Lyon & the French Alps - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 501

LA TERRASSE
( www.laterrassechamonix.com ; 43 place Balmat; 4pm-2am; ) Race the clock
for cheap drinks (5pm €5, 6pm €6 etc) and take position on the strategically placed
terrace on Chamonix' main square.

Music Bar

Information
Tourist office (

04 50 53 00 24; www.chamonix.com ; 85 place du Triangle de l'Amitié;

8.30am-7pm)

Getting There & Away

Bus
From Chamonix bus station ( www.sat-montblanc.com ; place de la Gare) , located
next to the train station, two to three buses run daily to/from Geneva airport and bus
station (one way/return €33/55, 1½ to two hours) and Courmayeur (one way/return
€13/20, 45 minutes). Advance booking is required for both.

Car & Motorcycle
Approaching Chamonix from Italy, you arrive via the 11.5km-long Tunnel de Mont
Blanc ( www.atmb.net ; toll one way/return €35/44) , which enters town in the south-
ern suburb of Les Pélerins. From France the A40 toll motorway - the Autoroute
Blanche - hooks up with the Chamonix-bound N205 dual carriageway for the last
leg.

Train
From Chamonix-Mont Blanc train station (place de la Gare) the Mont Blanc Ex-
press narrow-gauge train trundles from St-Gervais-Le Fayet station, 23km west of
Chamonix, to Martigny in Switzerland, stopping en route in Les Houches, Chamonix
and Argentière. There are nine to 12 return trips between Chamonix and St-Gervais
(€9.50, 40 minutes).
From St-Gervais-Le Fayet, there are trains to most major French cities.