Three Days in Megève

January 12-15, 2023

After an amazing experience in Chamonix last year, Andy and I were extremely excited to head back to the French Alps for our first ski trip of this season. There were so many ski areas to choose from within the Mont-Blanc Natural Resort, but I ultimately decided on Megève based on its reputation as a gastronomy hotspot—even though I’m trying my best to become a passable skier, I’m still mainly interested in the ambiance and other non-skiing elements of a ski trip. Megève has had a ritzy reputation since the famous Rothschild family began visiting the area in the 1910s and decided to invest in making it the French alternative to the glamorous St. Moritz in Switzerland, and the sophisticated little village certainly lived up to the hype.

The drive from the Geneva airport to Megève couldn’t have been easier and it only took us ~1 hour to reach La Résidence de L’Ours, an independent property containing several very comfortable and spacious self-catering apartments. It was less than half a mile away from the Rochebrune ski lift and so we were able to pick up our rentals and get on the slopes by 10 AM the next morning without any issues whatsoever. The ski area was great for both me (a beginner skier) and Andy (an experienced snowboarder), and we found it just as easy to navigate as the areas we skied in around Chamonix the year before. The lack of snow on our drive up to the town was extremely worrisome, but we got really lucky with the timing of our trip—a bunch of the runs had just opened earlier in the week and it snowed quite a bit on our first morning, so we had pretty good conditions on the slopes until our final afternoon.

Even though the snow and ski conditions weren’t perfect, we really enjoyed our trip and Megève in general. Megève was much more charming and felt much less commercialized than Chamonix, and the town was jam-packed with amazing restaurants and interesting boutiques. The ski area was also smaller and more low-key, which was perfect for me, but it would still be a great home base for skiers of all levels, especially because you can easily drive to any of the other areas within Mont-Blanc Natural Resort and ski there on the same pass.

If you’re planning a trip to Megève, click here to access and download my Google Maps list of saved locations in the French Alps.

Food & Drink

• La Table de l’Alpaga: The dinner we had at the more intimate of the two restaurants at the lovely L’Alpaga hotel on our final night in town was easily the highlight of our trip and one of the best dining experiences we’ve had to date. The six-course tasting menu was €170 per person, which was actually quite reasonable considering its two Michelin stars, and the service was absolutely exquisite. Everyone was so friendly and the presentation was flawless—the waitstaff leveraged a giant wooden table in the center of the room as a prep table for serving each course, which was a really interesting touch that took the experience to the next level.
• Flocons Village: Megève’s Flocons de Sel is one of just 142 restaurants in the entire world with three Michelin stars and it was certainly tempting to book a table for such a legendary dining experience. However, once I found out its chef has not one but two additional restaurants in town that are significantly cheaper and more relaxed, it seemed silly to spend such an extravagant amount (the tasting menu starts at €280 per person). We ate dinner at Flocons Village on Friday night and were immediately impressed with the buzzy ambiance and the simple, refined Savoyard menu. Unfortunately, the meal didn’t really live up to our expectations—the service was kind of terrible and the dishes were just not as good as we had hoped.
• Chalet Lupo: The cozy Italian restaurant at the top of the Petite Fontaine chairlift is just about as good as gets for an on-mountain dining experience. It was a little tricky to make our way to the entrance, but once we arrived we were greeted by a very friendly sheepdog, Tony, and one of the most stunning views in the valley. It was so beautiful that we actually sat outside (with furry blankets provided by the restaurant) and we both had absolutely amazing pasta dishes that helped us reenergize before our final afternoon on the slopes.
• L’Alpette Megève: This large, busy restaurant at the top of the Alpette chairlift had gorgeous, 360-degree views of the mountains and a sophisticated menu focused on local specialties. We had wonderful fondue and even better Champagne during lunch on our first day, and I ended up coming back later in the afternoon for a few more glasses of wine while I waited for Andy to finish up for the day.
• Patisserie Le Comptoir Du Père Sotieu: I legitimately think I will be dreaming about this bakery and chocolate shop in the heart of Megève for the rest of my life. Everything I bought was amazing, but the chocolate-covered orange peels and candied ginger were particularly delectable.

Activities & Attractions

• Domaine Évasion Mont Blanc: The ski area surrounding Megève contains 445 kilometers of pistes spread across six municipalities, including four slopes in Megève itself (Mont d’Arbois, L’Alpette, Rochebrune, Côte 2000). We mainly spent our time on the runs on L’Alpette and Rochebrune, but the whole resort was absolutely beautiful and very easy to navigate. My favorite part was skiing the long, curvy blue/green run that went all the way down to the base of the mountain—it was such a pretty and satisfying way to end each day.