Bonjour! Just got back from Chamonix last night and wanted to post some info that I think may be helpful:
1. Since we stayed at Les Balcons du Savoy we needed to buy groceries. There are three markets in town: Super U (biggest and cheapest), Casino and Petite Casino. The Super U is open the most often but most stores close from 1-3 so plan accordingly. On Monday, even the Super U closed at noon.
2. If you%26#39;re looking for Wifi it is free at the McDonalds (and they do serve beer there which was a fun surprise)
3. We walked EVERYwhere. Comfy shoes are a must.
4. If you want to take a trip into Italy it is very close. By train there are three transfers so it makes more sense to take a bus. It%26#39;s about a 35 minute ride. The bus leaves at 8:45 am and you can only come back at 1:00 or 5:15. There%26#39;s not that much to do in Couermayer (spelling?!) so leaving at 1:00 will give you plenty of time. The pizza at Du Parc was the best we%26#39;ve ever had.
5. In Chamonix the best pizza was from Poco Loco. It%26#39;s a very, very small pizza place in town but in the area behind the main street. There%26#39;s a little %26quot;alley%26quot; back there filled with bars. Looked like it would be a lot of fun. Can either take it with you and sit at a pinic table outside or stand at the very narrow counter and eat it.
6. To change money there%26#39;s a bank in town with a window for exchange. Someone there told me to change money at the post office (?) but they said to go to the bank! They are also closed mid-day but different times than 1-3.
7. We found that most people speak English there - people who work there as well as fellow travellers.
8. There is a wealth of detailed info on this site and I regretted not printing up many of the posts before I left. Of course you can look it up online when there but for us since we were usually paying for interet service we didn%26#39;t.
If you%26#39;re coming from the states plan on spending a LOT of money. The exchange rate for the dollar is very low. The prices are higher in Europe anyway and in addition, as the locals told me, %26quot;Well, you are in Chamonix%26quot;. They said the prices have been going up every year. But don%26#39;t let that get in your way of going - it is an incredibly beautiful place with lots of shops and restaurants. There%26#39;s also a bowling alley and mini-golf as well as billiards.
My family loved Chamonix and we will be back!!!!
|||
Lulu
I told you to use the Post Office but I think it was in respect of the cash machines.
Re the cost it is cheaper than the UK or at least the bit of the UK I live in !!!
Glad you enjoyed it
|||
That%26#39;s OK, you probably didn%26#39;t know that I%26#39;m likely the only person on the planet without an ATM card!!!
|||
There is also free wifi at the chamonix tourist center next to Hotel Mont-Blanc.
Did you walk around Courmayeur throught the cutesy streets and shops? If you ski, there%26#39;s barely enough time to get back for the 5:15 bus and also look at a couple of shops or snack at Du Parc or other places.
Since it%26#39;s mostly english tourists in Chamonix (the tourist office say it%26#39;s two-thirds english tourists), only makes sense that most of the locals speak english.
It%26#39;s possible to spend a lot of money. But, comparing apples to apples, Chamonix is still cheaper than going to Utah (eg. Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbird), even with the crummy exchange rate. We just returned from Chamonix and stayed at Hotel Grand des Alpes. Even at the %26#39;high%26#39; rates for easter week, the equivalent hotel at Deer Valley would be double (or more!).
Chamonix is awesome!
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 8:18 am, September 24, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment