Hello, my family is looking for the best area to make a home base for 8 nights in late June/early July. We will rent a chalet or flat but are struggling to settle on a location. We want beautiful views, quiet and peaceful, but close enough to walk to at least a few amenities (bakery, market, restaurant). Bonus for charm! We don't like a lot of crowds or nightlife and want our kids (12-17) to be able to explore the town if they wish. We will have a car and will be hiking, canyoning, paragliding, etc - a variety of outdoor sport activities. For reference we have loved Murren. I am having a hard time getting a good sense of the various areas around Chamonix and determining where to stay to make our daytime activities reasonably convenient but also to soak up the natural peace we are coming to the Alps to get and I would truly appreciate any suggestions or thoughts. Thank you for your help!
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
To avoid noise and air pollution as much as possible, as well as busy town vibes, I would go for Argentière. The Chamonix valley has a lot to offer in terms of hikes and excursions, more than enough for eight nights. By the way,
many rentals are weekly, so you might have 1-2 spare nights, in which case Annecy is lovely.
You could go for a 2-center stay: 4-5 nights in Chamonix valley, and 3-4 in another valley. For instance, the Giffre valley (Sixt, Samoëns) is extremely scenic.