Chamonix has a great selection of 🖼 museums, and these museums often offer 🎨 creative workshops or guided tours for children during the school holidays (the Tourist Office will have a list of those scheduled during your stay).

In Chamonix town itself you will find;

• 🏔 the Musée Alpin;
• 💎 the Espace Tairraz (Musée d’Alpinisme et des Cristaux);
• 📷 the Maison de la Mémoire et du Patrimoine Janny Couttet;

In addition to the museums in Chamonix centre, there are often 🖼 temporary exhibitions at the 📚 médiathèque and at various ☕️ hotels and restaurants and cafés in town. For more information about 🖼 current temporary exhibitions in Chamonix, see Chamonix Tourisme (expositions);

good to know: and don’t forget that the Carte d’Hôte will get you a discount! And the Pass Musée is available for 12€ and this will give you unlimited access for one year to all of the Chamonix Valley museums!

In the Chamonix Valley, there are also museums in:

• 🏔 Les Houches: Le Musée Montagnard;
• 🏔 Servoz: Le Musée de l’Alpage and Le Musée du Lieutenant;
• 🏔 Vallorcine: Le Musée de Barberine;

For more information about some of the fabulous 🖼 museums nearby in the 🏔 Pays du Mont-Blanc and further afield in 🇫🇷 France, 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 🇮🇹 Italy, see separate article 🖼 MUSEUMS & EXHIBITIONS au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond).

Here is a list of Chamonix’s museums:

🏔 Musée Alpin 🏔 

Housed in the magnificent old Chamonix Palace (one of the three original palaces in Chamonix), this lovely museum traces the history of the valley, from the very first tourists who came to admire the mountains and glaciers through to ” Chamonix the centre of winter sports “. There is a 🖼 great collection of prints, photos and mountaineering objects to take you on this trajectory. There is often a temporary exhibition, so do look out for this too.

🗓 opening hours: OPEN every day except Tuesday from 14h to 18h;
CLOSED on Tuesdays and exceptionally on 25th December, 1st January and 1st May / school holidays: open from 10h to 12h and from 14h to 18h;

🎨 workshops & guided tours for families and children – during the school holidays, there are some fabulous workshops organised! See here for more details and current programme.

price:
adults: 5.90 €;
children: FREE for under 18s;
reduced entrance: (Carte d’Hôte, residents, season workers, seniors, students, disabled): 4,70€;

address:
La Résidence
89 av Michel Croz
74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

tel: +33 4 50 53 25

website: here for more details

🚙 parking: the nearest car park (paying) is the Parking du Mont Blanc;

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🏔 💎 Espace Tairraz – Musée d’Alpinisme et des Cristaux 💎 🏔 

address:
615 allée du Recteur Payot
74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

tel: +33 4 50 55 53 93

website: see here

🚙 parking: the paying car park of St Michel is very convenient as you can take the lift straight to the entrance of the museum (great for a rainy day!).

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📷 Maison de la Mémoire et du Patrimoine Janny Couttet 📷 

This little museum, nestled among the ☕️ cafés, bars and restaurants of the rue des Moulins, houses the archives of Chamonix’s “patrimoine” (heritage archives). The building that houses the museum was originally a 19th century structure; this was renovated and inaugurated as a museum in 2012. There are changing exhibitions, with some lovely photographic displays.

🗓 opening hours: every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 14h to 18h / CLOSED on 1st January, 1st May and 25th December / July and August: open from 10h to 13h and 14h to 18h;

🎨 workshops and guided visits: there are sometimes workshops for children over the school holidays and guided visits for families (see here for more details);

price:
adults: 4€;
reduced entrance: (Carte d’Hôte, residents, season workers, seniors, students, disabled): 2,50€;

address:
90 rue des Moulins
74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

tel: +33 4 50 54 78 955

website: see here

🚙 parking: the nearest paying car parks are St Michel and Mont Blanc;

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🖼 Espace Mémoire / Musée Marcel Wibault 🖼 

Located near the centre of Chamonix, the Alpenrose was the home and workshop of artist Marcel Wibault, who settled in Chamonix early last century and never left. during his life, he never stopped painting his favourite theme – mountains! This éspace memoire houses Marcel’s 🖼 original paintings and there is a new exhibition each year; there are works also by Lionel Wibault, son of Marcel, also a painter.

price: 3€ and free for all under 25 years;

🗓 opening hours: from June until September, 15h to 19h;

address: 62 chemin du Cé, 74400, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc / website;

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📷 Place de l’Aiguille du Midi 📷

« Exposition INSPIRE » – until October 2019, sixteen 2m high paintings by Tristan Vyskoc will be adoring the Place de l’Aiguille du Midi: « J’aurais pu peindre un panorama mais ce n’est pas ce que je souhaitais. Je veux que l’on rentre dans l’œuvre, que l’on s’immerge, que ce bleu vous sature, vous enivre, vous fasse perdre vos repères ” / see here for more information;