Megeve: the village-first alternative to the high Alpine resorts

Megeve is the Alpine week for people who want the village more than the vertical. It sits at 1,100m, was built as a village long before it was a resort, and the centre is still cobbles, horse-drawn sleighs and a church square rather than a purpose-built base station.

The trade-off is altitude. The skiing across Rochebrune, Mont d'Arbois and Le Jaillet is broad, sunny and gentle, but early December and late March can be thin at village level. February is the reliable month; the Evasion Mont-Blanc lift pass covers Saint-Gervais and Les Contamines when you want more terrain.

Chalets here are large, staffed and typically a short drive rather than ski-in. That suits mixed groups: non-skiers get a village with real shops, spas and the best restaurant density in the French Alps — Flocons de Sel above the town remains the benchmark.

Geneva is a comfortable seventy minutes by road, the shortest transfer of any major French resort. For a week with children or a group where not everyone skis every day, that combination is hard to beat.

Practical notes: Megeve works for mixed groups because the skiing is gentle, the village is the real one, and the non-skiers have as much to do as the skiers — the pedestrian centre, the palace hotel spas, and lunch on the mountain at L'Alpage or Le Hameau. Fly Geneva (seventy-five minutes) or take the train to Sallanches and a twenty-minute transfer.

The snow record is honest rather than great; below 2,000m the cover relies on snowmaking after February, which the resort does well. Take the first or second week of January for the village at its prettiest and the rates at their lowest, and book chalet staff early — the best cooks here are spoken for by autumn.