| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 23/04/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 42 |
| Copyright: Other |
France
where:the main mountain resorts include Chamonix, Serre Chavalier and Tignes. Lake resorts include Annecy and Talloires.
ambience: the ski boom of the 1970s saw a lot of French mountain resorts builtquickly. As a result, they lack the charm of their Austrian or Italian counterparts. Exceptions include traditional favourites such as Chamonix, Morzine and Annecy.
wild activities: hiking and trekking specialist Exodus rates its eight-day Mont Blanc Ascent with the toughest of its five grades; no surprise as the tour includes a one-day ice-axe and crampon training session, three days’ walking and further training and two days attempting the summit. The tour costs £1,299. Less extreme is the 15-day High Route tour through the Swiss and French Alps, costing £739. Running from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn, accommodation is a mix of campsites and mountain huts.
mild activities: Chamonix is a great start point for a Mont Blanc ascent but there’s a lot of low-level walking in the area too. Easier ascents can be made on the narrow gauge rack-and-pinion railway to the Mer de Glace glacier, and on the highest cable-car in the Alps – 3,842 metres up the Aiguille Rouge – most of the major operators offer these as an excursion.
sample product: seven nights’ self-catering at the Balcons du Savoy apartments in Chamonix leads in at £305 with First Choice.