France · Europe · northern hemisphere
Chamonix is at its best for skiing in January to March. Good but not prime in April and December. Crowds peak in January and bottom out in May.
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skiing | 91 | 91 | 89 | 61 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 73 |
| Hiking | 5 | 13 | 20 | 25 | 12 | 66 | 90 | 90 | 68 | 15 | 4 | 6 |
| Festivals & Events | 17 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 17 | 23 | 90 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 22 |
| Crowds |
Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.
Chamonix is a town with ski areas scattered around it, not one linked resort — the lifts open on different dates and not every area is on the same pass
Day walks with lift access, or hut-to-hut routes. No guide required; the Mont Blanc route needs a refuge booking.
Assuming one pass covers everything. Grands Montets opens at the end of November, though full service is snow-dependent into early December, and runs into early May; Les Houches and the beginner areas open 19 Dec, and the nursery slopes close in late March. Check the lift you actually want is running before you book the week.
July and August — summer is about 53% of the valley’s nights. Christmas–New Year and the February school holidays are the winter peaks, and the French February break is staggered across four weeks by region
The Aiguille du Midi reaches 3,842m in about twenty minutes, which is a lot of altitude very fast for small children. The valley floor is easy.
Chamonix town has buses to every lift, so you pay for the town rather than the slope. Les Houches and Vallorcine are cheaper on the same pass, and Argentière puts you at the foot of Grands Montets.
Chamonix is as much a summer destination as a winter one; the Aiguille du Midi runs 1 May to 1 November for walkers rather than skiers.
0 is this destination’s own quietest month and 100 its busiest. The scale never compares one destination to another. Source: Wikipedia — Chamonix