Chamonix

Two cable car stages lift you to a 3,842m needle in twenty minutes, so breathlessness and headaches are possible. At the top a box with a glass floor hangs out over the drop. In summer the wait is long unless a timed ticket is bought ahead.

A rack railway beside Chamonix station climbs to Montenvers, over France's longest glacier. As the ice thinned, the ice cave staircase grew to hundreds of steps, until a new gondola in 2024 cut most out. Rock markers show where the glacier stood by year.

A mountain lake reached by close to two hours on foot from the Flegere cable car, with the Mont Blanc massif upside down in its water. In many years snow lingers on the trail into June. A night at the lakeside refuge needs booking early.

A cable car up the opposite side of the valley, facing Mont Blanc head on, so cameras do better here. Lower than the Aiguille du Midi, it brings less altitude trouble and shorter queues. Mont Blanc is backlit in the afternoon; morning is better.

Jacques Balmat, first up Mont Blanc in 1786, points at the summit while Saussure, who offered a prize for the climb, looks on. Paccard, the doctor who reached the top with Balmat, is missing, so a separate statue of him sits on a rock nearby.

France's highest rack railway, climbing from Saint-Gervais to the Nid d'Aigle. It is the start of the normal route up Mont Blanc, so climbers with ice axes ride beside sightseers. In winter it runs only part of the way.

An ungroomed ski descent starting at the Aiguille du Midi summit and running over the glaciers down to Chamonix. Hidden crevasses mean nobody goes without a mountain guide. Getting to the start means walking a knife-edge snow ridge roped together.

Small gondolas cross the vast glacier from the Aiguille du Midi to Pointe Helbronner on the Italian side. It stops in strong wind and runs in summer only. From there a cable car drops to Courmayeur, and a bus back through the tunnel completes a loop.

A village a couple of train stops up the valley from Chamonix, where the glacier's tongue once reached down behind the houses. The Grands Montets ski area is known for expert terrain. Quieter than Chamonix, it has many lodges where hikers stay.

A hillside park above Les Houches where chamois, Alpine ibex and marmots roam, with Mont Blanc straight ahead. A sloping loop of an hour or so leads you around in search of them. It shuts for the winter.

A traverse across the mountainside from Plan de l'Aiguille, the Aiguille du Midi midway station, to Montenvers. The granite needles line your path all the way, and the end looks down on the Mer de Glace. Ride the rack railway back down from Montenvers.

A glacier spilling straight off Mont Blanc, its tongue reaching so near the valley floor that it shows white from the main road. A forest trail from the hamlet of Les Bossons climbs to a viewpoint chalet beside the ice. Crevasses abound; keep to the trail.

A waterfall a short climb into the woods south of the Aiguille du Midi lift station, where glacier meltwater crashes between rocks. Even small children manage the easy path. A chalet facing the falls has a terrace for a rest.

A small lake on the town's south side that mirrors the Mont Blanc massif. The rock wall beside it is the local practice crag, so roped climbers always hang from it. Admission costs nothing, and the lawns suit a picnic.

A mountain train from Saint-Gervais through Chamonix to Martigny in Switzerland, crossing gorges and bridges. The guest card from Chamonix lodgings makes the stretch between Servoz and Vallorcine free. Beyond Vallorcine the Swiss part needs its own ticket.

A ski village roughly forty minutes' drive from Chamonix, developed as a resort by the Rothschild family during the 1920s. In winter, horse-drawn sleighs circle the square around the old church. Its slopes are gentler than Chamonix's, so beginners favour it.

A small lake in the Passy woods, lower down the valley, its water a deep green as the name says. Cars stop a few minutes' stroll away, and a path circles the shore. The lakeside chalet terrace looks straight at Mont Blanc.

A grassy pass on the French-Swiss border, reached by gondola and on foot from Le Tour, the last village up the valley. From the refuge on top, the entire Chamonix valley lines up below toward Mont Blanc. In summer, cattle graze there with clanking bells.