Chamonix sits at the foot of Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest peak, and that location alone makes it one of the most dramatic mountain towns on the continent. Unlike many French ski resorts — purpose-built clusters of high-rise apartments dropped next to a lift station — Chamonix is a real town, with a cosy centre full of good bars, restaurants, and cafes that have been drawing visitors since the 18th century.
The skiing is spectacular but split across five separate areas that are not interconnected on the slopes. You will need to take a bus between them, which can be a drag on short winter days. What you lose in convenience you gain in variety: the terrain ranges from gentle forested pistes at Les Houches to serious off-piste descents down the Vallée Blanche, the most famous glacier run in the world.
Summer is equally rewarding. The Aiguille du Midi cable car lifts you to 3,842 metres in minutes, offering staggering views across the Alps into Italy and Switzerland. Hikers have the Tour du Mont Blanc and countless day walks through alpine meadows and past glacial lakes — Lac Blanc, high above the valley on the Aiguilles Rouges, is the classic viewpoint.
The valley holds seven major glaciers. The Mer de Glace — the second largest glacier in the Alps after Switzerland's Aletsch — is 12 kilometres long and contains an estimated four billion cubic metres of ice. You can reach it by the Montenvers rack railway from Chamonix, though like all Alpine glaciers it has been receding steadily: about 7.5 metres per year on average through the 20th century, and faster since. Markers on the rock beside the railway station show exactly how far the surface has dropped since 1820 — the visual impact is stark.
The town itself has more substance than most ski resorts. The Musée Alpin covers the full history of the valley from the first tourists to the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first ever held. The Stade Olympique and the ruined bobsleigh track from those Games are still visible. The centre is lively without being characterless, and the village of Argentière up the valley offers a quieter alternative base.