Montenvers and the Mer de Glace
Guide
Photo: Christophe Jacquet (ChrisJ) · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
≈ A$67ViewpointAllow 2.5–4 hPut together by AI from open data
What you'll see
A little red rack train climbing through the forest to a terrace at 1,913 m above the Mer de Glace, a long river of ice and rock under sharp granite peaks. A long stairway leads down to an ice cave carved into the glacier, with signs on the way marking how high the ice reached in past years.
A brief history
The railway opened in 1908, but visitors had been coming up on foot and by mule since two Englishmen made the trip in 1741; the glacier has shrunk dramatically since, and keeps shrinking.
Tips
- Best time
- A clear morning; take a warm layer for the ice cave
- Cost
- About €38 return (check)
- Allow
- 2.5–4 h
- Hours
- Trains usually run most of the year, about 10:00–16:30 in winter and 8:30–17:30 in summer; the ice cave closes for some weeks each year (check)
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Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Written in Flewaway's words by AI from this open data, not yet checked by a person. Prices, hours and rules change, so check before you go.
Good to know
- Area
- Montenvers and the Mer de Glace: The glacier and its viewing terrace above the east side of the valley, by rack railway or a long forest path.
- Access
- Partly step-free
- Indoors or out
- Outdoors
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