Megève
France
An old market village made into a ski resort by the Rothschilds in the 1920s, low enough to have a real village street and expensive enough that people dress for it
Photo by Mathurin NAPOLY / matnapo on Unsplash
Photos by Daniel Norin, Ryan Klaus, Ryan Klaus and Ryan Klaus on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
December to March for the snow, and June to September for walking — at 1,113 metres the lower slopes are thin at both ends of the ski season, and the resort half closes between seasons
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 140mm in Dec
Where it is
45.86°N, 6.62°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Ski Mont d’Arbois across to Saint-Gervais and back in a day
- Check the snow report before booking the shoulder weeks, because the bottom runs go first
- Walk the village in the evening, when the lights are on and the sleighs are out
- Book a table well ahead for the holiday weeks
- Take the day to Chamonix for the Aiguille du Midi, forty minutes away
Megève travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Very expensiveEuro, and cards everywhere — lift passes, ski hire, the mountain restaurants. Cash is worth having for the car park machines, the horse-drawn sleighs and the smallest huts. Never change money at a resort exchange desk.
ATMs & cards
Megève is a real town with real banks, so use a bank’s own machine in the centre rather than an independent one. Always decline the conversion.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- independent machines that offer to charge you in your own currency
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- Banque Populaire
- Société Générale
- La Banque Postale
Decline the conversion. The village centre has bank machines, so there is no reason to use an independent one.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeVery comfortable, a village with gendarmes and very little crime. The risks are the usual mountain ones, lighter than higher up: the pistes are mostly gentle, but the off-piste is still avalanche terrain, and the village and chalet roads ice hard at night. Snow is the uncertainty, not safety — the resort is low and a mild spell turns the bottom runs to slush.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the off-piste between the runs — gentle-looking slopes are still avalanche terrain; read the bulletin before leaving the piste
- the chalet roads after dark — steep, narrow and icy, and chains or winter tyres are required in snow
- the lowest runs late in the season — a mild spell turns them to slush and stones, and the ski back to the village closes first
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodMegève eats better than most ski resorts and charges for it: some of the best kitchens in the Alps are here, and booked out at holidays. Below that level, reblochon in tartiflette, fondue and raclette in the village, and the mountain restaurants on Mont d’Arbois for lunch with a view. The supermarket is where a chalet week stops being ruinous.
Travel tipsNightlife
Modest and dressed up. The evening is a long dinner, then a hotel bar, a piano or the jazz club, rather than après in ski boots.
- Les 5 Rues — a jazz club in a medieval house since the 1950s, now live music of most kinds
- the village centre — the hotel bars and the few late clubs, busiest at weekends
Closing: Around 03:00 in season.
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Megève
No Holistay rentals in Megève yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Megève on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Geneva GVA
1h 15mfrom the airport· 58 km as the crow flies
About 1h15 by road or shared transfer; longer on a winter Saturday.
Also worth pricing: Lyon Saint-Exupéry LYS — about two and a half hours by road, sometimes cheaper in season.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
