Chamonix (France) - the largest, oldest and most famous resort in the French Alps. It is located just fifteen kilometers from the border with Switzerland, which runs along the pass de Colte Monte, 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 Mont Dolent mountain (height 3820 meters).
Geography and climate
The Chamonix Valley (France), the photo of which is presented below, extends seventeen kilometers from Servo to Vallorsine. 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, majestically towering above the valley. The number of permanent residents of Chamonix today is approximately ten thousand people. However, with the onset of the tourist season, the number of people 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 ice, the sun, and snow to the waist. 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 in the highlands you can ride until mid-May.
The legendary city of Chamonix
France is rich in interesting places, but this popular alpine resort has a special energy. On the streets of the alpine town, perhaps, all the languages of the planet sound. However, people who come here, although they speak different languages, have similar feelings and thoughts. They are united by a passion for high mountains and the lifestyle that they give. And the mountains here are very close, every minute they rise above you, no matter what you do or 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 Les Houches
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 performance that never loses its entertainment. You will see how, in all its glory, mountain peaks rise above the Chamonix valley (France), and at their foot, among hilly alpine meadows, dense forests, hasty mountain rivers, houses are scattered. For a first encounter with the mountains, this is just the perfect place. The village of Les Houches is located just six kilometers from the city of Chamonix and offers a lot of entertainment (both summer and winter) for the whole family. Mountain biking, snowboarding, dog sledding, hiking, skiing ... It is not for nothing that all skiers strive here, regardless of the level of training. The Alpine Skiing World Cup is held here.
Unspoiled Servo
The picturesque village of Servo 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 stunning views. For a long time Servo was part of the climbing French heritage, it is well known to rock climbing enthusiasts. The village, nestled comfortably at the foot of the Fiz mountain range, has not lost its authenticity over the past years and, like a sentry, is guarding the valley. Residents still keep the traditions of craftsmanship, there are many craft shops, artisans festivals are held. With a guide you can visit interesting places, for example, the Alpine Museum, the Gorge of Gorges de Diosaz gorge, the Christmas market and many others.
Natural Vallorsine
What about not seeing red squirrels, wild chamois, forest deer with your own eyes ? If you come to Vallorsin, then you are in their territory. Lovers in the resort of Chamonix (France), can not help but love this charming village, hidden behind the Monte Pass. An unpretentious climb and the same uncomplicated descent - and you find yourself in another world, a world of peace and silence. The pass seemed to forever cut Vallorsin from the hustle and bustle, allowing people to merge with the magnificent alpine nature into a single whole. The village, which is located on the very Swiss border, has lived for centuries in harmony with unspoiled fields and forests full of frightened birds and animals. Alone with the wild world around you, you can replenish the supply of energy, depleted by city stresses.
First guests
When the young British aristocrats Richard Pocock and William Windham first visited the Shamuni commune in 1741, they could not even think what the consequences of this trip would be. The British told friends about an interesting trip, and gradually an increasing number of wealthy European tourists rushed to Mont Blanc to see with their own eyes the mysterious and beautiful sea of ice - a giant glacier that the pioneers so admired. Local miners and hunters who knew the mountains well became guides for them. The beginning has been laid!
From Chamuni to Chamonix
In 1770, an inn opened here - the first sign of the future hotel boom, which inevitably followed the growing popularity of the valley among climbers. After the conquest of Mont Blanc in 1786, he became especially stormy. Everyone believed that the local mountain peaks are not so inaccessible as it seemed at first. Romantically inclined journalists and writers began to talk about the mountains not as a terrible dangers, a formidable place, but as a reserve of beautiful nature, preserved in pristine nature.
Now, along with desperate daredevils and adventurers, quite respectable tourists rushed here. Setting a new trend for the hotel business, the first luxury hotel was built in 1816, and in the 1900s, three excellent palace hotels worthy of any fashionable resort were built in the valley.
Road construction was a turning point in the history of Chamonix. France, thanks to good routes 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-Fays.
Mountains accessible to all
Chamonix is a ski resort that hosted the very first Winter Olympic Games in history in 1924. The Olympics turned it into a real Mecca for lovers of winter sports. On the surrounding slopes in the following years a lot of lifts appeared. First, they drove tourists to Planpraz and the Glacier Cable Car, now no longer existing. As the resort of Chamonix developed rapidly, the ski lifts began to deliver vacationers to Le Breuin, Le Fleger, Aiguille du Midi. Today, this alpine territory is not only a popular tourist destination, but also a strategic transport route, connecting the France and Italy through the tunnel under Mont Blanc. Chamonix is a ski resort that strives to maintain an optimal balance between tourism and transport needs in order to maintain a clean environment.
Ski slopes
Here is the legendary twenty-kilometer White Valley - one of the longest descents in the Alps. For professionals, a seventeen-kilometer descent of the Valle Blanche is provided for, the requests of even the most demanding skier will satisfy the slopes at Grant Monte.
Chamonix provides good opportunities for lovers of extreme and off-piste skiing. The ski resort is famous for its schools, where anyone can go skiing training. In each region for beginners there are blue and green tracks. Chamonix has such a geographical position that, having passed through the tunnel under Mont Blanc, 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. To the areas of Le Brevain, Le Tour, Les Houches and others will have to travel by bus for seven to fifteen minutes. For holders 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). A European motorway network runs right through the center of the city. Chamonix is the only ski resort in France that has its own railway station. Several high-speed trains leave here from Paris daily. Come to Chamonix and enjoy the picturesque views, modern trails, sunny mountain slopes. An unforgettable holiday for you!