The best après-ski bars and activities in Chamonix
Après-ski in Chamonix is five-star. Be it quaffing cocktails in a piano bar, pitchers of beer in a noisy Brit-run pub or bubbles in an outdoor spa with heavenly mountain views, the town panders to every taste.
Popular bars and cafés line two streets – Avenue Michel Croz and Rue des Moulins – and plenty more hide down backstreets and along the quays above the milky green Arve River. Craft beer and cocktails infused with local spirits, and syrups – even chocolate or cornichons (gherkins) – have never been so trendy.
Most drinking venues serve food too, embracing everything from Savoyard cheese and charcuterie platters to sushi, burgers, Swedish meatballs and Brit-pleasing fish and chips. Gigs by local bands morph many into hot, tightly packed dance floors. Late-night clubbers gravitate to Folie Douce or the notorious Amnesia Club (read what you will into its name) where the party powers through to 5am.
For further Chamonix inspiration, see our guides to the resort's best accommodation and restaurants.
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Bars in Chamonix
Le Jungle
“Bad decisions make better stories” illuminated in neon sets the tone for Chamonix’s newest kid on the block – a summer 2024 vintage all set for its first winter season. Jungle life inspires the interior décor, and spectacular views of Mont Blanc, Aiguille du Midi and the Arve provide serious distraction on the twinset of riverside terraces. The drinks menu includes interesting boutique French and Italian wines – some organic – and some truly sassy signature cocktails. Choose between the El Brazeros (mixing Mezcal with Espelette pepper liqueur and smoked thyme) and the Sour Lady (with lavender tequila, rhubarb and egg white) – or simply go for both.
Contact: instagram.com/lejungle_chamonix
Price: ££
Moö
As ski lifts close for the day, this Swedish-run watering hole near the train station bursts into life. Skiers pour into the sizeable bar for bottles of local Big Mountain craft beer, cocktails that won’t break the bank and Irish Finnbarra cider on tap. Pick your pew – at the bar, a wooden table or on the resplendent people-watching pavement terrace on Ave Michel Croz. Pints of Guinness here are the best in town, as are the dirty fries (smothered in melted cheddar, bacon, cream and jalapenos peppers) which go down a treat with the party-loving après-ski crowd. Check its Facebook page for occasional DJ sets and parties. Why Moö? The sound a cow makes and an acronym for owners Morten, Oscar and Örjan.
Contact: moobarcuisine.com
Price: £
Microbrasserie de Chamonix
This stalwart on Chamonix’s nightlife scene has been going strong for more than two decades and shows no sign of flagging. Simply known as MBC locally, the boisterous, Canadian-run bar is also a microbrewery. Beer kegs and fermenting tanks squat behind the bar in the industrial space with ventilation pipes, stool seating around communal tables and TV screens showing sports. Such is the quality of the humungous ribs and burgers, served on long wooden chopping boards, that many punters end up staying all evening. Watch for daily promos: 1.5L craft beer pitchers, cut-price chicken wings, beer-battered cod and fries.
Contact: mbchx.com
Price: £
Maison des Artistes
There can’t be many places where the local recording studio doubles as a fashionable bar. Throw a bijou fairytale cottage with a witch-hat slate roof into the mix and the bewitchment is complete. Called Villa des Améthystes when it was built in 1926, Chamonix’s House of Artists (La Maison des Artistes) squirrels away a pocket-sized bar with a stage – an intimate venue for standup comedy, jazz sessions, concerts, DJ sets and live bands. It’s a brilliant spot for tuning into the local arts scene. Unmissables on the creative drinks menu: a dirty pickle martini, blueberry mint julep cocktail (bourbon, fresh mint and blueberry jam) and G&Ts made with artisanal Citadelle gin infused with cornichons (baby gherkins). Come the end of the ski season, chink drinks in the peaceful garden.
Contact: maisondesartistes-chamonix.com
Price: ££
Folie Douce
Chamonix is the keeper to the only hotel in the Alps’ wildly successful Folie Douce empire, meaning you can party into the wee hours and then pretty much roll off the dance floor and into bed. Legendary nights out begin at 4pm with après-ski drinks on its sweeping terrace where sunset on Mont Blanc, DJs (from 6.30pm) and XS/S/M/L buckets of beer entertain. Come dark, in the Janssen cocktail bar, a glamourous older crowd chinks Génépi-spiked Mountain Mule cocktails over caviar or Savoyard cheese platters and all manner of Broadway-style cabaret acts. From 10pm, the party continues in Club 1969, the Folie Douce nightclub (until 2am). Free entrance makes an advance VIP table reservation by WhatsApp invaluable.
Contact: lafoliedoucehotels.com
Price: ££
Chambre Neuf
town for drinks in ski boots, fresh off the slopes. The crowd is casual, young and mixed – families are welcome – and by 4pm the outdoor deck is heaving. Inside, live music (usually from 5.30pm to 8pm) gets everyone dancing on the few tables there are: it’s crowded, stifling hot and jaw-to-jowl lager swilling from plastic glasses to ensure an electric party atmosphere. Arrive by 6pm or risk a wait to get in. Post-band, the spartan vintage-styled, white-tiled space empties, leaving a more sedate crowd to tuck into Franco-Swedish brasserie fare.
Contact: facebook.com/chambre.neuf
Price: £
Bar’d Up
This raucous, worn-around-the-edges, British-owned pub on Rue des Moulins has been around for ions and remains the best place in Cham to catch sports matches live on big screens. Despite the surfboards strung on the walls, it’s not an Australian bar per se. An international crowd pours in here after a day on the slopes for “posh booze cocktails”, “game changer shooters” and the day’s cheap drink deals chalked on the board. Pool, darts and table football entertain, and live bands (all sounds), DJs, themed party nights and open-mic sessions keep the festivities going until well past midnight.
Contact: bardup-chamonix.metro.bar
Price: £
Quartz Bar
A rarified serenity washes over this upscale piano bar, inside the five-star Hameau Albert 1er hotel but very much an address in its own right. Polished-wood panelling and framed vintage prints evoke yesteryear alpinism and the showpiece bar – a dazzling block of glittering green glass – is a nod to the treasure chest of precious stones local crystal hunters search for in the surrounding mountains. The drinks menu is rich and varied: 20-odd champagnes and wines are available by the glass, craft cocktails star local craft beers and spirits, and the Chartreuse menu is a real gem. Pair with caviar, smoked féra or perch filets from nearby Lake Geneva. Live jazz concerts.
Contact: hameaualbert.fr
Price: £££
Other activities in Chamonix
QC Spa of Wonders
Après-ski took on a whole new meaning with the opening of this spa complex by Italy’s thermal spa gurus QC Terme. Intended to mirror ancient baths where Romans gathered to bathe, socialise and soak in the surrounding natural beauty, the Chamonix spa pampers skiers with an infinity pool plunging into an alpine lake, toasty-warm whirlpools and energising views of snowy mountain peaks. A steam bath, sauna, mountain salt room and lounge with rocking chairs around an open fire aid and abet relaxation. Post-ski sessions, with admission at 5.30pm and 7.30pm, include an aperitif to sip while bathing beneath the stars. Minimum age 14 years.
Contact: qcterme.com
Price: ££
Night skiing
Navigating groomed, flood-lit slopes after dark is always a hit, particularly with teens and families. Schedules change each winter, but the blue Tourchet piste in Les Houches usually opens for night skiing on Thursday from 8pm to 10pm. Expect music, vin chaud (mulled wine) and much alfresco merriment. Closer to downtown Chamonix, a couple of slopes in Les Planards stay open until 8pm twice a week during French school holidays (Christmas and February), and nocturnal cross-country skiing unfurls on Thursdays (6.30pm to 8.30pm) along the green track in the scenic Bois du Bouchet Nordic ski area.
Contact: en.chamonix.com
Price: £
On Ice
Switch carving for skating at Chamonix’s downtown patinoire – an Olympic-size ice rink inside the Centre Sportif Richard Bozon where France’s national ice hockey and curling squads frequently train. The rink is open for ice skating most afternoons (until 5pm or 6pm), but les nocturnes (late-night openings, 8pm to 10pm) on Wednesday nights are the most fun. You can rent ice skates on site and a brilliant-value Carte Famille covers five entries and skate hire for families. Fun-to-watch ice hockey matches face-off here some weekends in winter. During the February holidays, watch for themed soirées (party evenings) on ice – a soirée disco, soirée techno or even a Valentine’s Day bash.
Contact: cc-valleedechamonixmontblanc.fr
Price: £
Vallée Blanche by Moonlight
With the right snow and weather conditions, expert skiers who are confident off-piste can tackle the legendary Vallée Blanche by moonlight. Around full moon is best and the challenging 20km-long descent across snow bridges, crevasses and seracs must only be attempted with a qualified mountain guide. Warming temperatures mean the morphology of the high-altitude Géant, Tacul and Mer de Glace glaciers that the Vallée Blanche crosses changes dramatically each year. Guided moonlit descents typically break midway for dinner at the Refuge du Requin (2516m), before continuing down to Montenvers and Chamonix.
Contact: chamonix-guides.com
Price: £££
How we choose
Every bar, venue or activity in this curated list has been expertly chosen by our ski expert, who has visited the resort to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from casual pubs on the piste to exquisite cocktail bars – to best suit every type of skier – and consider the drinks, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. Non-ski activities are chosen to provide an alternative to traditional aprés, whether for families or adrenaline junkies looking to enjoy the mountains in winter away from the slopes. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
