Your private guide will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the trail head, about 15 minutes from Chamonix by car.
As you start your ascent, your guide will tell you about the surrounding peaks and their formation and history, the local flora and fauna, and the types of activities and daring exploits and rescues that have taken place here. Your guide will walk at your pace, pointing out places of interest along the way and stopping as frequently as you wish to take photographs or catch your breath.
The Alpage de Chailloux route is demanding but not too challenging, with some steep passages but no exposed ridges or dangerous drop-offs. You’ll stop at an alpine meadow with direct views of the French Alps in front of you, including glaciers and Mont Blanc itself. While your guide puts together a picnic of local cheeses, meats, bread and fruit, you can enjoy the panoramic views before you.
After lunch, when you’re rested, you’ll begin the descent back toward the trail head along a different route, meandering through the trees to the less-visited Lac Noir, a small mountain lake. Here, you can sit down and take a break while enjoying the serenity of the lake before you continue the remaining short distance to the end of the route, and your hike. Your guide will then return with you to your hotel. In total, the walking time is roughly three and a half hours.
Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our France specialists
These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.
Mountains and glacier tour with cable car ascent
The alpine scenery of Chamonix is unveiled on this tour of the mountains and glaciers with a local guide. You’ll take in the views from the summit of the Aiguille du Midi and visit the ice cave in the Mer de Glace, France’s largest glacier.
You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.
