​Chamonix
Evan and I visited Chamonix for one of our bank holidays while living in London. We went in August to enjoy a little summer mountain time. We normally vacationed in Aspen in the summer when we lived in the States. We flew into Geneva airport from London and then drove an easy one-hour drive to Chamonix. The drive was beautiful, with lots of mountains and greenery.
Our friends inspired us to go on this trip after they stayed at the Hotel Mont Blanc and raved about it. So, obviously, we booked the same hotel. It was adorable and right in the center of town. Chamonix is a valley, which is wild to me, especially after visiting lots of Colorado towns, which are all above sea level. Chamonix is not. And the wildest thing is that Mont Blanc is right there and 15,777 ft- straight up!
Our hotel had an outdoor (and semi-indoor) pool and hot tub with amazing views of Mont Blanc. My favorite part of the hotel was the outdoor lounge area. We sat outside on our first night for drinks and a game of Scrabble while staring up at the mountain range.
Our hotel also had a gym. Since there were so many outdoor activities, we did not use the gym, but the equipment was nice. Although a small gym, I always appreciate a treadmill that will not break your legs. The spa was great. It was a Clarins spa. They had a steam room, sauna, and hammam. Evan and I got quick 30-minute massages after a bike ride one day. The original plan was to go to the QC spa. There is one in Chamonix. You must book this in advance and it is all done online. We had booked this and when we wanted to cancel & reschedule there were no spots. The cancellation policy is great though. They offer a full refund if you cancel 2 hours in advance. The QC spa has two booking options. One, a day pass for all of their pools/sauna/steam etc or two, you can book a service.
The hotel restaurant, El Matafan, was on the Michelin guide. The food was very Swiss mountain town. To me, this means lake trout & gamey meats. This was the cuisine just about all over Chamonix. We ate at El Matafan one evening and they sat us outdoors- it was adorable. A small menu but Evan and I both enjoyed our food. The hotel had breakfast in the morning but we did not dine at our hotel as we found a place in town we loved- Artic Juice.
The last thing about the hotel, the room was small but great. Each morning we opened our curtains to the mountains. We did not have AC but it cooled down a ton at night so it never bothered us. The beds were comfortable and the turn-down service always left cookies as nighttime treats.
Enough about the hotel let’s get to the food. We found a great juice/coffee spot in town. It was called Artic. We frequented this spot. We got a punch card and were getting free coffee by the end of the trip. They had delicious breakfast dishes, bowls, juices, smoothies, and coffees with alternative milks. Another great spot we went to for breakfast was Moody Coffee Roasters which had a crazy line! Word is out that they have amazing cinnamon rolls so people line up to get these before they run out. Evan tried their banana bread and a cookie. His review was that the pastries were worth the wait. They too had matcha, coffees, and alternative milk options- if you can't tell, I'm a big oat/almond milk girlie.
 For lunch, we went to the same place twice, La Bergerie Planpraz. which is so rare for me. This is for multiple reasons. I was a little unimpressed with the mountain lunch spots. Especially after going to a mountain town like Aspen or St Moritz, there are lots of trendy mountain restaurants with great food and the vibes to match. Chamonix is a bit more casual than that. However, the first time we went to La Bergerie Planpraz, we loved it so much. We only had three lunches in Chamonix and one was spent on a train eating charcuterie. Evan and I sat on the patio of La Bergerie and drank a spritz with delicious fish dishes and a side of fries! The patio furniture was so fun- pinks and greens. And the interiors were very trendy - similar pink and green theme. I can't recommend this spot enough.
 
For dinners, I debated going to the Michellin restaurant in Chamonix. There is only one. Its called Albert 1er. It's at the Relais Chateau hotel. I opted against it but we did get cocktails at the hotel, Quartz Bar- which is gorgeous. If we did not stay at the Hotel Mont Blanc, this would have been my second (maybe first) choice. I did get a peak of Albert 1er and it was very modern, white tablecloth fancy. So I think it would be a great option for dinner if that is the vibe you are seeking. The other two spots we ate at were Akashon and Le Index. Akashon was bib gourmand which is why I chose it. The restaurant was in a very funky trying-to-be modern kid-friendly hotel and was right next to this restaurant that served fondu- so you can imagine the smells. However, once we were in the restaurant (akashon) the cheese smell melted away (get it?). Good wine list and again a small menu with rotating specials. It was good but nothing super overwhelming. I will say this was one of the nicer restaurants on the mountain. The there were a cute sprinkled in restaurants in the town and one spot we did not try which was Le Comptoir. The last dinner which I mentioned above was L’Index. It was out in the wilderness just about. We used our hotel car to drive us out there (we could have walked but glad we did not). The venue with this restaurant has a huge outdoor lawn, smaller inside and also is a concert venue. I enjoyed this spot. Again casual and small menu but we loved the food here. We both had a mushroom risotto that was good. Evan had a pork and I had a fish. I liked his pork, he gave it a so so rating (but he is also not a pork fan, why he ordered it, beats me!). Then we had a wild blueberry dessert with ice cream & cheese dish. Other trendy spots in town I didn’t mention: Josephine & Rose Du Pont.
Chamonix is probably one of the most active towns we have been to. At all hours of the day people were biking, running, hiking.. it was wild. We did hikes on two days and cycled to Martigny in Switzerland. We rented bikes from Legend Chamonix. They were so easy to work with and the bikes were some of the best I have rented. Our concierge was great at recommending hikes & cycling routes. We did two hikes. The first day we did an easy one along the ridge. The hike was the south loop towards Bergerie. This is a beginner hike, not much incline. Any age or athletic ability could do it. Plus, it has great views. To get there we took the chair lift up, La Flegerie from Le Praz . We asked if we could hike from the bottom of the lift but the concierge had warned us that hike was extremely steep. So we did not do it our first day but instead our last- and she was right, it was very steep. Our last day we did the crazy adventurous hike from the bottom of the Chamonix PlanPraz lift. We did not realize it got as technical as it did at the top. We were climbing on ladders and it was right on a cliff- so if you are scared of hikes (or heights), stay away! But I loved how challenging this one was. I earned my Aperol spritz that day for sure.
One thing we did not do based on the weather was go up to the observation deck and see Mont Blanc. That is on the opposite side of the valley then where we hiked. If you do want to do this, I recommend making reservations & buying lift tickets in advance. We were told that certain time slots book up (most likely 24 hrs in advance) by our concierge. There are tons of hikes in fact the Tour du Mont Blanc traditionally starts there. Lots of biking options as well. We barely scratched the surface of all the outdoors activities. There was a beautiful golf course under the lift and river rafting in town. Such a good spot for a weekend of outdoors.