Confused by Chamonix area piste map - relationship between les Houches & Argentiere?

I'm still thinking about which French resort to target for an extended stay this season :) :) :)

Chamonix looks like a good bet, with one suggestion that Les Houches might be a lower-cost place to stay.

But I'm completely confused by the piste maps - can someone point me in the direction of an easier-to-follow map and/or explain to me the pros and cons of Les Houches. How long would it take to get to, say, Argentiere from there? (I'll have a car, but might take a bus sometimes), and what is Les Houches itself like?

I'm keen to have a proper village atmosphere rather than wherever I stay being a ski resort alone.

thanks again in advance!

Les Houches and Argentiere are on the opposite ends of the valley and connected by bus, should take about 30 min I guess. If you are planning to ski in Argentiere Les Houches is probably the worst place to stay. Far from Chamonix itself too. Les Houches itself is too low, more for families, I heard it's good on powder days when everywhere else might be closed and they have some trees too. We never made it to les Houches - when we arrived one day the queue was too long since all the valley headed there, so we went home since we were going back that way. Chamonix piste map has a few distinct areas, only two are connected - Brevent and Flegere. Brevent lift is in town, then Flegere, then Argentiere slightly further and facing Flegere, and even further near Swiss border is Le Tour. Les Houches might be cheaper, but IMHO not worth of staying there, particularly for an extended stay. Stay in Chamonix itself, or in Argentiere - it's not very expensive either.

If you take the bus you will have to change in Chamonix. You could also take the train, its 40 min from Les Houches to Argentiere plus a 10 min walk to the Grand Montets lift station. If you are taking your car you will need winter tyres, chains, and a shovel etc.

What are you going to do about accommodation? Presumably you will look for a seasonal let, as well as checking estate agents and small ads check if the Mairie has a list of available properties for rent http://www.chamonix.fr/index.php/transports-urbanisme-logement/logement/115-petites-annonces-logement.html Facebook groups also list flats to rent https://www.facebook.com/groups/chamonix.skibums/?fref=ts

If you want to learn French Chamonix is probably not the place to go, unless you plan to take lessons. About 10% of the resident population is British and hoards of British tourists descend on it in winter so English is widely spoken, it's the Blackpool of the Alps. http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2004/01/29/avalanche-d-anglais-a-chamonix

Thank you, that is such useful info.

I haven't found accommodation, so those links are very useful.

I'm not 100 per cent certain I will go to Chamonix yet - I definitely want to come back with better French, so you're right, it may not be the best choice.

Have you considered Les Carroz? It's in the Grand Massif, so easy access to Flaine, Samoens and Morillon. It is a nice small town. If you have a car you can shop for groceries in the valley, which is much cheaper. AFAIK it's about an hour from Geneva, so handy if you need to pick up visitors who have flown in.

Les Houches, has some of the best piste skiing in Chamonix and with most of the slopes being East facing it does pretty well for snow. A lot of the valley's permanent residents live down there on the basis of the English school and it being cheaper. You are looking at a bus into town as the train is not particularly convenient to catch in Les Houches. I guess >30% of my piste skiing is done down there, perfect if you just want a few hrs blast. Grand Montets is certainly not the best piste skiing in Chamonix, it just happens to have a very convenient lift for you to access tons of offpiste.
There are plenty of cheap accommodation options in Chamonix itself, Chamonix Sud would probably work well as you have a car. Either way signing up to Chamshare and the Chamonix facebook pages will give you plenty of options.
As for learning French really is upto the individual. If you ask for your coffee in French someone will respond in French. If you ask in English they will respond in English. So like every other town in the Alps you will get out exactly what you put in.

Excellent first hand advice, yes Chamonix looks expensive, but plenty of small 2,3, star hotels, to choose, Le Brevent, was the craziest ski run I have ever skiid, be careful dropping into large bowl on top !!

Consider the 3 vallees Les menuire is is i think the cheapest place to stay of the 3 v