Megève

Why base here

Megève is built on a col between the Arly, which drains south-west, and the Arbon, which drains north-east, with the Aravis to the west and the Beaufortain to the south-east; its name may come from the Latin for “among the waters”. It became a resort by design. Noémie de Rothschild, who during the First World War had balked at mixing with Germans in the Swiss resorts, St. Moritz among them, chose Megève in 1921 for a French alternative and opened the Domaine du Mont d’Arbois, and English Wikipedia calls the result the first purpose-built resort in the Alps. On 10 December 1933 Charles Viard, a Sallanches sawmill owner, opened the Rochebrune cable car, considered the first in France built mainly for skiers. For a walker the case for Megève is two walks of its own from the edge of town, on the Mont d’Arbois ridge, which faces Mont Blanc across the Arve. Combloux, about 3 miles by road towards Sallanches, is in the same Évasion Mont-Blanc lift area and on the same two bus lines, and works as the same base.

On foot versus by car

Both walks start on foot from the town. The Mont d’Arbois and Mont Joux loop leaves from the bottom station of the Mont d’Arbois gondola, follows the ridge to the orientation table on Mont Joux at 1,958m and comes back through Le Planellet, 11.7km in all. The Mont Joly loop starts at Le Planellet and carries on along the same ridge to the summit at 2,525m, a walk of 16.6km and 1,300m of ascent that the tourist office reserves for experienced walkers. Everything in the Chamonix valley, from the Tramway du Mont-Blanc at Le Fayet to the lifts of Chamonix itself, is a drive or a bus ride away rather than a walk.

Practicalities

The nearest station is Sallanches-Combloux-Megève, about 8 miles away by road, and the other is Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet. Two Cars Région buses leave the autogare: the Y82, which runs from Chamonix through Le Fayet, Saint-Gervais, Combloux and Megève to Praz-sur-Arly, and the Y83, from Sallanches through Combloux and Megève. The town also runs its own free shuttles, the meg-bus. By road Megève is on the RD 1212 between Albertville and Sallanches, where it joins the A40, the Autoroute blanche.