Things to do in Megève: a village worth slowing down for
More than people expect, and a good deal of it is slow and free: three heritage walks with English audio on your phone, a bus that is free to everybody, and a walk from the top of the Jaillet back into the village. For a non skier, the pedestrian pass opens six villages, and the carriages from the church square are the Megève evening.
Megève grew out of a real village rather than a lift plan, and it is at its best when you slow down to its pace. The cobbled centre and the church square are the point, and doing very little here is a perfectly good plan. It suits families, couples, and whoever in the group would rather walk than ski.
Start with the heritage walks, because they are the best free thing here and the audio talks you round in English on your own phone. There are three routes, round the village centre, the church and up past the Calvary chapels to the Calvary museum, which is free too. The Meg'bus is free to everybody, and line 2 runs out past the ice rink and La Livraz to Cote 2000. For a proper day out without skis, take the Jaillet gondola up on a pedestrian ticket and walk six kilometres back down into the village, with almost no climbing.
Anyone not skiing all week should buy the pedestrian pass. It covers lifts right across Evasion Mont Blanc, from Saint-Gervais to La Giettaz, and the days need not run in a row, so somebody out for three days pays for three, whichever days they choose. If the weather closes in, Le Palais is the answer, all under one roof: the pool, a big wellness area, a climbing wall, and an Olympic ice rink with curling for people who cannot skate.
The evenings are slow, and that is the appeal. Take a horse drawn carriage from the square by the church as the lights come on, the thing Megève is known for. With children, the Luge 4 Saisons at the foot of the Jaillet carries on after dark with lights and music, and the huskies at the trapper camp are a stop on the free bus. Book the dogs and the carriages early in the week.
Free, and worth knowing
Seven things that cost nothing, led by three heritage walks with English audio on your phone, a walk down from the Jaillet, and a bus free to everybody.
Three audio guided heritage walks
The best free thing in any of the six resorts, and it costs the guest nothing but a phone. Three self guided routes with a free app that talks you round, in French and in English. The village centre route takes an hour, the church route half an hour, and the Calvary chapels route an hour, with a 1.8 km nature trail alongside it.
The Calvary is on the national supplementary inventory of historic monuments, which is not something you can say about much in the Alps.
The Calvary museum
Free entry, up at the Ermitage on the Calvary hillside at the end of the chapels walk, which turns a walk into a morning.
Ermitage du Calvaire
Five marked snowshoe routes
Free to walk, with distances, times and ascent published for every one. The friendliest is L'Elise Allais at 2.5 km and forty minutes with a hundred and fifty five metres of climb. The Jaillet superieur to the Col du Jaillet is the longest at 6 km and two hours.
The Jaillet walk down to the village
Six kilometres and two and a half hours from the top of the Jaillet gondola down into the middle of Megeve, five hundred and thirty metres of descent and almost no climbing. It is the outing to give somebody who wants a proper day on the mountain without skiing.
Top of the Jaillet gondola
Three free sledging areas
La Livraz, La Caboche and Pre Saint-Amour, free where you can get to them on foot, plus a free evening sledging event up at Mont d'Arbois. Suitable from two or three years old under supervision.
The Meg'bus
Free to everybody, with no guest card and nothing to buy. Three lines. Line 1 runs the village and Rochebrune, line 3 runs the Cassioz side in winter only, and line 2 is the useful one: it goes from the bus station out past the ice rink, the Mont d'Arbois gondola, Le Planellet and La Livraz to Cote 2000, every ten minutes.
Bicycles are accepted and the buses are accessible.
The elf village at Christmas
The tourist office runs a Village des Lutins with free entertainment over the Christmas period, and the lift company lets you carry a sledge up the Caboche gondola specifically to get to it.
On the mountain
A rail bobsleigh that runs with lights after dark, huskies from a camp on the free bus route, and gentler outings, among them a reindeer farm for younger children.
Luge 4 Saisons
A rail bobsleigh run at the bottom of the Jaillet gondola, banked turns and tunnels, and it runs with lights and music after dark. No lift pass, no booking, walk up and ride.
Under 20 euros · 821 route de la telecabine, Le Jaillet
Dog sledding at the trapper camp
From a camp on the Planellet road, which is a stop on the free line 2 bus. A twenty minute baptism run with ten minutes among the dogs beforehand, or a half day polar expedition of about three and a half hours, or a full day.
Over 50 euros · Camp Trappeur, 373 route des Follieres, Le Planellet
Guided snowshoeing and the softer outings
Half day guided snowshoe outings, an evening walk that finishes with an aperitif, a forest bathing session, and a reindeer farm visit with a homemade snack that works well for younger children.
20 to 50 euros
In the village
The carriages Megève is known for, and one big building with a pool, a wellness area and an Olympic ice rink for the day the weather turns.
Horse drawn carriages
The Megeve signature, and the reason a lot of people know the name. They leave from the square by the church in the middle of the village, seven days a week from mid December to mid April, from half past ten in the morning until half past seven at night. Fifteen minutes round the village centre, twenty down into lower Megeve, forty five out towards the Mont Blanc view, or an hour on the panoramic route.
20 to 50 euros · Place de l'Eglise, village centre
Le Palais
Everything indoor in Megeve is in one building, and it is a big one. A swimming pool, a six hundred and seventy five square metre wellness area with swan neck jets, a counter current river, massage beds and alcoves, an indoor sauna and hammam, a fitness space, a treatment spa, an indoor Olympic ice rink with eighteen hundred square metres of ice, a climbing wall, a contemporary art space and a media library.
Price on request · 247 route du Palais des Sports
Nearby
One pedestrian pass for the lifts of six villages, sold as days you spend when you like rather than a block in a row.
The rest of Evasion Mont Blanc, on a pedestrian pass
The pedestrian pass is not just for Megeve's own four sectors. It covers lifts across Saint-Gervais, Saint-Nicolas, Combloux, La Giettaz and Les Contamines too, so a non skier with a six day pass has six villages to work through rather than one.
20 to 50 euros
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.