Chamonix, France, some of the best skiing in Europe

Chamonix, France is the place to be if you've got at least two weeks to spare. If you've got two months to spare, you still wouldn't have enough time to cover all the things there are to do here. If you like activity, then Chamonix is the place to be for your next long-term skiing holiday.

In the summer months, you can hike or ride La Monte Blanche; you can run a marathon and listen to a music festival; there are flea market sales towards the middle of summer too. If you like recreation, you can try mini golf, paintball, bowling, tennis, weight lifting, or go to the fitness center, the spa, casino or club. The summer is cool and crisp and there's always something going on. In the later half of the 1800s and the early 1900s, a road and railway were built to the area, giving easier access than ever before to Chamonix. Back then, a handful of rich tourist would visit the slopes and ski. Since then, skiing tourism to Chamonix has increased to include over five million local and foreign visitors alike annually. It wasn't until the 1960s, though, that tourism started really making more sense than farming. Generations soon worked the shops and restaurants and did away with the farms and fields. By the 1900s, groups, such ads the French Alpine Club held schools and classes so that workers from the area could become guides and in turn make a reputable living among the mountains. Chamonix is a good place to come on your ski holiday if you're interested in also skiing in Switzerland and Italy. The mountains make the border and Mont Blanc's chain runs south of the Aiguilles Rouges梐ll formed by carving glaciers hundreds of thousands of years ago. There are around ten thousand locals who call Chamonix home year round. With tourism, these numbers mushroom five- or six-fold their normal numbers. If you don't book early, chances are limited to finding a hotel to stay in here. If people don't come for skiing, then they'll still find things to do during the winter and the summer. Activities include fishing, horseback riding, hiking, mountaineering, ice climbing, white water rafting and paragliding. If you're just coming for the winter, then you'll find ice-skating, snowshoeing, dog sledding, cross-country skiing, long distance skiing and gliding in addition to the ones listed here and earlier. No matter your cup of tea, you and your family will have more than enough to do here, as long as you like activities. If you prefer a laid back style of winter vacation, then you might not enjoy it here. Chamonix has some of the best skiing in Europe. There are 27 incredible red runs with 18 blue runs. There are 16 blue runs and eight very tough black runs. Though these may not sound impressive, the 152 kilometers of downhill pistes may attract you. There are over 40 kilometers of cross-country skiing and plenty of other places to get off the beaten, groomed path. The resort lies just above 1000 meters but the highest lift elevates you to 3840 meters, with a 2800-meter vertical. While here, though, you can access 394 different pistes with the right ski pass梖rom Combloux, Cordon, Le Tourm St. Gervais and Megeve to Passy Plaine Joux and Mont Blanc. There's 54 snow cannons on the Chamonix slopes alone. There are several airports just two hours or less from Chamonix France, so come for a two day or two month ski holiday this ski season while the snow is falling thick.