My son and I are taking a RS My Way Alpine Europe tour in July, and our final stop is Chamonix. I have never been to Chamonix, but my son and I enjoy hiking. Do you think it worthwhile to extend our stay, in our Rick Steves final hotel, an extra week? Additionally, we plan to fly home Geneva to Seattle as recommended by Rick Steves. As Lufthansa only departs Geneva very early in the morning, and the shuttle takes 1-2 hours from Chamonix, do you recommend spending the night in a Geneva airport hotel? And can you recommend one? Thank you for any help or insight!
Posted by
white plains, ny, usa
4140 posts
You will probably regret it if you don't extend your stay in Chamonix . I have made two visits there , and would love to go back . Definitely , spend the night before your return in the hotel at Geneva, that makes sense
Posted by
OP
WA
121 posts
Steven, that’s what I thought! Chamonix looks magnificent… I just needed feedback from someone who’d actually been. Thank you!
Posted by
USA
367 posts
Chamonix is delightful and quite worthy of additional time. Definitely stay overnight in Geneva before your flight home. I’ll pull up my spreadsheet for our trip in 2018 and get back with you on the hotel we booked. It had free airport shuttle and was reasonably priced.
Posted by
Cape Cod
144 posts
We are also going on the My Way Alpine tour. Our tour is late August. We originally booked it in 2020..
We plan to stay an extra night in Chamonix .. then we hope to head back Switzerland and maybe stay in Wengen . We love Murren area. We done GAS tour and BOS .. both so we could go to Murren.
Looking for suggestion where in Wengen. We been walking daily to stay in shape since January 2020..
we are up to a little over 7 miles daily now. Wearisome ready..
enjoy your tour..
Posted by
OP
WA
121 posts
“Go Anywhere”, I would dearly appreciate the name of the Geneva airport hotel you stayed in. The free airport shuttle is a big plus. Looks like our flight will depart at 6:55 am, so there is no room for being late. Thanks!!
Posted by
USA
367 posts
We stayed at the Ibis Geneve Aeroport, 10 Chemin de la Viotette; Geneve-Cointrin
We returned our rental car at the airport then took the shuttle to the hotel. Got the shuttle the next morning for our flight that departed at 7;25. Very convenient and clean, comfortable hotel.
Posted by
Nice, France & San Francisco
677 posts
By all means extend your trip, but by a week without a car may be a lot, unless your are backpacking. There is the train and many reachable destinations, but a car definitely expands your boundaries and opens up some other areas. To be certain, however, you will find enough to do. (But be sure to check the Mont Blanc express route past the French side, and the stops along the way, including Lac Emosson. Be sure to have a mountain fondue at the refuge there after the hike around the Lac). I used to live in Lausanne, so my perspective gets skewed from having a car..
Posted by
92 posts
A week in Chamonix sounds like a lot but there is a lot to do there. The Mont Blanc multípass is pretty inexpensive considering how much it saves you over buying individual tickets.