea of \u200b\u200bice - a giant glacier that the pioneers admired so much. Local miners and hunters, who knew the mountains well, became guides for them. A start has been made!
From Chamonix to Chamonix
In 1770, an inn was opened here - the first sign of the future hotel boom, which inevitably followed the growth of the popularity of the valley among climbers. After the conquest of Mont Blanc in 1786, it became especially stormy. Everyone believed that the local mountain peaks were not so inaccessible as it seemed at first. Romantic-minded journalists and writers began to talk about the mountains not as a place full of terrible dangers, a formidable place, but as a reserve of beautiful nature, preserved in its original state.
Now here along with desperate daredevils and adventurersrushed quite respectable tourists. Setting a new trend in the hotel business, the first luxury hotel was built in 1816, and in the 1900s, three excellent palace hotels were built in the valley, worthy of any fashionable resort.
The construction of roads was a turning point in the history of Chamonix. France, thanks to good roads and convenient rail links, was able to receive guests from all over Europe. During the reign of Napoleon III, in 1866, the first horse-drawn carriages appeared on the village streets, and a railway line was launched between Chamonix and the station of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Les Faye.
Mountains accessible to all
Chamonix is a ski resort that hosted the very first Winter Olympic Games in history in 1924. The Olympics have turned it into a real Mecca for winter sports enthusiasts. In the following years, many lifts appeared on the surrounding slopes. At first, they took tourists to Planpraz and the Glacier Cable Car, which no longer exists. As the resort of Chamonix developed rapidly, lifts began to deliver vacationers to Le Brevent, Le Fleger, Aiguille du Midi. Today, this alpine territory is not only a popular tourist destination, but also a strategic transport route, connecting France and Italy through a tunnel under Mont Blanc. Chamonix is a ski resort striving to maintain an optimal balance between tourism and transport needs in order to maintain a clean environment.
Ski slopes
Here isthe legendary twenty-kilometer White Valley is one of the longest slopes in the Alps. For professionals, the seventeen-kilometer descent of Valle Blanche is provided, the slopes of Grant Monte will satisfy the needs of even the most demanding skier.
Chamonix provides good opportunities for lovers of extreme and off-piste skiing. The ski resort is famous for its schools, where everyone can learn to ski. Each region has blue and green runs for beginners. Chamonix has such a geographical position that, having passed under Mont Blanc through a tunnel, you can also ride in Switzerland and Italy. There is no single ski area, which would be connected by a network of lifts, in the resort. The districts of Le Brevent, Le Tour, Les Houches and others will take seven to fifteen minutes by bus. For owners of spa cards or ski passes, travel is free. Buses run regularly throughout the valley.
How to get there
From any European capital to get to Chamonix (France) is not difficult. The nearest airports are Geneva (80 kilometers), Lyon (226 kilometers), Paris (612 kilometers). The European motorway network runs right through the central part of the city. Chamonix is the only ski resort in France that has its own railway station. Several high-speed trains leave here daily from Paris. Come to Chamonix and enjoy the scenic views, modern pistes, sunny mountain slopes. Have an unforgettable holiday!
