Ski holidays in Megève, France

Megève is France's most glamorous ski resort, founded in the 1920s by the Rothschild family as an alternative to Switzerland's St. Moritz. Since then, the village has developed into a destination where luxury, gastronomy and skiing meet in a truly unique combination. With cobbled streets, horse-drawn sleighs and five-star hotels, Megève shows off Alpine life at its most refined.

The skiing is impressive, with 225 kilometres of local pistes and access to 445 kilometres through the Evasion Mont-Blanc pass. The terrain is varied, with wooded slopes lower down and open Alpine terrain higher up. Mont d'Arbois, Rochebrune and Le Jaillet are the three main areas, offering skiing for all levels, from wide beginner pistes to demanding black runs.

Megève stands out for its outstanding food culture. The village has several Michelin-starred restaurants and countless bistros serving high-quality Savoyard cooking. A lunch stop at one of the mountain restaurants is an experience in itself, with panoramic views of the Mont Blanc massif.

Despite its exclusive reputation, Megève is an excellent choice for families. The wide, sunny pistes are child-friendly, and the village offers a rich range of activities off the slopes. Horse-drawn sleigh rides, spa facilities and shopping at luxury boutiques fill the days for those wanting to vary their ski holiday.

5 tips about Megeve

1. Beginners in Le Jaillet The Le Jaillet ski area has the gentlest and widest pistes in Megève, making it a natural choice for anyone who has just taken up skiing.
2. Family-friendly slopes The broad, sun-drenched pistes in the lower parts of the ski area are ideal for families with children, while the village itself offers plenty to do off the slopes.
3. Make the most of the bigger pass With the Evasion Mont-Blanc pass, the terrain on offer expands from 225 to 445 km of pistes, giving you the chance to explore the neighbouring resorts of Saint-Gervais and Les Contamines during the same stay.
4. Shelter among the trees When the weather is overcast or windy, the densely wooded slopes at lower altitudes are a good alternative, as the trees provide both shelter and better visibility than the open alpine heights.
5. Book outside the school holidays Because Megève is a popular and exclusive destination, the price difference between peak season and ordinary weeks is very noticeable, so travelling outside the holidays often means better accommodation rates while still giving you access to all 55 lifts.

Pistes and lifts in Megeve

Megève offers 225km of local pistes spread across three linked ski areas: Mont d'Arbois, Rochebrune and Le Jaillet. With the Evasion Mont-Blanc pass, you get access to 445km of pistes, which also includes Saint-Gervais and Les Contamines. The 55 lifts move skiers around the area efficiently.

The pistes range from gentle beginner slopes at Le Jaillet to more demanding runs on Mont d'Arbois. Tree skiing is a speciality in Megève thanks to the densely wooded lower slopes. Snowmaking covers many pistes to make up for the resort's relatively low summit height of 2,350 metres.

Piste map for Megeve

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The map downloads as an image file. On your iPhone it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the bottom of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your iPad it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the top right of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your phone it lands in the Downloads folder. Tap the download notification that appears to open the map straight away.The file lands in the Downloads folder. You can also look for the icon at the top right of the screen and open the map from there.

Snow reliability in Megeve

Megève sits at an altitude of 1,113 metres with peaks reaching up to 2,350 metres, which makes snow reliability rather variable over the course of the season. The lower sections of the 225 kilometres of pistes can at times suffer from a thin covering of snow, particularly in the very lowest parts of the ski area close to the village.

To make up for the relatively modest top altitude, many pistes are covered by snow cannons, which helps keep the surface skiable even when natural snow is in short supply. The 55 lifts still make it easy to head up towards the higher, more snow-sure parts of the area whenever conditions lower down deteriorate.

Best time to travel to Megeve

The best time for skiing in Megève is from mid-January to mid-March. February is high season, with the most visitors and the highest prices. January after New Year offers quieter conditions. Early March still has good snow in the higher pistes, combined with longer days and plenty of sunshine.

Will there be lift queues in Megeve?

Megeve is part of Megève and Saint-Gervais, and the lift system there carries 82,720 people an hour across 60 lifts. 20 of the 60 lifts are gondolas or high-speed chairlifts and 5 are drag lifts, which take longer to get through when it is busy. The fastest lifts carry up to 3,600 people an hour, for example Mont Joux. Per kilometre of piste there is less lift capacity than at an average resort on this site, so a busy week is felt more clearly here. The queue you actually notice is almost always down in the valley between eight and half past nine. If you are on the lift before eight you avoid it.

When is Megeve busiest?

How busy the slopes get is not decided by the English half term but by when the local families and the neighbouring countries are on holiday. These are the weeks that fill Megeve in the 2026/2027 season.

• France: The French winter holidays roll through three zones and together cover 6 February to 8 March. All three zones head for the same valleys, so the whole period is busy.
  6 to 22 February: zone C, including Paris and Toulouse
  13 February to 1 March: zone A, including Lyon and Bordeaux
  20 February to 8 March: zone B, including Marseille and Strasbourg
• England: The English February half term is 15 to 19 February 2027 for most councils, with a few areas breaking up a week earlier. The Easter holidays run from 26 March to 9 April.
  8 to 12 February: half term in a few council areas, for example Hull
  15 to 19 February: half term in most of England, including London, the Midlands and the North
  26 March to 9 April: Easter holidays for most English schools
• Easter holidays: Easter 2027 is early, on 28 March. Austria and Germany take their holidays around the weekend, while the French holidays fall after Easter, in April.
  20 to 29 March: the whole of Austria, all states at the same time
  22 March to 3 April: most German states, including Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia
  3 April to 3 May: the French zones, which fall after Easter 2027 and only affect the highest resorts
• Long weekends: Long weekends fill the slopes with day visitors from the nearest cities, even when no schools are on holiday.
  26 December to 3 January: Christmas and New Year, the most expensive period of the year
  6 January: Epiphany, a public holiday in Austria, Italy and parts of Switzerland
  27 to 29 March: the Easter weekend. Easter Monday is a public holiday across the Alps, but Good Friday is a working day in Austria, Italy and France
  1 to 2 May: May Day, a public holiday across the Alps

The weeks before 6 February and after 8 March are noticeably quieter and cheaper. January is the best time for anyone who wants the pistes to themselves.

Snow right now. There is no snow cover in the valley or at the top right now. The figures are modelled by Open-Meteo, not measured by the lift company, and were fetched 15 October 2026 at 20:24.

The lift pass included. The stay comes with the Evasion Mont-Blanc lift pass, which covers 390 km of piste. The pass is worth around €326.

How to get to Megeve

Last-minute deals in Megeve

Last-minute offers, that is late dates the operator still wants to fill, appear from January onwards. Once the season is under way we will show them here on this page.

Megeve is suitable for

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Frequently asked questions about Megeve