January 2020
Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass- was it worth it? – Chamonix, France
Chamonix offers a wide variety of activities. While each activity can be purchased individually, it does start to add up in cost. There are multiple options for passes that bundle gondolas lifts and attraction tickets together. I did as much research as I could find out which made the most sense.
First, let us start with the ski lefts. The website chamonix.net has a nice chart that outlines the benefits of each pass offered:
It was difficult to find good ski maps ahead of time to know where we would be skiing so I wanted to keep that option open ended. We would most likely stay in the Chamonix Ski Area, but it was nice to not have to lock ourselves into a decision. We liked the flexibility of the Mont Blanc Unlimited pass – since we were only planning on doing one day of skiing, the other benefits of the pass felt like it made the ticket worth it.
According to Chamonet, here was a consolidated list of all the inclusions of the Mont-Blanc Unlimited ski pass:
Along with a full day of skiing in whichever area we chose, there were several included activities of the Unlimited Pass that we were definitely going to do (of note, these are all winter prices during peak season):
- Aiguille du Midi – 65 euro
- Montenvers Train to Mer de Glace – 34 euro
- Luge Alpine Coaster at Les Planards, one per day – 8 euro each = 24 euro for 3 day pass
- Entry to QC Terme Chamonix spa – 56 euro
- Use of the bus system – 3 euro a day = 9 euro
These put together are not insignificant prices so it made sense for our trip 3 day pass in order to accomplish all of these activities. Because it was high season, the 3 day Mont Blanc Pass was 195 euro.
So… was it worth it?
- Ski Lifts – as outlined in the post about our ski day, it was quite challenging so we did not ski the number of lifts we had intended. We did go up to the top of Le Brévent for the view though to make up some of the cost.
- Les Praz – Flégère ski lift +19 euro
- Chamonix – Brévent ski lift + 34 euro
- Aiguille du Midi + 65 euro
- Montenvers Train to Mer de Glace + 34 euro
- Luge Alpine coaster at Les Planards, one per day – told us they stopped participating in the Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass ( – 24 euro)
- Entry to QC Terme Chamonix spa – also a story (- 56 euro)
- I was told that the Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass access was restricted to Monday through Friday and any time before 12AM – so we were good. When we arrived, we learned two things: 1) you have to arrive before 12PM – so my email was incorrect 2) you have to claim a voucher by “calling the company” that distributed the ski passes. “Yes there is a lot of fine print” were her parting words as we walked out – thanks. LAME. Make sure if you are planning on using this to follow all the “fine print” that is not written anywhere. I was more mad that I used precious carry on space for a bathing suit. Glad our hearts were not set on this but it was disappointing since we bought the Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass with this as a financial benefit.
- Use of the bus system – our Airbnb provided us bus passes so this was a wash ( – 9 euro)
Final Total:
- Mont Blanc Unlimited 3 Day Pass – 195 euro
- Expected spend without the pass – 188 euro minus the ski lifts (since we did not plan which ski lifts we were going to use ahead of time)
- Actual spend without the pass – 152 euro
So I would say, if you are a big skier or going to skier for more than one day as well as incorporate the other activities such as the Aiguille du Midi, it is worth it. We really expected the Luge and the Spa to tip us into the “savings” and since they were not eligible, it ended up not being a good deal for us. It is very disappointing that the Luge or any activity can just decide to not participate by putting a sign a the ticket counter and that’s that. It is also frustrating that the Spa makes it impossible to use but gives the impression that you are getting a good deal – 56 euros is a lot!
All in all, I did not find a lot information that permitted the break down costs of the Unlimited pass and its value so it was hard to know if we were making the right decision. Unfortunately, it did not work out this time. I hope this helps you in making your decision on how to spend your Chamonix trip!