Geneva Airport to Chamonix, across the border.

The drive

South from the airport, across the French border almost immediately, then the A40 motorway through the Arve valley past Cluses and Sallanches, and up into the Chamonix valley at Les Houches. About an hour and a quarter, most of it fast.

The border crossing is routine — Switzerland is in Schengen, so there is normally no stop at all, though French and Swiss authorities do run occasional checks. Carry your passport or ID card. For the vehicle side, our coaches and drivers hold the documentation required to operate commercially into France, which is a real distinction: not every Swiss operator can legally do this run.

The valley, not just the town

Chamonix is a valley with several distinct bases, and they are not interchangeable when you are carrying luggage:

• Chamonix centre — the town, the Aiguille du Midi cable car, most of the hotels
• Les Houches — lower and quieter, first as you arrive
• Argentière — up the valley, closest to the Grands Montets
• Le Tour and Vallorcine — the far end, near the Swiss border again

While you are here

Chamonix is close enough to Switzerland that people often combine it. Verbier is about 1 h 30 over the Forclaz, Zermatt around 2 h 30, and Courmayeur is 20 minutes through the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy. Three countries within a comfortable morning's drive — a genuinely unusual position, and one we are set up for because we operate across all of them.