See our map of downtown Chamonix
Chamonix is known for it's night life, there are so many bars and pubs that it would take too long to mention them all. Most types of evening entertainment is available in Chamonix, from quiet diner to discos that are open until 7h00 a.m.

Bars:

• The bar at the ice rink, go watch a hockey game and enjoy the cheapest beer in Chamonix.
• The Ice Rock Cafe (maybe called Le Garage now), near Chamonix Sud, is always a good option with dancing and good music, it is not a disco, therefore you will not pay the extreme prices these establishments charge, but is open late in the night. Lingerie shows sometimes...
• The Pub, on the main pedestrian street offers apres-ski happy hour and a good atmosphere.
• Pub O'Byrnes: a nice, relaxing, quiet Irish pub with an interieur terasse overlooking the river. They alo serve good meals. Happy hour is 2 for 1.
• La Cantina: good Mexican food (reserve) and music (HipHop, Ska Reggae) with live bands sometimes and dancing.
• Wild Wallabies (alkso known as the Wallabies): Good music, cheap good food, great place to party.
• Jeckyl and Hyde: another Irish pub on the edge of town (on your way to the hospital!!!) good food and atmosphere.
• Chambre Neuf: right next to the train station a great happy hours' place, also sometime live concerts.
• Rue du Moulins. In this small cobblestone street alone you can spend a very long night going from bar to bar 5 in total in 200 metres. Starting from the end Mill Street Cafe, Bumblee Bee, Queen Vic, Dicks T bar and a Swedish bar (with all the Swedish girls) of which I do not remember the name as I read that famous phase on the bottom of the whisky bottle, abuse of alcohol can have adverse effects on your health.

Other bars:

• Choucas: the original video bar showing ski, snowboard etc...videos.
• L'Arbate: The place to go for live bands (almost every weekend nights)
• La Terrasse: used to have a killer apres ski, happy hour.

Discos: Discos usually charge an entry fee and can get quite expensive, but they are open until 7h00 a.m.......

• Le Blue or Blue Night: right in the center of town
• Le Refuge: A bit lower on the main street.
• Le Moonlight: Great one with good music in Chamonix Sud
• Dick's T-bar: A mainly Swedish bar, nice girls and tons of drunken people

Food:

Surprisingly enough we will start the description with the snack places that serve sandwitches because they will be the most usefull when coming out of a bar when you're totally drunk....

• Le Belouga: As far as i am concerned, the best place, the make incredible warm sandwiches in a wide variety of styles, including many with no meat, from goat cheese to Reblochon (a famous local cheese) and a choice of different mayos to go with......fries and other stuff also. No trip to Chamonix is complete without a few Belougas in your stomach. Slightly towards Chamonix Sud on the main shopping road. Worth the extra 5 minutes walk...
• Midnight Express: Right in front of the Blue Night disco, and right downtown, my friend and i have endless discussions about whether it is better than Belouga or not, i say no.....
• Poco Loco: very close to the Midnight Express and good also.

Real restaurants: These are always depending on buget and taste....

• Le Bartavel: right next to the cinema, excellent pizza and food and quite cheap.
• L'Atmosphere: Good restaurant, with an indoor terrasse with view on the Mont Blanc and right above the river. More expensive, the place to bring a girl or your parents...especially if they pay.
• Les Drus: Great fondues and local food. Pretty cheap.
• Pub O'Byrnes: Despite it's Irish drinks and atmosphere, they also serve some great local and French food.
• Chez Valerio: Great fondues and typical local foods.
• The restaurant of the Casino: good French food and not so expensive. You might need to be slightly dressed up.
• La Sapiniere: good food, more expensive and you'll need a bit of a decent attire.
• Jeckyll and Hyde: Good food with an Irish atmosphere.
• Wild Wallabies: Cheap and very filling portions.
• Munchies: Good food though pricey. La Terrasse has a restuarant run by the ex-chef of the famous Le Brevent (this has now become a backpackers ,Vagabond)

Accomodations

As most people don't have tons of money to spend on the lodging, drinking is better....We will only mention the cheaper places:

• Le Chamoniard Volant: Gite Slightly outside of town, the place where mountaineers usually go. Cheap
• Le Brevent: a youth hostel kind of place (in french they use the word "Gite") , cheap and good atmosphere, the bar used to kick ass, it has changed owners and i haven't been to Chamonix since so...
• Ski station: Gite: not to confuse with the Brevent, even though this one is right next to the lower lifts of the Brevent ski resort. Very cheap.
• Le Vagabond : On the edge of town, bar and dormitories
• Official Youth hostel: far from town (30 minute walk) and not well situated and more expensive than the above ones.
• Chamonix Sud: Condos for rent, usually pretty small, but they are pretty cheap also it is a big complex in the southern part of Chamonix. There are 3 different rental agencies that take care of the condos. A lot of young people stay there, mainly swedish and british.

A lot of info is available from the tourism office for hotels and availability

Argentiere is the much smaller village about 8km up the valley, at the foot of the biggest resort : Les Grands Montet.

Bars: After a days skiing in Argentire you will need a big long drink. A few litres of beer usually does the trick. There are a number of bars at the foot of the mountain. The only time these are packed out is at the end of season party where there is a live band and euphoric atmosphere and ski boots are the main shoes to be seen. In the village itself

• Le Savoy: great apres ski.
• The Office: Great apres ski and food. sunday night roast is a classic.
• Rusticana: Good bar, apres ski.
• The Stone: Like all the rest a good bar . Our crierium is simple if they have beer on tap it's good

Food:

• The Office : English run good cheap food.The potato wedges hit the spot after the days skiing
• Rusticanna: good cheap food.
• Le Dahu: Mythic restaurant serves local dishes

Lodging:

Le Belvedere: Gite, all the skiers stay there, this is the place to stay in Argentiere.