Breathtaking Chamonix: Self-Guided Aiguille du Midi or Mer de Glace

Mountain views are out of this world and feels so surreal! Pleasant coach ride to and from Chamonix - easy to locate the stop for the pickup, it is directly in front of the shop where you collect your tickets for the day. We were provided a map for the day to help find our bearings once we were been dropped off. Would recommend the mountain train and once you step off, you are within the mountains and the view is breath taking. The village itself is cute and has plenty of shops, restaurants and bar - lots of choice to help you pass the day. We went picked up at 10.30 in Geneva, the coach trip is around 1.5 hours and you are picked up at 18.30, returning to Geneva between 19.30 to 19.45 but the time goes by quicker than you imagine!

My wife and I went on our own via cablecar up to top of Aiguille du Midi... It was an amazing few hours of looking down at all the mountains and watching off piste skiers as little specs below our vantage point... would not miss it...

Chamonix and Mont Blanc are beautiful, and I recommend seeing them. Unfortunately, we were never told that the gondola, the train, and much of the town was closed while we were visiting. We were dropped off at 11:30 a.m. and told the bus was leaving at 5:15 p.m., and then started wandering through a largely locked up town. The Office of Tourism in Chamonix was very helpful. We were able to walk 2 KM to Les Prez, and take its gondola up the ski slopes. We also ate at Josephine, which was phenomenal. Overall, it was beautiful, and many stores began to open in the afternoon. Just make sure to look at the time of year you go, and what will be open when you get there. Apparently, mid-November to mid-December is not the best time to visit.

Loved it so much. Highly recommend. It is a must especially if you want to spend a day in a beautiful village and seethe Alpsj

The views and scenery from Chamonix & Aiguille du Midi is absolutely stunning and picturesque. Temp at Aiguille du Midi was around 3⁰C in July 2022 and needed a light jacket. Beautiful views and plenty of phot ops. However, the cable car ride (two for ascent and descent each) needs a lot to be desired. Absolutely uncomfortable for 40+ pax to be stuffed into one cable car. No regard to C19 precautions; more than half of pax unmasked ! Poor show. Toilets available at the top as well - a word of caution for men (pls sit and empty gently or else U may feel dizzy at that level of hypoxia; I'm a medical doctor!). The walk to Montenvers station for cog wheel train to Mer de Glace is atleast 15-20min (not 5min as per the info leaflet) with poor signage. We had to rely on Google maps. Also the visit to ice-caves at Mer de Glace needs walk down and up (550 steps each way) which is quite arduous for somebody out of shape. There is no info on the need to walk these steps either at Montenvers station nor in the info leaflet ! Most of our fellow pax were taken by surprise about this. We took under 20min to climb the 550 steps up. The ice views inside Mer de Glace pale in comparison to Jungfraujoch and are probably not worth the physical effort. If U haven't been to Jungfraujoch, then pls do it by all means. Lastly, be wary of the time factor. We had to scurry back in order to not miss the last train (5.30pm) only to find huge serpentine queues there. Overall, 4/5 rating. Mer de Glace was OK/average. Views from Aiguille du Midi well worth the money. Good Luck.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for the cable car to Mont Blanc so we were taken to Brevent to ride the cable cars to view the glacier from there. The problem was that the local guide barely explained the situation and then gave vague instructions for getting up the mountain to another cable car, how to get to the train and a different meeting place to leave. We never saw her again all day. If you knew the area the places she pointed to on the map would be clear but we actually got lost. This is an independent tour, which is fine, but clearer information is needed up front about where to meet, going to the tour office (not the bus station), and better explanation of itinerary changes. That being said, the views were spectacular!

Great experience and amazing view. The service was excellent with friendly staff at each level. Our guide from Swiss Tour gave an excellent briefing before taking the cable car.

Wonderful trip and stunning views. My only complaint would be that it would have been helpful to know that you don’t need much time to see what you need to see. We very well could have taken the same train back down that we came up on instead of waiting a full hour for the next. We were starving and the little cafe is just that...small and serves snack. Given you arrive around lunch time, especially with young children, it would have been ideal to get back on our train to go back into Chamonix for a proper lunch. Just a heads up for others in similar situations: get out take your pics and hop back on the train!

I booked my trip weeks in advance but unfortunately the weather was foggy and rainy. I was able to do the red cogwheel train and it was a lovely experience despite the fog. The town of Chamonix is beautiful and the people extremely friendly. There was a slight break in the weather around 3:45pm but the ticket office decided to close when closing time is actually 4pm. Really!! I feel that tourist like myself should have been accommodated because we travelled from Geneva and in my case from The Bahamas to ascend Mont Blanc. My group was told to come back the next day. Impossible, when we came via bus and had to leave 6:30pm the latest. Nevertheless, I made the best of the day.

This was a great trip and Neil was a really helpful guide. The bus drivers were also very friendly too. I loved the cable car experience and have never seen a view like it.