 Poster: A snowHead
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Has anyone based themselves in Sallanches and taken in a few different resorts? If so what is good/bad about the place and is it feasible to travel to resorts daily by local bus services?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is Sallanches just down the Chamonix valley from Les Houches? If so you could use it as a base for Chamonix skiing as well as Les Contamines and St Gervais/Megeve if you had a car. By bus (or even train?) it may be possible to get up to Les Houches and other bits of Chamonix but even if possible it won't give you much flexibility.
St Gervais may make a nicer base as it is a very pleasant town and you have the Megeve skiing right on the doorstep.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Sallanches could be a good base I guess if you wanted to take in a few resorts and didn't want any skiing on the doorstep (as said, St gervais would be a good base for that) It's not a particularly pretty town but it has some nice parts and a huge weekly market which does help to clog the town up on changeover days! Personally i'd stay either in St Gervais or maybe somewhere like Praz Sur Arly which is on the main road between the Haute Savoie and Savoie areas, easily you could reach, Flumet, Megeve, Cordon, St Gervais, Notre Dame de Bellcombe, Les Houches/Chamonix, Combloux and even the likes of La Clusaz/PdS are not that far away....
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The Grand Massif domain (Flaine, etc) is another possibility from Sallanches, assuming there's convenient buses.
However, one of the reasons that I wouldn't stay there is that on 50% of clear days in the mountains, the Sallanches valley is blanketed in smog! It was considerably clearer in the seasons that the Mont Blanc tunnel was shut.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We stayed in Sallanches last year when looking for an appartment to buy in the nearby ski resorts.It is GRIM.We checked out after one night and went to Notre Dame de Bellcombe which is much nicer and only involves a bit more driving. Sallanches seemed very urban slightly scruffy and everywhere seemed to close down about 7pm.For convenience to other resorts Praz or St Gervais would be better and nicer in my opinion
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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loatie,
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We stayed in Sallanches last year when looking for an appartment to buy in the nearby ski resorts.It is GRIM
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It is, after all a working town and an important industrial centre serving all the twee resorts nearby 
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As loatie said, Sallanches is pretty grim.
Better options that still give options of visiting other resorts may be Les Carroz or St Gervais - each have good skiing themselves and within an hours drive of Morzine, La Clusaz, Chamonix, Megeve and Courmayeur
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Yeah, agreed Sallanches is dodgy. We used it to get cheaper food and shopping, as it's so damned expensive in Megeve! Lots of buses from Sallanches to Megeve & Praz though, and St Gervais too. If you are only using it as a base, and not wanting to do any thing extravagent, then go for it.
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Got to disagree with the GRIM comments. We've based ourselves in Sallanches twice so far this season and found it not too bad as valley towns go. It's a good base to get to the mountains from, as long as it's not snowing, about 20mins drive from most of the main places. As long as you don't expect too much from it it's a reasonable place to be. There are half a dozen pretty ok restaurants and a similar number of small hotels. It's extremely quiet in the evenings....I think everyone goes to bed early! My only complaint would be the traffic queues....mind you both time we were there were during school holidays....queues to get into and through the town were long in the evenings. If you're not looking for anything more than a cheap, basic hotel check out the Beau Sejour...very inexpensive, friendly helpful people running it, it's got a bar which is quite busy (until it closes at 9pm!). Rooms are clean but very simple and its got free private parking or lots of on street parking nearby. It's directly opposite the station and departure point for the buses to resort if you're planning on using public transport (a car would be better) but there's no noise from trains. 58euros/night per room b&b.....even in the peak of French holidays.
Just be sure you want to be in a valley town, not resort, the apres is dull and unexciting and there is absolutely no night life to speak of....just like all such bases. We like the town experience...you get to mix with real French people and save oodles of money but it's not everyones cup of tea!
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