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Annecy, Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval, and Chamonix

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The first week of June, two of us are thinking of traveling by train from Lyon to Annecy and using that as our home base for three nights. We are planning to rent a car for two days from Annecy so that we can get to Chamonix one day to take the gondola up the mountain and Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval another day to do some hiking.

Is Annecy a good place to use as our home base for three nights, or is there someplace better in the area to consider?

Is renting a car the best way to get around up in that area, or are the trains a better choice?

Is Chamonix and Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval good destinations for hiking and scenery, or are there better places to go up in that area that we should consider?

Thank you.

Posted by
3391 posts

Yes! Chamonix has amazing hikes and stunning Alpine scenery!
Getting to Chamonix by car is easy. There is a very large car park behind the Aguille du Midi station that is a very short walk to town. You can make a very full day of it. Take the gondola up to the Aguille du Midi and enjoy the magnificent views of Mont Blanc!
You can also go up the opposite side of the valley via gondola and hike to Lac Blanc - in my opinion it has one of the best views in the Alps...views to Mont Blanc, the Mer du Glace, and the high peaks surrounding all of that.
I haven't been to Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval so I'll let others address this destination.

Posted by
2916 posts

Annecy is a great spot for your base. As to Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval, I believ that the train that used to run there from Annecy no longer does so, so you'll need your car.

Posted by
253 posts

Your plan and the responses above are spot on.

Posted by
16893 posts

With a base in Annecy, it looks like the drive to/from Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval will repeat about half of the same road covered to/from Chamonix. I don't know Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval and how it differs from Chamonix, but our preferred strategy is usually to spend a couple of nights at Chamonix, so that you can be out bright and early and maybe have more than one shot at the mountain if visibility is poor.

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