Megeve is one of the original great resorts of the Alps, established by the Baroness de Rothschild no less back in the 1920s as France’s answer to St Moritz. It remains to this day one of the prettiest ski resorts in the world with cobbled streets surrounding the pedestrianised main square where a huge Christmas tree is erected each December. There’s even a medieval church and horse-drawn sleighs for taxis. Courchevel kind of usurped Megeve’s “best in France for the rich and famous” status in the 1960s but the village has quietly carried on regardless, with those in the know still preferring to ski here and leave Courchevel to the tourists!
Megeve is the perfect destination for you if you enjoy window (or actual) shopping, perhaps stopping once in a while for a dainty hand make cake in the local patisserie. The shopping in Megeve, centred on Place de l’Eglise, is almost unrivalled in the skiing world with boutiques like Hermès, Moncler, Killy, Vuarnet, Lacoste and Swarovski all here. The Aalard sports shop should also be on your visit list as it was here that the first purpose-designed ski pants were invented. They were first worn by Emile Alias, an early ski racing hero of France as well as the most famous son of Megeve, who went on to help design now-famous ski resorts here and around the world in the 1950s-70s. He died in 2012 at the age of 100. Le Flocon de Neige, another Megeve institution, is where to stock up on handmade chocolates and much, much more.
The heart of Megeve dates back to the 14th century, an era long before anyone thought much about resort design, so this is not a destination where most people can walk out of their chalet door, clip on their skis and head off down the piste to a waiting lift. It’s therefore well worth ensuring that your chalet is one of the few that are ski in/out here, or that your chalet provides a chauffeur service. There are three main skiing sectors Mont d’Arbois, Le Jaillet and Rochebrune, with the village most directly linked to Rochebrune via a gondola from the resort centre.
Megeve is a great choice for beginners and intermediates with lots of uncrowded slopes, most of them long, easy blues. Beginners will find very easy green pistes running down alongside every gondola so getting back down should be a doddle. Better still, most are within the tree line and often produce fantastic vistas out towards Mont Blanc – so essentially the skiing is as pretty as the resort, the complete package, and there’s even an enticing mountain restaurant around almost every turn on the piste. The only small possible flaw in all this skiing perfection is that the slopes are rather low by modern standards which can be an issue, occasionally, particularly in lower runs if there’s an unlucky warm spell. Most likely at the start or end of the season.
The resort does not have a global reputation for advanced-level skiing, overshadowed a little by its proximity to Chamonix. Indeed Chamonix’s lift operator recently took over the operation of the ski slopes here and it’s now easier than ever to pop over to Cham if you fancy some of the steeper terrains there for a day or two.
But Megeve does have challenges of its own for those in the know. The Princesse run, graded black, descend through beautiful woodland scenery and not skiing the Emile Allias black piste would almost be an insult. Guides charged with taking you off-piste are likely to head off to their secret powder stashes at Mt Joly and St Nicholas and freestylers have three terrain parks to choose from.
Megeve is quite a nice resort in which to learn to ski, although the slopes are fragmented there are lots of easy green runs to get around on surrounding the resort once you’ve mastered your basic turns .
The resort tries hard to appeal to families and has a lot going for it in this regard. Along with those family-friendly runs and that pedestrianised resort centre there are four separate kids clubs to choose from, each conveniently based by the main lift stations.
For non-skiing children there are several British holiday nanny agencies available or the Les P’tites Frimousses nursery for 1-3 year olds is an option, located at the base of the Mont d’Arbois lift.
