Imagine yourself and your favorite travel partner dangling in your own private little gondola, gliding silently for 40 minutes as you cross the Mer de Glace, or “sea of ice.”
You just left the last stop in France. On your right is the pillowy summit of Mont Blanc, Europe’s tallest mountain. On your left are jagged rocks called “dents,” or teeth, each famous among the world’s best rock climbers.
Ahead of you, the next stop is Italy. You’re near where Switzerland, Italy and France come together to “high five” the sky. Miles (literally) above Chamonix, you’re riding Europe’s highest lift.
Your Alpine adventure starts in the touristy French resort town of Chamonix. From there, Europe’s ultimate mountain lift, the Aiguille du Midi, zips you by cable car to the dizzy 12,600-foot-high tip of a rock needle. This lift is Europe’s highest and most spectacular. The cost is $58 round-trip from Chamonix (you can avoid the notoriously long lines by making a reservation up to 10 days in advance at www.compagniedumontblanc.com).
The modern gondola is big enough for dozens of people. With its scratched-up interior, you can imagine it filled with stylish European skiers. But today, it’s full of families — moms rubbing suntan lotion on cherubic cheeks, kids’ pint-sized rucksacks, ruddy seniors laced into their ancient boots gripping trusty walking sticks.
Chamonix shrinks as trees fly by, soon replaced by whizzing rocks, ice and snow, until you reach the top. Up there, even sunshine is cold. The air is thin. People are giddy. Fun things can happen on top, if you’re not too winded to join locals in the Halfway-to-Heaven tango.
From the viewpoint, the Alps spread out before you. In the distance is the bent little Matterhorn (called “Cervin” in French). You can almost reach out and pat the head of Mont Blanc, at 15,771 feet, the Alps’ (and Europe’s) highest point.
To save a little money and also enjoy a hike, you can buy a “Rambler” ticket to the top of the Aiguille du Midi, but only halfway back down. This gives you a chance to look down at the Alps and over at the summit of Mont Blanc from that lofty lookout. Then, you descend on the lift only to the halfway point (Plan de l’Aiguille), from where you’re free to frolic in the glaciers and hike to Mer de Glace. From there you can catch a train at Montenvers back to your starting point, Chamonix.
But for the ultimate Alpine joyride, grab a private gondola at Aiguille du Midi and continue on to Italy for what must be Europe’s most breathtaking border crossing. In the tiny red gondola, you venture south. Open the window. Explore every corner of your view. You’re sailing a new sea.
Cross into Italy at Helbronner Point (11,371 feet) and descend on another lift into the remote Italian Valle d’Aosta. It’s a whole different world — where a dash of France and a splash of Switzerland blend with the already rich Italian flavor and countless castles to give you an easy-to-like first taste of Italy.
The town of Aosta, your best valley home base, is a two-hour bus ride from the base of the lift in La Palud (hourly departures, change in Courmayeur). If a fellow cable-car passenger has a car parked in La Palud, charm a ride to Aosta.
“The Rome of the Alps,” as Aosta is called, has many Roman ruins and offers a great introduction to the fine points of Italian life: cappuccino, gelato and an obligatory evening stroll. An evening here is a fine way to ease into la dolce vita.
If you don’t go on to Italy, you can return from Helbronner Point back to Chamonix. The resort town, a convenient train ride from Paris or Nice, is packed in August but surprisingly easy and affordable the rest of the year. Like Switzerland’s Interlaken, Chamonix is a launch pad for mountain worshippers. The town has an efficient tourist information center and plenty of affordable accommodations.
From Chamonix, there are days of hikes and cable car rides. The best hikes are actually opposite the staggering Aiguille du Midi on the Gran Balcon Sud. This is a high-altitude world of pristine lakes, great Mont Blanc range views and hang-gliders lunging off the cliff from the Brevent lift station. Watching these daredevils fill the valley like spaced-out butterflies is a thrilling spectator sport.
If you like the Alps, you’ll love Chamonix, where hikers and non-hikers alike can enjoy vast mountain vistas with little effort. And when you tire of the mountains, Italy is just next door.
Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. E-mail him at rick@ricksteves.com, or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, WA 98020.
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