If you are lucky enough to visit Chamonix Mont Blanc, don't forget to check out Le Mer de Glace. It's is located on the Northern slopes of the Mont Blanc and is the second largest glacier in the Alps. Sure, it's one of the well-known tourist spots, but for good reason.

If you are the adventous type, you can walk up, but the train ride up is recommended because it's splendid. Tickets are 20? round trip and includes the cable car ride down to the ice cave, and entrance to the cyrstal gallery. For children, the fee is 16?. It takes 30 minutes to go up and you have amazingly beautiful views.

For some practical advice: Buy your tickets early as the lines can be quite long.The train up leaves every 20 minutes. Take water and snacks/sandwhiches, especially if you have children. There are about three restaurants once up on the mountain, but if there is a large crowd you could be waiting awhile to eat. Wear good shoes!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Flip flops are dicey. Very dicey.Not everyone owns hiking boots, but at least wear a good pair of walking shoes.

Once you're on top, you can take the cable car down to the ice cave, but once on the bottom you still have 300 steps to actually get to the cave. Then you have to walk back up the 300 steps. Don't worry, it's such a beautiful setting that you won't even notice how tired you are!

You and the kids will love the ice cave which has several ice sculptures inside. The entrance to and the cave itself can be a bit wet, so again, good shoes (and socks) are imperative if you don't want to freeze. A light rain jacket is not a bad idea. In any case, layers work really well for this type of excursion. I was cold going down and inside the ice cave, and quite hot once I started taking the 300 steps back up.

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