Like Gstaad, but in France: quiet money, more skiing
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
People who love Gstaad tend to love it for what it does not do. It does not shout, it does not party and it does not chase kilometres. It is quietly wealthy by our read, a chocolate box village in a Swiss valley at 1,050 metres, good for families, with a car light promenade, long lunches and evenings that end at a sensible hour.
The skiing is gentler in reputation than in fact. Gstaad's pass covers 200 kilometres across around nine sectors, Eggli, Wispile, Wasserngrat and the rest, most of them reached by train, bus or car rather than by lift. Around the village we measure 128 kilometres, and the skiing there tops out at 2,149 metres. Only 15 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, so on our measure it is not snow sure; the height is at Glacier 3000, a separate area on the same pass. And the easy runs are steep: Gstaad's blues average 17.8 percent, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover.
The honest headline: France does Gstaad's character very well, and one resort does it almost exactly. What France can add is skiing that joins up, gentler easy runs, and, if you are willing to go further south, a resort that is snow sure on our measure.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Gentler than 15% | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkGstaad | 1,050 m | 2,149 m | Around nine sectors on a 200 km pass, mostly joined by train, bus or car | 128 km | 20% | 15% |
| Megève | 1,113 m | 2,402 m | Its own domain. The bigger figure quoted is a pass across several villages | 189 km | 32% | 15% |
| Les Gets | 1,172 m | 1,965 m | Portes du Soleil, linked, 580 km measured (600 official) | 99 km | 34% | 1% |
| Serre Chevalier | 1,350 m | 2,751 m | Not classified in our data | 153 km | 38% | 72% |
Megève: the closest on character
- VillageVillage
- 1,113 m 63 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,350 m 650 m lower
Megève: 189 km of piste we measure. 104 km green and blue 55%62 km red 33%23 km black 12%
Plus 5 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Our matching puts Megève nearer to Gstaad than any other French resort we cover, and you would not need a computer to tell you. It is upmarket, quiet and traditional by our read, elegant and calm, an old village of cobbled lanes and a stone church tower where horse drawn sleighs still run through the centre. Lunch is the event of the day, and there are tables with Michelin recognition for the evening. It was even built as a French answer to a Swiss resort: the Rothschild family developed it as an alternative to St Moritz.
The numbers line up just as closely. The village is at 1,113 metres, 63 above Gstaad, and exactly the same 15 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres. Neither is snow sure on our measure, so the snow risk is the same one you already accept.
What changes is the skiing, all of it for the better. We measure 189 kilometres of piste in Megève's own domain, 61 more than around Gstaad, and the top is 2,402 metres, 253 higher. There are 104.3 kilometres of green and blue, against your 73.1 of blue and easier, and 32 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 20. Its blacks are the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, averaging 23.3 percent, but there are 22.6 kilometres of them, against your 18.3, and 5.2 kilometres of marked itinerary. For a strong skier, our guide's tip is Chamonix, a short drive away.
Les Gets: the closest on a family village, joined up
- VillageVillage
- 1,172 m 122 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,466 m 534 m lower
Les Gets: 99 km of piste we measure. 55 km green and blue 56%35 km red 35%10 km black 10%
If what you love about Gstaad is a pretty, traditional village built around families and a slow pace, Les Gets is the French version. Our read on it is warm and traditional, a pretty village that families love, known for its tree skiing. It is at 1,172 metres, 122 above Gstaad.
What it adds is the thing Gstaad cannot offer: one linked circuit. Les Gets sits at the gateway to the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages in two countries joined by lift. We measure it at 580 kilometres against an official 600; an independent count cited by Wikipedia puts it nearer 426. Les Gets's own sector, shared with Morzine, is 117 kilometres, and around the village we measure 99. The easy runs are kinder, too: 34 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 20, and the blues average 15.0 percent, against your 17.8.
The trade is height, and it is a real one. The skiing around the village tops out at 1,965 metres by our measure, the lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 184 below Gstaad's. Only 1 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres. In a good winter it is lovely; in a thin one, Gstaad is the safer bet.
Serre Chevalier: the closest on the quiet, with the snow
- VillageVillage
- 1,350 m 300 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,830 m 170 m lower
Serre Chevalier: 153 km of piste we measure. 91 km green and blue 60%45 km red 29%17 km black 11%
Serre Chevalier is the pick for a Gstaad regular whose one complaint is the snow. It is quiet by our read, relaxed and sunny, a string of old villages with skiing in the trees, so the feel is closer to Gstaad's valley than to a resort built for skiing. And it is higher. The village is at 1,350 metres, 300 above Gstaad, and the skiing reaches 2,751 metres by our measure, 602 higher. Seventy-two percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, which makes it snow sure on our measure, against Gstaad's 15.
There is more to ski, and more of it easy. We measure 153 kilometres of piste around the village, with 91.4 kilometres of green and blue, and 38 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, nearly twice Gstaad's share. The steep share is similar, 27 percent against your 25, so the confident skiers in the group lose nothing.
What you give up is the money. Serre Chevalier is not upmarket by our read: its calling cards are sunshine and value, and the polish, the promenade and the grand hotels stay in Switzerland. And you fly to Turin or Grenoble rather than Geneva.
Gstaad is a quiet, moneyed old village first and a ski area second, and Megève is the same thing in French: the same calm, the same long lunch, a village barely higher and exactly the same share of high piste. Then it gives you more skiing on your doorstep and kinder easy runs for the children. Go knowing the snow risk is the one you already live with. If you would trade some polish for a resort that is snow sure on our measure, Serre Chevalier.