The French Alps offer some spectacular views during both winter and summer. One of the most beautiful areas in the French Alps is the area of Chamonix-Mont Blanc. In this blogpost we’ll show you some of the best places to go when you’re in this area in summer. Get ready for some spectacular mountain peaks, mountain lakes, sheep and blue ice!
Chamonix
Chamonix is a town at the foot of the Mont-Blanc in the beautiful French Alps. In winter Chamonix is known for its ski resorts and in summer it’s also a touristic attraction because of the mountain Aiguille du Midi. The town is crowded and a bit expensive. Despite the crowds the mountain views in the region are spectacular and we think it’s still worth a visit! We would advise to avoid high season though.
Aiguille du Midi
Aiguille de Midi is a 3842m (12.605ft) high mountain right next to Chamonix. You can easily reach the summit of the mountain in a 20 min. cable car ride. At the summit you’ll find a panoramic viewing platform, cafe and of course beautiful views of the Mont Blanc. As you can see from the pictures you’ll have to check the weather or the webcams before going up! It is very possible the summit of Aguille de Midi is in the clouds and you can’t see anything.
The summit of Aiguille du Midi
Aiguille du Midi
Aiguille du Midi
Aiguille du Midi
A view of the Mont Blanc
Aiguille de Midi
Mer de Glace
Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) is a glacier located at the North side of the Mont Blanc massif. It is the longest glacier in France and the second longest glacier in the Alps (after the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland). The glacier is 5.5km (3,4mi) long! You can easily reach the glacier by taking the train from Chamonix to Montenvers. Here you’ll have a panoramic view over the glacier and you can walk into a small ice cave.
Mer de Glace
Mer de Glace
Ice cave
Ice cave
Lac Blanc
The hike towards Lac Blanc is an amazing hike with great views of the Mont-Blanc massif. The start of this hike is in Chamonix, from here you can take the Cable car to La Flégère followed by the chairlift to L’index. Then you can follow the trail to Lac Blanc and return in a loop to the cablecar at La Flégère. The hike can be somewhat more difficult when there is snow on the paths. This beautiful hike takes about 3 hours. Nowadays the cute cabin at Lac Blanc that you can see in the photo is unfortunately removed.
Chairlift towards L’index
Hiking towards Lac Blanc
Hiking towards Lac Blanc
Alpine sheep!
Alpine sheep!
Alpine sheep!
A mountain goat!
Lac Blanc
Lac Blanc
Chamonix is surrounded by amazing mountains and offers great hikes. Despite of its popularity we still recommend to go and see these beautiful views of the Mont-Blanc, especially in the shoulder season. We will definitely be back! 🙂
6 Comments
Incredible that they have snow even during summer! Incredible shots!
Thank you! Yes, it is an amazing place!
First I thought: oh wow, Aiguille de Midi… spectacular! Have to see this with my own eyes once. Next I thought: Mer de Glace!! Have to go there too. Then: Lac Blanc. Wow, wow, wow!! And all of this relatively close to our home. Wanna spend some time here soon. Thanks for the impressive photos, you really made my wishlist longer today.
Thank you for your nice comment! It is definitely worth visiting and you can just reach it by car! 🙂
Gosh, this is just GORGEOUS! I’m traveling from Poland to the Italian Alps this summer. Now I want to alter my plans a bit…maybe a weekend trip from Milan. Thanks for sharing your amazing pictures!
Hi Stephanie, Thank you for your great comment! The Italian Alps are amazing! Where in the Italian Alps will you travel to? You can always combine Chamonix if you visit Aosta, one of the Italian parts of the Alps.