Chamonix Vacation Rentals

Chamonix, one of the original centres of skiing and mountaineering, is world-famous as a holiday resort both in summer and winter. The variety of ski and snow-boarding slopes is second to none and covers a wide area including Argentière which has some of the best piste and off-piste skiing in the world. There are several different areas, all interlinked by bus and available on one pass, from Le Tour by the Swiss border on the east to Les Houches down the valley to the west, a distance of about 10 miles (16 kms). In all there are 5 large ski areas of which 2 are linked by cable car. In addition there is the spectacular Vallée Blanche 17km ski route on the glacier from Les Aiguilles du Midi from which you can see as far as the Matterhorn. Chamonix is also the start of the Haute Route to Zermatt which was first undertaken by the English. Chamonix itself is buzzing with bars and fun for the young and not-so-young, and there are plenty of fine restaurants. Although Chamonix is a busy and bustling long-established business centre (not a modern concrete and soulless purpose-built resort), there is much for the tourist to see and do. There is shopping for everyone, from the cheap, cheerful, and trendy to the expensive and fashionable. The whole area is teeming with activities, both summer and winter, a walker's paradise, ideal for family holidays and for those who want to relax. May and June are great months to visit when the mountain flowers are beginning to appear. Activities include, apart from mountaineering for which it is the European centre, downhill-skiing and snow-boarding and cross-country skiing, summer tobogganing, canyoning, white-water rafting, ice climbing, mountain-biking, road-cycling, adventure trails, and parachuting, tennis, and swimming. You can even take a train nearly to the top of Mont Blanc (from Le Fayet, in the valley).