If you are going to Geneva, a trip to the mountains is a must, and you can be in the Swiss, French or Italian Alps in a matter of hours. Amongst the most spectacular spots to visit is Chamonix, France, from where you can ride a cable car to the top of L’Aiguille du Midi, and gaze across at Europe’s highest mountain — Mont Blanc. You can even ride a gondola over the roof of Europe to Italy.

Although as the crow flies it is only 40 miles from Geneva to Chamonix, the train ride takes about 3 hours. A regularly scheduled train takes you from Geneva’s Gare de Cornavin to the small town of Martigny where you cross the platform and change to a narrow gauge train — the Mont Blanc Express. Equipped with huge panoramic windows, the red train chugs its way through lush, forested valleys where majestic mountains dominate the landscape, periodically accented by gushing waterfalls. Small villages surrounded by green meadows dot the route, interspersed with thick forests. Countless bridges and tunnels take the train over deep precipices and through the massive rocks.

Chamonix, formally known as Chamonix-Mont Blanc, sits in a sunny valley at the base of the soaring mountains. This is very much a mecca for the sporty — rock climbing, skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, biking, paragliding, and walking — all are available. But the pièce de résistance is a trip to the top of the mountains. Board a large, bright red gondola (the Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi) to zip up over the trees and sheer rock faces, changing gondolas at the halfway station, Le Plan de l’Aiguille. It takes about 20 minutes to reach the top. For the last half of the ride, you cross Les Pelerins glacier before literally ‘hugging’ the rock of the North Face.

As you step out on the terraces of the viewing platforms, the wind swirls around you. At 12,600 feet, even on a sunny, summer’s day, it is cold on top. Around you, the panorama of the Alps unfolds. The view is incomparable. On a clear day, you can see Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (15,500 ft) soars nearby. In the valley below, Chamonix is a distant sight.

All around you, people are pushing themselves to the extreme. Climbers work their way to the summit of Mont Blanc. Others try their luck on the Needle, l’Aiguille du Midi’s rock spire or on the Dent du Géant (the Giant’s Tooth). Some trudge through the snow, hiking to some distant point before starting their climb.

If watching them makes you feel particularly adventurous, switch to the Vallée Blanche Aerial Tramway, and ride the 3 miles (30-40 minutes) across the Glacier du Géant to Point Helbronner on the Italian side of the Alps, above Courmayeur and Val d’Aosta. As you ride across the glacier, suspended in mid-air on an unsupported wire, the only sound you will hear is the wind as it buffets your small gondola. Your view of Mont Blanc is all-encompassing. Below you the pure white snow of the Vallée Blanche is interrupted only by deep crevasses, towering seracs, and crags.

Ahead of you, the Italian gondola station looms. Stop for a while at Point Helbronner to have a cappuccino at the café before heading back to France on the aerial tram. If you are a photographer, this ride provides a wealth of opportunities for stunning photos. Once you are back at l’Aiguille du Midi, you can either ride the Gondola back to Chamonix or if you like to walk or are a photographer looking for incomparable shots, you can ride to the halfway station at the Plan de l’Aiguille with its rocky alpine landscape, covered with tiny wildflowers, and then hike down about 4 miles to Montenvers (about 2 hours) from where a short train ride takes you back to Chamonix.

Either way, at the end of the day you will have had breakfast in Geneva, a coffee in Italy and a meal in France, not bad for a day’s excursion to Europe’s roof.

IF YOU GO
Be sure to carry your passport with you as you will be crossing an international border between Switzerland and France. The Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi  is very popular, especially in the summer so be prepared for long lines unless you get there very early in the morning (the first car leaves at 0600). Your ticket will give you the number of both your ascending ANDY descending cable cars. in the summer and during ski season it is possible to make advance reservations

 

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