Here’s a few things it may be handy to check in advance…
Insurance — make sure your travel insurer covers you for any activities you’re intending on doing, as some of them have specific exclusions about mountain sports.
If you’re from the UK or other EU country, make sure you have your EHIC card to get free treatment in France.
Travel money — there are plenty of cashpoints in Chamonix, but a lot of cards give you a very bad rate of exchange. UK-based guests should check out http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ for the best deals on travel money — the differences are pretty big! Prepaid cards are very handy too.
It’s best to take some cash as well — work out the approximate amount in Euros, and then shop around to order it it well in advance. You can often pick it up at the airport, or get it delivered.
If you’re driving, some Euros for the tolls are handy (around 6 euros total) as the cash machines at Geneva airport dispense Swiss Francs. In theory they will give you Euros or even dollars too, but I have never yet seen this working.
Check whether you’re using the French or Swiss side of Geneva airport, for flights and car hire — see our travel pages for full info
Make sure you have your airport transfer booked if you aren’t driving.
Arrange any equipment hire you may need, and book guides if you’ll be doing any guided activities
Swimming things for the hot tub. N.B. If you’re intending to swim in Chamonix pool as well, remember that men need to bring trunks, as board shorts are not allowed! They are fine for the hot tub, of course.
Flipflops for going out to the hot tub — this is important to keep the water clean.
Slippers — the tiled floor of the kitchen can be a bit cold, and they are wonderful to get into after a day in hiking or ski boots
Laptop/iPhone to access our wifi — very useful for lift information and the weather forecast
iPods — we have a dock for the stereo upstairs and an iPod speaker in the kitchen
If you have an iPhone the Chamonix App is well worth downloading. A bit clunky, but lots of useful info.
