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All Inclusive

UCPA LogoUCPA prices include:-

- Lift Pass
- Ski / Board Hire
- Instruction
- Accommodation
- Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Do the sums - a lift pass alone costs more than €200, ski hire €100 and instruction more than €250.


Chamonix S

Dates and Prices

Resort

Town Centre

Summary

Chamonix is far more of a town than the vast majority of Alpine resorts.  It is an all year round resort, with just as many visitors in both summer and winter.  The static poulation is about 15,000. 15% English speaking, 15% Swedish speaking.  During peak season the town hosts up to 45,000 visitors.

History

Until the 1700's Chamonix was a small rural village, cut off for most of the year with snow.  It became a popular destination in the early 1800's with the advent of mountaineering and Victorian exploration.  It is now almost wholly dependant on tourism with winter & summer being equally popular.

Nightlife

Chamonix is a thriving and vibrant town, lots going on.
Our favorite bars…
Chambre Neuf  - wild après ski with live music most nights. Very Scandanavian. Excellent lunch menu. Just opposite the train station.
Café Terrasse – centre of town, happy hour each night, good bands downstairs, excellent wood paneled upstairs bar with views over the town and towards Mont Blanc. In the main square.
The Jeckyll – pretty chilled, good place to watch rugby, listen to live music. Only 5 mins walk from Chalet Pelerins.
MBC – lively micro brewery, Canadian influenced. Live music at the weekend, great beer & burgers. Close to the ice rink. www.mbchx.com
La Cantina – lively night club, pretty local scene. Variety of DJs. Close to the Super U in town. www.cantina.fr
Le Garage – highly cheesy nightclub, open till late, close to Aiguille du Midi lift.

Lots, lots more bars in town – to suit all tastes - plan your apres ski carefully around the various happy hours !

Other Things To Do

Swimming pool, climbing wall, hiking, shopping, parapenting, horse riding.

Accommodation


UCPA Chamonix Cosmique Summer


Introduction

Chamonix UCPA is a 2 minute walk from the main town square, and is a refurbished Victorian style building.  Within the building is the sports bar, nightclub, equipment hire room, large equipment storage rooms, large dining room and plenty of social areas.  From the dining room you get a great view across onto Mont Blanc.
This centre is one of the best in UCPA, and is excellent for those who want to enjoy some of the best alpine sports in Europe, whilst staying in the centre of a vibrant and lively town.

Room Details

UCPA Multi-Share
UCPA Twin Room
All rooms have shower and sink ensuite with toilets a few steps away in the corridor.

Food description

The food is served buffet style each day.  Breakfast is yogurts, cereals, fruit juice, coffee and bread - don't be surprised to see that the coffee, tea or hot chocolate is taken French style - a soup bowl ! 
Typically lunch is a DIY picnic made up at breakfast time (great choice of breads, meats, cheeses, pasta, salad, fruit, sweets etc).  The picnic lunch means maximum time on the mountains without spending a fortune on expensive mountain side restaurants.  Note that beginners will often return to the centre for a hot lunch.
Dinner is a 4 course buffet - typically a salad bar style starter, choice of 3 or 4 main courses - most often including fish, cheese selection, fruit, dessert and ice-cream  freezer.
Any special dietry requirements should be made known to reception staff at check-in.  Generally vegetarians will find a wide enough choice within the buffet.

Entertainment

The UCPA staff lay on an entertainment program each week.  It's certainly not Butlins and there is no pressure to take part - all quite low key.  Typical program would include stretching in the early evening, crepe making, quiz, sketch evening, karaoke and some evenings a live band.
Equally in the town there is a great selection of bars & nightclubs to suit all tastes.

History

UCPA is more than 40 years old, and was originally set-up by the French government to encourage young people to enjoy the outdoors.  It is now a "not for profit" organisation with all profits being put back into refurbishing the centres.
The ethos of sport is still first on the agenda, but the instructors and centre staff don't forget that it is still your holiday.

Useful facts

There's limited parking on site, but you can park for free within a few minutes walk.

Location

2 minute walk from the town centre
300m from the train station

Equipment Hire / Liftpasses

Kit Hire

UCPA All-Inclusive Holidays - all technical equipment hire is included, 50% of the equipment is renewed every year so is all in very good condition.

For other holidays in Chamonix we use Riquier (Intersport) for all sport equipment hire.

Top Tips

Even if you don't need to use the Aiguille du Midi lift for any activity during the week, it is worth going up just for the amazing views over the glacier, down onto Chamonix and up onto Mont Blanc.

How to get there

By Air

Geneva (96km) - approximately 1hr by airport transfer, car or taxi or 1hr 45mins by bus. 

Turin (85km) and Lyon (220km) from which car hire or taxi are the only options to get to Chamonix.

Airport transfers from Geneva can easily be arranged with Action Outdoors.

Train

The station is in the town centre and is a 30 minute train journey from St Gervais, the nearest TGV Station. It is also worth looking at taking the train to Geneva, then booking a transfer to Chamonix - this is quicker and often cheaper.

Self-drive 

Very easy as the motorway runs nearly all the way to Chamonix, there is no parking at UCPA Chamonix, but there is free parking on the roads a few minutes walk away.

Maps

ChamonixSummer