Argentière

Why base here

Argentière is a village of the commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, at 1,252m near the head of the valley and about 4 miles beyond the town, under the glacier that carries its name, and in the eighteenth century it belonged to the Benedictine priory of Chamonix. In summer the case for sleeping here rather than in Chamonix is that the walks of the upper valley, to the Col de Balme, the Posettes and Lac Blanc, start within a few kilometres of the door, two of them from the hamlet of Le Tour above it.

On foot versus by car

The Aiguillette des Posettes and the Col de Balme both start from the lift car park at Le Tour, the last hamlet up the valley, which is a short drive from the village or a ride on the Chamonix Mobilité bus line 2, which the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc lists as running from Le Tour through Chamonix to Les Bossons. The Charamillon gondola from Le Tour carries walkers part of the way to the Col de Balme, and the Posettes needs no lift at all. Lac Blanc has two starts: the Flégère gondola from Les Praz, back down the valley towards Chamonix, or on foot from Tré-le-Champ above Argentière, a longer climb with fixed ladders. Both routes are inside the Aiguilles Rouges nature reserve, where dogs are banned outright.

Practicalities

Argentière station is on the SNCF line from Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet through Chamonix to Vallorcine. The Parking des Grands Montets is on the Chemin des Arberons in the village, and the car park at Le Tour for the Balme lifts is paid. Beyond the village the road climbs over the Col des Montets to Vallorcine and Switzerland. That road, the RD 1506, crosses the Aiguilles Rouges reserve, and the reserve’s visitor chalet stands at the col, with exhibitions on the wildlife, plants and geology of the range. The reserve began here: the communes of Chamonix and Vallorcine created an intercommunal reserve at the Col des Montets in 1971, with Maurice Herzog’s support, before the national reserve followed in 1974.