Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Chamonix
Planning a ski trip to Chamonix? Browse our collection of visitor-generated reviews that rank the mountain and ski town on a scale of one to five stars in the following categories: Overall Rating, All-Mountain Terrain, Nightlife, Terrain Park and Family Friendly. See how Chamonix stacks up to others in terms of skiing and après, and read up on pros, cons and comments from fellow skiers and snowboarders. Don't forget to submit your own Chamonix review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your ski area experience.
Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Chamonix
Total (3.9)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
We are family of 4 . We had lots of good experiences in les manures , 3 valey . Every other resort great snow overnight except Chamonix-Mont-Blanc . 5 cm snow it’s unacceptable. From one pist to other you need travel by bus or train . Mainly you carry equipment all day long . It is many better places for skiing in France Chamonix one of the worse I ever been . People who driving struggle to find parking and whole place in the morning or 4:30 it’s traffic . This is not a holiday
Bruce Jolliffe
Chamonix trades on a name, under a big mountain, but is overpriced (10-15 euro more per day than some others close by), outdated, with old infrastructure and unless you have your own transport is simply awkward. Not worth the hype. Better ski areas are only an hour away.
Simon Denham
Chamonix town is great, but relies on bus service to get you to the slopes. Nowhere near enough buses. Waited over an hour for a bus from Chamonix to Brevant. In the end had to order a taxi. Not friendly for beginners or families with children. Would never return
Joe Sanderson
I am an intermediate snowboarder who likes off-piste and piste boarding. I have visited Chamonix on two occasions in 2018 and 2019. It is no doubt one of the best places to visit if you are looking for big mountain skiing/boarding with incredible off piste descents with huge vertical drops. If you are a beginner or are visiting with children/beginners then I would recommend a ski in/out resort where you can easily take beginners to ski school. Cham is for intermediate groups and above unless you are planing to stay at Les Houches which is more of a typical ski resort at one end of the Chamonix valley.
You won't find bars in Chamonix each trying to offer the cheapest apres deals but you will find a huge amount of variety, due to the size of the town. This is the same for evening choices. Price of the average beer is 5-6 euros, fairly typical of anywhere else I have been in France. Argentiere and Les Houches have some good bars if you want a few apres drinks before bussing back into the main town. The town draws all types of extreme sports enthusiasts and is a honeypot location year round due to being at the foot on Mont Blanc meaning it has a different feel than being a dedicated ski resort.
Don't allow the talk of bussing to each ski area put you off, it is worth it and the bus system is fairly efficient. top tip (do not ignore!): Stay somewhere in town as near to a bus station/stop as possible, it makes things so much smoother.
Brevent/Flegere - accessed from the town, cable car is walking distance from the high street, amazing views down into town and of Mont Blanc, predominantly red runs with some blues lower down. Some varied blacks descending from the peaks with great off piste accessible from the lifts. All south facing slopes, sun all day, which makes for good visibility right to the end of the afternoon. I'd spend my first day here if it was my first visit, quick stroll into town at the end of the day for a few drinks. An airbag, boarder cross and small snow park here too.
Argentiere (Grands Montets) - accessed by free bus, 19 minutes from Chamonix. Highest lift accessed peak is 3,300 metres with a vertical descent down to 1200 metres (lift currently out of action due to burning down summer '18).
Le Tour (Domaine De Balme) - accessed on the same free bus as Grands Montets, five minutes further up the valley. I've never visited this area.
Les Houches - 19 minutes from Chamonix in the opposite direction. Great beginner area and tree lined. Pretty resort with some great views of Mont Blanc. The area is generally more popular with families.
Vallee Blanche - one of the world longest off piste descents, accessed via aiguille du midi cable car straight from town. Look it up!
Hope this is helpful.
Ugi
not as big or as nice as other locations. apart from the town itself it was a big dissapointment.
Dave Leacy
Billed as the Mount Blanc Ski Chamonix is a series of small ski resorts linked together. I sense the off piste Is world class but so is the 3 valleys.. the resorts all need a bus ride and the infrastructure is outdated. The lift passes are very expensive in comparison for what’s on offer but some people swear by the place. Overall not in comparison to the 3 valleys.
Alicia Taylor
Great town with lots of bars and restaurants and best of all a train station!
Shimon London
There are lots of pros with Chamonix but also a lot of cons
For the pro-there is a great town centre, good shopping (albeit very expensive) and it is near to Geneva airport. The result of Gran Montes is really interesting-this is essentially one big salute playground on a mountain. The red one is amazing as you can do off and on the piste with relative ease. I followed a intermediate group down and they went off and around the back on to the pi is really interesting-this is essentially one big salute playground on a mountain. The red one is amazing as you can do off and on the piste with relative ease. I followed a intermediate group down and they went off and around the back on to the red run.
Now for the code now for the cons - went as a group of three families and you need to drop your kids off at the ski school office for them to be picked up. The lessons take place at La Plante note is i The lessons take place at Les Planards.
This brings me to my main point about Charmonix - you may have heard of ski in ski out but Chamonix is ski and commute! It is not unheard-of to spend 40 to 50 minutes getting to another ski area. As they are all separate and only have a few runs each you will spend time getting about and for the skier to spend all the time skiing it can feel a bit of a drag
For families it is really difficult as you will be in the position of having to walk with your ski boots on and carry your children's skis with them moaning as they will have been at school for a whole day (If they choose not to take the ski coach)
Noel Akers
Chamonix is epic in winter and summer. I learned to ski here, but it's not an ideal beginner's resort. Accessing any three of the four major areas will involve a bus-ride, wherever you're staying, and there's very rarely enough snow lower down to ski back to the resort. But, the terrain, the views and the off-piste opportunities are to die for. (And some do, every year.) If you're an intermediate skier, do the Vallee Blanche itinerary at least once in your life, (guide very strongly recommended).
Best area for me - Le Tour, particularly if pistes are no longer enough for you.
brendanprich
the best mountain/valley combination in the world.
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