Just over an hour’s drive from Geneva airport, Megève in the French Haute Savoie is both pretty and chic. A combination of extensive gentle skiing, excellent children’s facilities, lavish hotels and superlative restaurants makes Megève a serious contender for the most stylish resort in the Alps.
The village is built around a fine medieval church set in a traffic-free main square, where you can hire brightly painted sleigh-taxis. Free buses link the mid-town with the lifts, and coaches run to other nearby resorts covered on the Evasion Mont Blanc lift pass.
Provided you have a car, Megève is the most pleasant base in the Mont Blanc area from which to enjoy the 16 resorts (including Chamonix, Courmayeur and Argentière) covered by the Ski Pass Mont Blanc. Day-trips are also possible to Les Contamines, with 120km of slopes, and to attractive Val d’Arly with its linked resorts of Nôtre-Dame-de-Bellecombe, Flumet and Praz-sur-Arly.
The ski area is large, with smooth and well-groomed pistes. Two of the three areas, Mont d’Arbois and Rochebrune, are connected at their bases by cable-car.
The Princesse eight-person gondola provides access to Mont d’Arbois by routing day visitors away from the town centre. The nursery slopes at Mont d’Arbois are easily accessible by cable-car or ski bus. The resort abounds in green slopes and gentle blue runs. From Mont Joux, long blues descend to Les Communailles near Le Bettex, with drag-lifts back up to the ridge. The runs into Megève itself are mostly wide and easy and include a long green piste. There is a drag-lift in the trees at the top-station of Le Jaillet for novices.
The slopes are superb for intermediates who enjoy easy cruising amid beautiful scenery and don’t want to push themselves. The skiing at Mont d’Arbois rises to its highest point of the area at Mont Joly, at 2,350m. A choice of long and fairly gentle red runs takes you into the attractive village of St-Nicolas-de-Véroce as well as to St Gervais.
Access to the Rochebrune area is by a swift gondola from the town centre. The area offers arguably the most attractive runs in the resort and is usually less crowded than Mont d’Arbois. From the top of the gondola, further lifts take you up to L‘Alpette. The highest point and the start of Megève’s downhill course is Côte 2000, which provides some of the toughest skiing in the area and the best snow.
Apres-Ski:
Apres ski is taken almost more seriously than the skiing, and the choice of venues is enormous, with the après-ski revolving largely around Megève’s piano bars and eight nightclubs. Club de Jazz Les Cinq Rues, set in cosy surroundings complete with open fire during the ski season, attracts some of the big international names in jazz and has live music from early evening until late. The Palo Alto complex houses two popular discos, and for insomniacs the bar of the Cocoon Club stays open until 5am. The casino, originally a 1930s’ bus station, also houses a restaurant. Rosie Crève Coeur is an unusual bar that looks as if it has stepped out of a 1940s’ US airforce base. Le Palace Café is popular with a young crowd, Bar St-Paul is frequented by locals, while Les Caves de Megève attracts the 40-somethings.
Le Cintra is famed for its seafood and it’s imaginative modern French cuisine. L’Alpage has a cosy atmosphere and Savoyard specialities such as fondue and raclette, and Chalet St Georges has separate fish and meat restaurants. Jacques Megean in the restaurant of the same name has built a reputation throughout France for his gourmet dishes created with fresh truffles.
La Ferme de Mon Père, built as an old-style farmhouse complete with sheep, cows and goats outside the window, has three Michelin stars and is one of the best restaurants in France. The Mirtillo is said to be ‘a first-class Italian experience’. Le Bar du Chamois is a lively and less expensive bistro serving fondue and local white wines.
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