Argentiere is the main village of the upper Chamonix valley, about 10 km beyond Chamonix town at the foot of the Grands Montets. Getting there from Geneva Airport means roughly 100 km, which takes a little over an hour and a half in good conditions. Montivo runs it door to door for your group only, and you pay one price for the vehicle, agreed before you travel.
The Autoroute Blanche and the upper valley
Most of this transfer is fast road: the A40 Autoroute Blanche east up the Arve valley past Cluses and Sallanches, then the expressway climbing into the Chamonix valley below Mont Blanc. Near Chamonix the traffic for the Mont Blanc Tunnel and Italy turns off, and the transfer carries on past the town and up the valley, past Les Praz and Les Tines, for the last 10 km or so to Argentiere, at about 1,250 metres.
That upper stretch is an ordinary valley road and slower than the approach. It is also the part snow slows most, and the drivers know it well in winter.
Collected at the terminal
Meet-and-greet is inside the terminal: the driver finds your group there and takes you out to the vehicle. The flight is monitored, so the pick-up is tied to the time you land rather than the time you were due. Because Geneva has separate Swiss and French sides, your flight number at booking decides where the driver stands.
Weekends in the Chamonix valley
Saturday is busy here too, with the A40 and the approach to Chamonix carrying the changeover traffic, but the valley is more predictable than the Tarentaise on the same day because so much of the drive is motorway. The slower points are the last stretch into Chamonix and the road up the valley beyond it. The Saturday rate still applies, since even here the drive is longer on changeover day.
Argentiere, Le Tour and the hamlets
Argentiere is a mountain village rather than a resort complex: a centre on the main road, with chalets and apartments along the valley floor and up towards the Grands Montets lifts. Beyond it the road continues to Montroc and Le Tour at the head of the valley, and accommodation with an Argentiere address can be in any of the hamlets around the village. The full address is what tells the driver which turning to take.
Argentiere is in the commune of Chamonix but is a separate village with its own place in the booking form, so choose Argentiere, not Chamonix, as the destination when you book.
Transfer to Argentierefrom €230 per vehicle, Saturday €320
Price for your dateChoosing Standard or VIP
Standard has space for as many as eight passengers; VIP, a higher-specification vehicle, takes seven at most. Whichever class you pick, a group that needs a second vehicle is simply priced for two.
Children, skis and mountain kit
Child seats cost nothing extra, as long as they are requested at booking with the children's ages. Ski bags, boards, touring and climbing gear and any oversized luggage should all be declared at booking, so the vehicle sent has room for them.
The drive back to the airport
For the return we work back from your flight: check-in with ski bags, the motorway, and the road down the valley through Chamonix, which is the least predictable part, with more margin on a Saturday or after snow. From Argentiere the whole of the Chamonix valley lies between you and the motorway, so the pick-up comes a little earlier than it would from Chamonix town. Returns are priced leg by leg, so the drive back costs whatever that day's rate is.
