Megève or Chamonix: village life or the high mountains

A single lift pass can cover both, and yet Megève and Chamonix promise quite different winters. Megève is the Savoyard village that Baroness Noémie de Rothschild chose in 1916 to become France’s answer to St Moritz. Chamonix, the “capital of mountaineering” and “birthplace of winter sports” according to its tourist office, is a high-mountain town at the foot of Mont Blanc: in 1924 it hosted the International Winter Sports Week, recognised in 1926 as the first Winter Olympic Games. On one side, village life; on the other, the high mountains a cable car ride away. Here is how to choose between them.

A Savoyard village or a high-mountain town

Megève has kept the look of a Savoyard market town: a pedestrianised centre, cobbled lanes and the church square where horse-drawn carriages go by. Its tourist office speaks of “a true mountain village that lives all year round”, with a “chic but relaxed” atmosphere. Days here tend to be shared between the pistes and the village.

Chamonix is another thing altogether. Its tourist office describes it as a “high-mountain town” where “the whole world meets in ‘Cham’”, in a valley that “can be visited all year round”; in winter, it also puts forward its late-night bars and nightclubs. It was from Chamonix that Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard opened the route up Mont Blanc on 8 August 1786, and here that the Compagnie des guides was founded, in 1821.

Around the town, the valley strings out its villages, each with its own personality, according to the tourist office: Servoz, “the authentic”, at 815m; Les Houches, at 1000m, “naturally quieter than the town of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc”; Argentière, “the legendary”, at about 1250m and 8km to the north; and Vallorcine, “the natural”, the last village before Switzerland.

Skiing in Megève, skiing in Chamonix

The Megève ski area is shared between Rochebrune, Cote 2000, Le Jaillet and Mont d’Arbois, from where you can reach Saint-Gervais. With the Évasion Mont-Blanc lift pass, it extends to Saint-Gervais, Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, Combloux, La Giettaz and Les Contamines, up to an altitude of 2353m. The season runs from 19 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, snow permitting. Our guide to the Megève ski area covers each sector.

In Chamonix, the skiing is spread over several areas which, according to the operator, are linked only between Brévent and Flégère. These two, facing due south according to the tourist office, rise to 2525m and 2396m. In Argentière, the Grands Montets, “the Mecca of skiing” in the tourist office’s words, top out this winter at 2765m, as the summit remains closed; the operator has announced a new gondola between Argentière and Lognan for the Christmas holidays of 2026. Balme, between Le Tour and Vallorcine, bills itself as “the ‘Ski Nature’ spot par excellence”, and Les Houches goes up to 1900m. You travel from one area to the next by bus or shuttle bus. Our guides to the Grands Montets and the Balme ski area go into detail.

The season opens partially at Flégère on 28 November 2026, then at the Grands Montets on 5 December; Brévent and Balme follow on 12 December, and Les Houches on the 19th. Closing dates are staggered from 4 April 2027 at Les Houches to 2 May at the Grands Montets, snow permitting.

AEC tip. For a week’s skiing in April, Chamonix’s season, which runs until 2 May at the Grands Montets, works in your favour. For days split between the pistes, a carriage ride and the village, Megève has the edge. And nothing stops you spending a day at the other: according to the operator, the MONT BLANC Unlimited pass also includes the Évasion Mont-Blanc ski area.

The high mountains a cable car ride away

This is where Chamonix comes into its own. Opened in 1955, the Aiguille du Midi cable car rises from the town to 3842m “in just 20 minutes”, according to the tourist office; the operator presents it as “the highest cable car in France”. It runs from 19 December 2026 to 30 May 2027, and booking is compulsory. To fly over Mont Blanc, from either resort, see our guide to helicopter flights over Mont Blanc.

Reached from the Aiguille du Midi, the Vallée Blanche is “the legendary off-piste run of the Chamonix valley”: some twenty kilometres across the glacier, “neither marked nor secured” according to the tourist office, and always to be skied with a high-mountain guide. The Chamoniarde website puts it in capitals: “NEVER ALONE!”

For something calmer, the little red Montenvers rack railway takes 20 minutes to climb to 1913m and the Mer de Glace, a glacier which, according to the operator, bears witness to the effects of climate change; you can visit the Grotte de Glace and the Glaciorium there. Our piece on the Montenvers train and the Mer de Glace describes the excursion. And for bad-weather days, the former Musée Alpin reopened on 11 July 2026, after five years of work, as the Musée du Mont-Blanc.

For families

Megève does not appear on the official map of the Famille Plus family-friendly label, but the town promotes its own approach, “L’esprit Famille”, and its Palais brings together swimming pools, an ice rink and climbing in the heart of the village. In the Chamonix valley, it is Les Houches that holds the label, as a “family resort”; the town of Chamonix is not on the list. In both, the lift pass is free for children under 5 this season, and the Chamonix tourist office counts the Montenvers train among its family outings. Our guide to family ski holidays goes into more detail.

Getting there and getting around

Both resorts are close to Geneva. The Megève tourist office puts the airport an hour to an hour and a quarter away; Chamonix, 88km from the airport, is about an hour and a quarter by shuttle bus according to its office, depending on traffic. By train, you reach Megève via Sallanches-Combloux-Megève station, 12km away, then the Y83 coach; Chamonix via Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet station, served by the TGV and the Léman Express, from where the Mont-Blanc Express runs up the valley to Vallorcine, then on to Martigny, in Switzerland.

Once there, the Meg’Bus shuttles are free in Megève. In the Chamonix valley, shuttle buses and buses between Servoz and Vallorcine are included in the CHAMONIX Le Pass and MONT BLANC Unlimited lift passes.

Megève or Chamonix: side by side

In short: Megève for village life and days at a gentler pace; Chamonix for the high mountains, the history of mountaineering and a season that stretches into May. And since a single pass links them, there is no need to give up the other entirely.

Where to stay

You will find our chalets and apartments under our rentals in Megève and our rentals in Chamonix. To narrow things down, our guide to Megève’s neighbourhoods helps you choose your corner of the village, and if you are still weighing it against Les 3 Vallées, our comparison Megève or Courchevel sets out the differences. Before you book, our guide to renting a luxury chalet answers the practical questions. For Chamonix, our guide on where to stay in Chamonix for skiing helps you choose a village, and our guide to getting to Chamonix sets out the journey. For life once you are there, see also our guide to what to do in Chamonix in winter.

The simplest thing is to write to us: tell us your dates and the number of guests, and our agents will suggest a selection in one resort, the other, or both.

All that remains is to decide what will get you out of bed in the morning: a carriage ride through the lanes of Megève, or the first cabin up to the Aiguille du Midi.

Frequently asked questions