ville franche sur mer to Chamonix

We did the reverse a few years ago. If I recall correctly, it was about five hours and we went through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, then southwards within Italy, finally arriving at Villefranche-sur-mer from the east. At the time it seemed the quickest driving route, but the toll for the Tunnel was high, I seem to recall.

Not near as exciting as cheese tasting!

Sounds great. I've long wanted to try that train (buy tickets there in the station), as well as every cheese available. If you haven't seen them, there might be something of interest on these links:

Route Napoleon brochure: http://www.route-napoleon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ANERN-F-GB-plan-guide-RN.pdf

Savoie cheese route: https://www.fromagesdesavoie.fr/en/sites-a-visiter-2/itineraire-des-fromages-en.html

Thank you to both of you. I initially considered the Italian route stopping for a night or two on the south side of the Matterhorn, but decided Italy deserved it's own time on another trip. The fromage route is right up our alley. Interestingly , my wife is vegan unless she's in Europe with me when she prefers eating culturally.

Laura, I did send an email to the Savoie cheese site , but received a response in French. Not my preferred language :( I was hoping to get a map from them. Any ideas there?

Hi, Peter, I see an interactive (Google-based) source for Places to Visit, with a choice of map view or list view, but perhaps nothing that will print or download easily. (You might want to cut and paste into another format.)

Hi,
Driving from Nice to Chamonix in 3-4 days (if I counted right) is a lovely adventure. While the train to Digne is also great, car rental options in Digne might be costly and limited so I would skip it. The scenery from the roads will be equally good. If you like driving mountain roads I can suggest the following route:
Day 1, Nice to Barcelonnette via "col de la Bonette", one of the highest roads in Europe.
Day 2, Barcelonnette to Bonneval-sur-Arc (one of the most picturesque traditional villages in the French Alps), with a midday stop in Briancon (UNESCO-listed 18th century fortified town).
Day 3, Bonneval-sur-Arc to Beaufort, where you can sample the famous local Beaufort cheese in one of the cooperatives
Day 4, Beaufort to Chamonix
Days 3 and 4 can be combined in a single day, crossing into Italy and using the Mont Blanc tunnel as an expensive shortcut.

This is just one of many ways to do this drive, I can think of half a dozen suggestions! Get good detailed paper maps (Michelin Provence and Rhône Alpes) once in France, as Google maps does not always give the best idea of terrain and distances in mountain areas.

Drive. Get the Michelin Green Guide Alps to tell you where to drive for the Alpine scenery. Do not miss the Oratory au Chazelet.

This is terrific advice, thank you. Driving it is! I will obtain Michelin guide before we go and arrange lodging along the way.

That early in the year be sure to check the Alpine passes - they may not all be open yet.

The Alps in some areas got snow just last weekend.

Be sure you have an IDP for each driver for driving in France (and Italy if you do venture in).

I'd at least consider a plane from Nice to Lyon and renting a car there. I compared a car vs. train from Lyon to Chamonix (with an intermediate stop in Annecy). The train took twice as long as by car. Annecy wasn't a convenient stop for the train route. Car worked better there.