Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Travel Forum

Is it worthwhile to spend time from Chamonix to Aosta / Martigny?
How do I get to those countries? How much time should i spent?

It's all part of the scenic Mont-Blanc region. If you want, you could do the whole region in a day from Chamonix. The cricu$ial part will be from Cormayeur through the Mont-Blanc to Chamonix: I believe that there are only a couple of buses each day between these points. Check with the Chamonix tourist office. Once you get these timetables, you can travel
1 by train from Chamonix to Martigny
2 by Swiss postbus from Martigny to Aosta
3 by bus from Aosta to Coumayeur
4 by bus from Coumayeur to Chamonix (see warning above)
While the region abounts with famous natural sights, it will be interesting for overseas visitors to discover the still existing differences in each country's culture and way of life, cusine etc.
For train and bus timetables to/from Martigny, check the Swiss rail site
www.sbb.ch

You could also go to Aosta by car, through the Mont Blanc toll tunnel. The Italian side of the Mont Blanc behind the tunnel is not as scenic as the French side. And Aosta is not scenic at all. It's a charming little town, in a way, but certainly not Italy's showpiece.

I have done this journey - by car. Aosta is ok but nothing special - not really worth a trip to unless, like us, you were passing en route to somewhere else.... and the Mont Blanc Tunnel is nothing special but rather pricey (for what it is!).

If you are in Chamonix you should really do a trip to Le Chatelard, literally a hey, skip nonny down the road and into Switzerland - you don't even really know when you are crossing the border! http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/e0453/a8c9e/

It depends how much time you've got really.
Martigny has a good art gallery and a Roman amphitheatre but isn't massively interesting in itself, but the train ride over to Martigny and back is definitely worth doing if only for the scenery. Chatelard is on the same line and very pretty.

Aosta is well worth a visit if you want to go mountain biking, as Pila, just above it (park at the base in Aosta and get the cable car up) is superb. Check pila.it for details. Pila is a nice place to hike too - there's better hiking in Chamonix but it's a nice change if you have a lot of time.

Otherwise though, I'd go for maybe a day trip to Courmayeur (the Chamonix tourist office runs these) if you wanted a day in Italy.

Oh and in answer to the original point! It's interesting to see how different the culture is in Italy, and fun and easy to go to Switzerland for the day (though you can, I seem to remember, hike to the border from Le Tour anyway. But the hiking is much better in Chamonix, and there's loads to do there.

It can be useful though, if the weather turns bad, because it can often be raining on one side on Mont Blanc and clear on the other. So if you get a rainy day, it's worth checking the conditions in Courmayeur, as they can be completely different.