Argentière

A village in the French Alps, located at an altitude of 1,252 m above sea level, 9 km northeast of Chamonix , 11 km southwest of the border with Switzerland. In summer a good base for climbing and hiking, in winter a popular ski resort.

Argentière is situated in the Chamonix valley, at the foot of Les Grands Montets. The village is crossed by the D1506 road from Chamonix via Argentière, the Col des Montets road pass (1461 m) and Vallorcine to the Swiss border (and on to Martigny in the Rhône valley). Argentière is also on the route of the famous scenic railway known as the Mont Blanc Express, leading from Saint-Gervais-les-Bains via Chamonix, Argentière and Vallorcine and (already in Switzerland) Finhaut to Martigny (➤ map)(➤ map) Take the Téléphérique de Lognan-Les Grands Montets cable car first to plateau Lognan (plateau de Lognan, 1972 m), and then to the top of Aiguille des Grand Montets (3295 m), from where there is a wonderful mountain panorama, including the surroundings of the Argentière glacier (Argentière glacier ), bounded to the northeast by the peaks of Aiguille du Chardonnet, Aiguille d'Argentière and Tour Noir, and to the southwest by peaks Aiguille Verte, Les Droites and Les Courtes.

The ski slopes on the slopes of Les Grand Montets (with infrastructure including, apart from the cable car mentioned above, several other lifts) are considered suitable for advanced skiers, and some - for very advanced skiers; there are also opportunities for off-piste skiing. However, there are also easier areas in the Argentière area, and the location of the town also allows easy access to the ski areas in Vallorcine and in the Chamonix area (in total, there are about 150 km of slopes and off-piste terrains, from easy to extremely difficult, mostly located at an altitude of more than 2000 m, so usually providing good skiing conditions).

In summer, from June to September, Argentière is an excellent starting point for mountain tourism, and, thanks to its location on the D1506 and the Mont-Blanc-Express route, a good base for exploring the entire Chamonix valley as well as the Martigny area on the Swiss side of the border.