The Montenvers rack railway, inaugurated in 1908, makes the high mountains and glaciers accessible to non-alpinists in only 20min from Chamonix. The scenery on arrival, at 1,935m above sea level, is stunning and gives the onlooker a sense of the proportions of France's largest glacier, the Mer de Glace, with the Grandes Jorasses in the background. Visit the ice grotto carved beneath the glacier afresh each year.