Our Guide to the Alps with a Swiss Twist: Chamonix and Zurich

"Meet me in the Alps...it's going down"

After watching the iconic Audrey Hepburn in Charade we knew we had to get to the French Alps one day. How lucky are we that it turned out to be the perfect destination for our first international ski trip. With Winter in our rearview mirror, we thought it would be timely to relive our excursions and give our review of Chamonix and Zurich.

Chamonix

To begin our journey, we flew into Zurich and decided to rent a car for the length of trip. Thankfully, the 3-hour drive to Chamonix was so scenic and you get the opportunity to travel through the German and French zones of Switzerland. We found Chamonix to be one of the most charming towns in the French Alps. Lauren had visited years before, on a high school French trip during the Summer, so she was excited to get back and see Chamonix in its prime.

Sitting just North of Mount Blanc and bordering Switzerland and Italy this was a perfect choice for our first time skiing in Europe. Fun fact, it is also the site of the first Winter Olympics, held in 1924, so there is a lot of history to be found.

The town center was much larger than we expected, and we had access to all the shops we needed during our stay. We made sure to stop by the boulangerie and the fromagerie to stock up on meats and cheeses to snack on after a long day of skiing.

Overall Rating: A-

Our first 3 days were based in Chamonix and we stayed at Chalet Hotel Le Prieuré. This was a perfect place to stay as it was a two-minute walk to the city center and close to the shuttles to the various mountains. They had a wide variety of room types and layouts, and we were able to reserve a suite (at a decent rate) that could fit up to 6 adults. They also offered on-site parking and access to a room with lockers to store skis, snowboards, and other items.

Just a five-minute walk from our hotel we were able to rent our skis and snowboard from Skiset Aiguille du Midi. This process was super easy and took about 30 minutes to get outfitted to hit the slopes. For our first day of skiing we took the shuttle just to the entrance of Le Brevant.

To be fair we could’ve walked but we wanted to conserve our energy for the day. We got there just before the lifts opened and you could feel the excitement in the air. Be warned people are quite pushy to get up to the top so you have to be quick (and maybe a little aggressive).

On day two of skiing, we decided to grab lunch on the mountain. The food was pretty good but also pretty expensive - as to be expected in the French Alps.

Since Lauren is a planner, she made sure to do plenty of research on the food scene in Chamonix and made reservations about a month before the trip. A few places she found that we enjoyed were Panier Des 4 Saisons and Le Monchu.

Though there are plenty of restaurants from fast-food to fine-dining options in the area, keep in mind that it does get fairly busy so you might want to make reservations to be on the safe side.

Of course, we had to stop by the famous La Folie Douce for a little apres-ski. We went around 4 pm so it hadn’t gotten to its craziest but it was still quite fun. The patio was huge and featured different sections and multiple fire pits to keep warm. We would definitely recommend going for the experience.

One the last day we took the tram up the mountain for the Montenvers experience and explored the ice caves which was such a cool experience. That said it definitely does book-up quickly so be sure to plan in advance and give yourself plenty of time to get there.

Overall, we absolutely loved Chamonix and would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a cute town with options for varying ski levels. The mountains are very well connected, so it was easy to explore different areas over the days. No matter what the season, definitely take a visit to Chamonix. Teemed with hiking trails and nature walks there is sure to be an activity the entire family will enjoy.

Zurich

Overall Rating: B+

We ended our trip by spending 3 days in Zurich. Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and is home to one of the busiest international airports in Europe. The official language in this part of the country is German but English and French are spoken largely as well.

We stayed at Hotel Zürichberg, which is a beautiful boutique hotel on the outskirts of Zurich. Our stay was amazing, and we found the hotel to be the best choice as we were looking to relax after days of skiing. Surrounded by nature and overlooking Lake Zurich, the views from the hotel were stunning. The rooms were also incredibly comfortable and the breakfast buffet came with so many delicious options. Additionally, we were able to get two conjoining rooms for a reasonable rate which gave us plenty of space.

For dinner we decided we’d try for fondue, as we hadn’t had it yet on our trip, and this ended up being a highlight of the vacation. We went to Restaurant Swiss Chuchi, which is well-known and on many “bests” lists. The host must’ve liked us because were seated in 15 minutes (right before we walked-up we could hear him telling a couple it was over an hour wait).

Another highlight of the trip was a visit to the Lindt Home of Chocolate. Lauren’s not a huge chocolate fan but was pleasantly surprised at what a fun experience this was. Throughout the tour you get a chance to learn about the history of chocolate as well as taste a number of samples. You also get to choose a variety bag of chocolates on your way out. Definitely worth the 5-euro entrance fee.

Overall Zurich was such a beautiful city and had such a different feel from Chamonix. It was calm and tranquil and the people were super nice. It also seems like a multicultural hub in Switzerland. We’d say, if you’re looking for a place to party hard Zurich might not be the spot for you, but if you’re looking for beautiful and relaxing this could be the place.