Megève
A medieval village under Mont Blanc.
A village where Baron Edmond de Rothschild built France's first ski resort in 1916, modelled on St Moritz, because the family found Switzerland too modern. A century later, that same prejudice is the secret of Megève, a working Savoyard village that just happens to have its own Mont d'Arbois cable car, three Beaumarly hotels, four Michelin stars, and a horse-drawn-sleigh service that runs through dinner.
- Where
- Haute-Savoie, France
- When to go
- Mid-December to mid-April
- Established
- 1916
Megève, in full.
Megève has been a French aristocratic ski village for a century, before the rest of the Alps were paved over by ’60s lift engineering. We file it under Old Money because the village is genuinely older, lower-key, and more agriculturally honest than its neighbours, there are still working farms in the valley, the lift to Mont d’Arbois is the same Rothschild lift it has been since 1933, and the Sainte-Anne chapel is medieval.
A Rothschild’s alternative to Switzerland
In 1916 Baron Edmond de Rothschild commissioned a ski resort, modelled on St Moritz, in the French Haute-Savoie because the family had decided Switzerland was getting too modern. The village he chose, Megève, already existed as a 12th-century Savoyard farming village, and that, in the end, was the point: a real village to which the lift, the hotel, the carriages, the horses, and the dining were quietly attached. The first chairlift, on Mont d’Arbois, opened in 1933. The Rothschild family still owns the Domaine du Mont d’Arbois, three of the village’s grandest hotels (Les Fermes de Marie, Les Chalets du Mont d’Arbois, La Ferme du Golf) and the eponymous Mont d’Arbois golf course (a summer event). Megève is, more than any other Alpine resort, a village an aristocratic family ran on its own terms.
A village square, three mountains, Mont Blanc opposite
Megève is unusual in the Alps because the village comes first. The medieval Place de l’Église, twelfth-century church, Saturday market, four cafés, two chocolatiers, is the centre, and the lifts radiate from it: Rochebrune (the south face, the Olympic-grade pistes); Mont d’Arbois (the east face, gentler, sunnier, with a direct view of Mont Blanc); Le Jaillet (the smaller, family-friendly third). The Évasion Mont-Blanc lift pass connects all three plus three neighbouring villages (St Gervais, Saint-Nicolas, Combloux), 445 km of pistes, less than half of the Three Valleys but considerably calmer.
Mont d’Arbois at 9, Idéal at 1, sleigh at 8
The Megève day is theatrical and low-key in equal measure. Cable car to Mont d’Arbois at 9.05; first descents on the Princesse run with Mont Blanc directly opposite. Lunch on the Idéal 1850 deck, a wood-fired terrace owned by the Rothschilds, looking straight at the Mer de Glace. Afternoon laps to the village; check the chocolatier on the way home. A 6pm aperitivo at the Bar des Fermes; the sleigh from the Place de l’Église to a forest dinner (Refuge du Calvaire, La Ferme du Tilleul) at eight. Last cable car back at one, otherwise it is the snow-covered village walk.
Country-quiet, expensive-old
Megève is the rare resort where the dress code is rural-aristocratic rather than urban-luxe. Tweed, cashmere, a navy field jacket, an old Loden coat, a country boot. The watches are inherited; the jewellery older still. By night a soft-shouldered jacket, a knit tie, no pocket square. The skiing kit is mid-cost classic, Loden hats, Bogner ski parkas (slightly mocked), Black Crows. The cardinal sin is anything new, and a sin equally enforced on a Friday at Le Hameau Albert 1er.
The quietest of the great French ski villages.
A place, accounted for.
- 445
- kilometres of pistes (Évasion Mont-Blanc)
- Megève + St Gervais + Saint-Nicolas + Combloux + Les Contamines. Less than the Three Valleys; calmer.
- 1916
- first ski lift commissioned
- Baron Edmond de Rothschild commissions the village resort; the first chairlift on Mont d’Arbois opens 1933.
- 4
- Michelin stars in the village
- Three at Flocons de Sel, two at Le 1920, two at Le Hameau Albert 1er, one at Cinq Rues. Per capita, the densest Michelin map in the Alps.
- 12c
- Sainte-Anne chapel above the village
- The 12th-century stone hermitage on the Mont d’Arbois ridge. Reachable by ski-tour from the top of the cable car.
- 1100m
- village altitude
- Lower than Courchevel and St Moritz. Snow is more variable; the village charm correspondingly more reliable.
Before the first weekend.
What separates the first weekend in a place from the second.
- 01
Get there
Fly Geneva, transfer 1h 10m by car (€180) or 22m by helicopter. Train: Sallanches station + 25m taxi.
- 02
Reserve
Flocons de Sel, Le 1920, Le Hameau Albert 1er, early October. Idéal 1850 the morning of, by phone via the hotel.
- 03
Sleep
Place de l’Église for the village (Le Hameau, Mont-Blanc) or Mont d’Arbois (Les Chalets, Four Seasons). Beaumarly hotels are the canonical week.
- 04
Wear
Tweed, cashmere, a navy field jacket, country boots. Off-piste: nothing technical; on-piste: Bogner or Black Crows.
- 05
Eat first
Idéal 1850 lunch (Wednesday); Le Hameau Albert 1er dinner (Friday); Flocons de Sel one night, in cashmere; the Saturday market for the next morning.
- 06
Move
Walk in the village. Sleigh-taxi from 6pm to 11pm; €25 a hop. Cars only at the village edge.
- 07
Drink
Bar des Fermes at 6.30; nightcap at Le Cinq from 11; a hot chocolate at Au Vieux Megève at 4.
- 08
Tip
Cash to the maître d’ at any Beaumarly; a folded €10 to the sleigh driver each time.
What you will actually be doing.
- 01
A morning on Mont d’Arbois with Mont Blanc directly opposite, peaks lit pink at 9.30 sharp.
- 02
Lunch at L’Idéal 1850, the Rothschild-owned terrace at the top of the Mont d’Arbois lift, beef tartare, a half-bottle of Mondeuse, the Mer de Glace as wallpaper.
- 03
A horse-drawn sleigh from the Place de l’Église to a forest dinner, the only resort in the Alps where the carriages still run on a published timetable.
- 04
A late-afternoon hot chocolate at Au Vieux Megève, the village chocolatier since 1932, pot, hot milk, dark squares.
- 05
A Saturday market under the church, opening at 8am, Beaufort, Reblochon, dried sausages, mountain honey, an apron of cheese to take home.
- 06
A long afternoon at the Sainte-Anne chapel, fifteen minutes by ski-tour from the Mont d’Arbois, a 12th-century stone hermitage on the ridge, no road, no lift.
The year here, month by month.
Dec
The 22 Dec to 5 Jan window is the village carnival, the Place de l’Église ringed in lights, the chocolatiers running double shifts, the Beaumarly hotels at full tilt.
Jan
After 5 January and before February half-term, the Megève of the locals. Cheaper rates, the smallest crowd of the season, deep cold powder.
Feb
French and British half-term make February the second carnival. Family-heavy and dressy; reserve early.
Mar
The first three weeks of March is the canonical Megève, long sun-warm days, fast snow on the high pistes, kinder rates, every restaurant reservable.
Apr
Lifts close mid-April. The first week is excellent slush-skiing; the second week is short days and a snow-quality decline.
Jul-Aug
Megève runs a small but real summer season, the Mont d’Arbois golf course (one of the highest in Europe), summer concerts, mountain biking, Saturday markets. A different chapter of the village.
Sep-Nov
The village is empty between mid-September and mid-December. The hotels mostly close; the cable cars run only on weekends in October.
The villages, and which is which.
- 01
Megève village
The medieval centre, Place de l’Église, the cobbled streets, the chocolatiers.
Sleep on or near the Place de l’Église for the proper week; the lifts radiate from the village, not the other way around.
- 02
Mont d’Arbois (mid-mountain)
The Rothschild-owned plateau, Beaumarly hotels, Idéal 1850, family runs.
The cable car runs from the village in 8 minutes. Stay here in Les Chalets du Mont d’Arbois for the proper ski-in-ski-out.
- 03
Demi-Quartier
A residential mountain hamlet just above the village.
Many of the largest chalets are here. Quieter than the centre; ten minutes by sleigh.
- 04
Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce
A neighbouring village across the valley, older, slower, smaller.
Reachable by the Évasion Mont-Blanc lift system. A baroque church, two restaurants, almost no lift queues.
- 05
Combloux
A tiny village above Megève, the "Pearl of Mont-Blanc."
Twelve minutes by car. The Patinoire de Combloux (open-air ice rink) and an Aquatic Centre with thermal pools.
- 06
Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
Spa-town adjacent, thermal baths, the Tramway du Mont-Blanc.
The 1909 mountain rack railway runs to the Eagle’s Nest at 2,372m. A summer or sunny-winter half-day.
Where to eat, drink and sleep.
Eat
- Le 1920 (Domaine du Mont d’Arbois)Mont d’Arbois
Two Michelin stars in the Beaumarly hotel. Chef Julien Gatillon. The serious mountain dinner; book three months out, in cashmere.
- L’Idéal 1850Mont d’Arbois (top)
The Rothschild-owned mountain restaurant. Wood fire, beef tartare, a Mondeuse half-bottle, Mont Blanc the wallpaper. The Megève lunch.
- Le Hameau Albert 1erMegève village
A two-Michelin-star inn run by the Sibuet family since 1898 (now spelled "Beaumarly"). Charcoal-grilled lamb, a serious wine cellar, the proper village dinner.
- Flocons de SelMegève (route du Leutaz)
Three Michelin stars under chef Emmanuel Renaut. The pilgrimage, twelve minutes outside the village. A fourteen-course tasting; book four months out.
- La SauvageonneMont d’Arbois (mid)
A wood-and-stone mid-mountain restaurant on the Rochebrune side. Tartiflette, sausage and mash, a 4pm beer afterwards. The honest day’s lunch.
- Cinq RuesMegève village
A small-but-serious rooftop restaurant in the village. A modern French menu by chef Adrien Trouilloud. Reserve a corner table.
- La Ferme de Mon PèreDemi-Quartier
A working farm with a restaurant on the slope above the village. Cheese fondue, Beaufort, the most rural Alpine dinner inside thirty minutes of the centre.
- Au Vieux MegèveMegève village
The chocolatier since 1932. A pot of hot chocolate, dark squares, a corner table by 4pm.
Drink
- Bar des Fermes (Les Fermes de Marie)Megève (Le Calvaire)
A 6pm aperitivo in the Beaumarly’s wood-and-stone original chalet. A glass of Apremont; a fire; the right pre-dinner.
- Bar Le Mont d’ArboisMont d’Arbois (mid)
In Les Chalets du Mont d’Arbois. The Rothschild-era panelling; an Old Fashioned at 6.30; a piano at 8.
Stay
- Les Fermes de MarieLe Calvaire
The Beaumarly flagship hotel, a hamlet of seven 18th-century farms moved stone-by-stone to a single property. Seventy-one rooms, the spa is the cathedral.
- Les Chalets du Mont d’ArboisMont d’Arbois
A Rothschild family-residence-converted hotel, mid-mountain at 1500m. Twenty-seven rooms; ski-in-ski-out at the Mont d’Arbois lift.
- Le Hameau Albert 1erMegève village
The original 1898 Sibuet inn at the foot of the Rochebrune lift. Forty-five rooms in a hamlet; the village shopfront, the lift at the front door.
- Four Seasons MegèveMont d’Arbois (lower)
Opened 2017 in a wooden-chalet aesthetic. Fifty-five rooms, a cathedral-grade spa, the only Four Seasons in the French Alps.
- Le Lodge ParkMegève village
A 1979 Beaumarly hotel; ski-lodge aesthetic; antlers everywhere; a four-storey fireplace; the right dinner-and-bar choice.
- Au Coin du FeuMegève village
A small Beaumarly hotel on the Rue de Rochebrune. Twenty-three rooms, a wood-fired sitting room, the cheapest of the Beaumarly options.
See
- Mont d’Arbois cable carMegève village
The original 1933 Rothschild cable car. Eight minutes from the village to the mid-mountain plateau. The most photographed lift in the Alps.
- Patinoire du PalaisMegève village
The Olympic-sized covered ice rink in the village. Public skating Wed-Sun; ice hockey Saturday afternoons.
Dance
- Le CinqMegève village
The village late-hour. Two underground rooms; a different DJ every Friday and Saturday in season. The proper Megève night.
Walk
- Sainte-Anne chapel ridge tourMont d’Arbois (back)
A short ski-tour from the top of Mont d’Arbois. A 12th-century stone hermitage on a ridge; the most-photographed quiet hour on the mountain.
Shop
- Saturday market on the Place de l’ÉgliseMegève village
Open every Saturday morning. Beaufort, Reblochon, charcuterie, mountain honey. The honest Megève week begins here.
Every way in, compared.
| Route | Time | From | Line | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drive from Geneva | 1h 10m-2h | €60 fuel + tolls | Geneva (GVA) → A40 → Sallanches → Megève | Faster than Courchevel; the road from Sallanches up is gentler. Hire a 4WD; chains required by law in winter. |
| Helicopter from Geneva | 22m | €450/seat (group) | Geneva (GVA) → Megève altiport (LFHM) | Lands directly on the village runway, four minutes from the centre. The right Saturday arrival. |
| Snow Train from London | 8h-9h | From £350 | London St Pancras → Sallanches | Eurostar Snow Train, December to April, weekends only. Civilised; arrives by lunch. |
| TGV from Paris | 5h 40m | €80-€180 | Paris Gare de Lyon → Sallanches | Three direct trains a day in winter. 25-minute taxi from Sallanches to the village. |
| Private plane to Megève altiport | Minutes | It depends | Anywhere → LFHM | The Megève altiport (1080m) takes light aircraft and small jets. Permission required; the most theatrical Alpine arrival short of Courchevel. |
The rules the regulars keep.
- 01
Stay near the Place de l’Église
Megève is a village before a resort. Sleep on or near the church square; the lifts come to you.
- 02
Reserve in October
Flocons de Sel and Le 1920, books open by mid-October. The 1947 dinner at Cheval Blanc is bookable; Idéal 1850 is morning-of via the hotel.
- 03
Sleigh once
Megève is the only resort in France that runs a published horse-and-sleigh timetable. Reserve a transfer for one dinner; the photograph alone is worth it.
- 04
Cars stay parked
The village centre is electric-only. Park at the entrance and walk; a sleigh-taxi runs from 6 to 11pm.
- 05
Tweed over technical
Megève is a tweed-and-cashmere village. Save the technical kit for the slopes; off-piste, country-quiet, expensive-old.
A short, polite list.
- 01
Don’t expect the skiing scale of Courchevel. The Évasion Mont-Blanc is excellent but smaller; if you want six hundred kilometres of pistes, go elsewhere.
- 02
Don’t book a chalet without checking the lift access. The "ski-in-ski-out" claim in Megève is loose; verify a cable-car distance under five minutes.
- 03
Don’t miss the Saturday market. Tourist-priced but actually local; the only Alpine market that still sells the Reblochon farm-by-farm.
- 04
Don’t order a long Anglo-American breakfast. Megève is a soft-bread, café-au-lait, two-pastry kind of village; the bigger the breakfast, the louder the visitor.
- 05
Don’t skip Sainte-Anne. The 12th-century chapel above Mont d’Arbois is the photograph the village quietly belongs to.
Practical, briefly.
When is the best time to ski Megève?
The first three weeks of March are the canonical Megève, long sun-warm days, the sun-side Mont d’Arbois at its best, kinder rates, every restaurant reservable. January (between New Year and February half-term) is the locals’ window, with cheaper rates and the smallest crowds. December and February are the carnival weeks; April closes by the second week.
How do I get to Megève from Geneva or London?
From Geneva (GVA): 1h 10m by car or private transfer (€180). Helicopter (Mont Blanc Hélicoptères): 22 minutes, €450/seat in a group. From London: fly Geneva (1h 40m); transfer onwards. Train: Eurostar to Paris, TGV to Sallanches (5h 40m), 25-minute taxi to the village.
Where should I stay in Megève?
Splurge: Les Fermes de Marie or Four Seasons (the village hotels); Les Chalets du Mont d’Arbois (the mid-mountain ski-in-ski-out). Modest: Le Hameau Albert 1er (village heart), Au Coin du Feu (the Beaumarly’s small option), Le Lodge Park (the dining-room hotel). Budget: Hôtel Mont-Blanc, the original 1928 hotel on the Place de l’Église.
Is Megève better than Courchevel?
Different. Megève is the older, lower, prettier village, quieter dinners, sleigh transfers, a working Saturday market, the Rothschild family ownership trail. Courchevel is the higher, more polished, more decorated, much-larger ski domain. For the village week, Megève. For the skiing week, Courchevel. For two weeks, both.
Is Megève good for non-skiers?
Better than most Alpine resorts. The village itself is genuinely walkable, the Saturday market is a half-day, the Patinoire (covered ice rink) is excellent, the spa floors at Les Fermes de Marie and the Four Seasons are destinations, the Tramway du Mont-Blanc up to Le Nid d’Aigle is a half-day, the horse-drawn carriages run all day. A non-skier’s week works.
How expensive is Megève?
A serious week: hotel €900-€2,500/night for a Beaumarly room, dinner €180-€350/head with wine, a half-day private ski instructor €450, lift pass €330/week. A modest week: a B&B in Demi-Quartier €200/night, dinner at La Sauvageonne €60/head, lift pass the same. Cheaper than Courchevel by a third; more honest by twice.