Excursion from Geneva to Chamonix

Hello,

I will be in Geneva at the end of March and thinking of visiting Chamonix. I have seen advertised day tours for around $200. Is it quite easy to take a train and go on your own or better to take a tour? It is our first time in Switzerland. We were also thinking of visiting Mt. Pilatus while in Lucerne. How do the two excursions compare if we wanted to choose just one? Thank you!

CN

Hi CN,

If you have a Swiss Travel Pass you can take a train via Martigny and Vallorcine for free. It's a scenic ride with one or two changes, but it's a long trip: more than 3 hours one way. If you don't have a pass you can consider to book a tour by bus. That would be quicker and most probably cheaper than buying tickets. There are tours for about $175 with the cable car to Aiguille du Midi included, or less without the cable car. Please see www.viator.com/ tours/Geneva/ Chamonix-and-Mont-Blanc and www.viator.com/tours/G eneva/Independent-Chamonix-and-Mont-Blanc-Tour-from-Geneva.

For Mount Pilatus, please see myswissalps.com/ pilatus.

Thanks Arno,

We do want to have some high mountain scenery experience, if given the choice of Chamonix or Pilatus, which would you choose? I am also reading about Titlis, how does that compare? thanks.

CN

Hi CN,

I haven't been to Chamonix to I can't comment on that. The Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe, so it definitely qualifies. Out of Mount Pilatus and Titlis, it's Titlis that offers actual high mountain scenery: myswissalps.com/ titlis. Pilatus is a spectacular but "mid sized" mountain when compared to others in Switzerland.