A playground for grown-ups that did not grow up

Intro to Chamonix

Both me (Anders) and my wife, (Karoliina) love skiing, being active, nature and places that have a vibe. That is the main reason why we bought an apartment in Chamonix. This place really has everything and something for everybody. In short the reasons, we settled for Chamonix  (pronounced “Chamoni” without the x) are the following:

• It is a real city. This is not just a dead alpetown. Most other skiing places have either been very quiet remote places, or busy skiing resorts built just for skiing. But Chamonix is a real city. Of course, there is a lot of skiing, but there is also so much more than just skiing and that we love. The city has a vibe of excitement and sport going on. 
• It is easy to get there. A lot of skiing places are tricky to get to and can only be reached by car. Chamonix is only 50 minutes drive from Geneva, and it is easy and cheap to fly to Geneva airport from most of Europe. There are direct busses going all the time. Another cheap airport is Milano which is only 2½ hours away.  
• As mentioned, Chamonix has awesome skiing, but also so much more. Crazy hikes, unbelievable mountain bike tracks, downhill biking, cross country skiing, charming french restaurants, huge sports events both to watch and to join, marathons, lots of shops, bars, Ice hockey games, swimming hall, Spas, Golf  and amazingly small and huge nature getaways
• The skiing. This place has some skiing for everybody. There are good places for kids to learn skiing and good slopes for “tourists” and then there are lots and lots of off-piste. You will need to live in Chamonix for many years to do all the ski routes there is
• Possible and easy-to-do day trips to Verbier in Switzerland and Courmayeur in Italy and those areas are included in the ski pass
• The city is full of great events throughout the year
• Although it is french, this might be the best English-speaking part of France, so communication is not an issue.
• All the different activities make it a place that has cool things for kids, teens, young adult, families, extreme sports people and for more senior people  

This guide is meant as a lookup guide for you that visit!