What to Do in Megève: The Best Activities for Your Stay

10 min read

Megève is usually described in terms of its ski season. That is only a quarter of the picture: the village works all year, and a good deal of what there is to do here has nothing to do with snow — an 18-hole golf course at 1,320 metres, more than 150 km of waymarked trails, an Olympic ice rink running public sessions in the middle of August, horse-drawn carriages waiting on the church square. We checked, activity by activity and against each venue’s own official sources, what is genuinely open, in which part of the year, and at what price. Here are eight activities spanning winter, summer and the quieter months in between — which matters most if you are here for a month or a full season rather than a week.

All year, whatever the weather

If you only remember one address for a long stay, make it this one. It is also the best answer to rainy days, low cloud and mild spells — the days that ruin a week’s holiday but which, over several months, are simply going to happen.

Le Palais — Megève’s sports and leisure complex

At 247 route du Palais des Sports, Le Palais is a municipal facility on a scale you would not expect in a mountain village: its own website describes it as “the largest indoor leisure complex in the Alps,” extending over some 30,000 m². It holds an Olympic ice rink and an outdoor rink, indoor pools, a 50 × 21 m outdoor Olympic pool, a balneotherapy and fitness pool, an outdoor water play area with slides and paddling pools, a climbing wall, a spa, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a gym, curling, a media library, an auditorium, a restaurant and a kids’ club. The tourist office describes it as “open year-round.” The main ticket desks run daily from 8.30am to 8pm.

Two details are worth knowing, because both are counter-intuitive. First, the ice rink operates in summer as well as winter — Megève Tourisme states this plainly, and daily public sessions are scheduled through July and August. Expect €6 for an adult, €4.60 for a child, €4.50 for skate hire, free for under-5s. Second, and the other way round, the outdoor Olympic pool is the one genuinely seasonal part: it opens only from 13 June to 13 September 2026 (€7.10 adult, €5.50 child). The climbing wall, meanwhile, covers 740 m² with around a hundred routes graded 3A to 8A, and gear can be hired on site. One caveat: the complex is open all year, but each space publishes its own timetable and revises it several times a year — check the current grid before you set off.

Still in the all-weather category: the Luge 4 Saisons, built on rails at the foot of the Jaillet, runs summer and winter and does not even close in the rain. We have covered it in detail — prices, hours, age rules and access.

nn

Winter: skiing and dog sledding

This is the season everyone already knows about, so we will keep it short: what actually matters is the dates and the real size of the ski area, plus one snow activity that does not require you to ski at all.

The Megève ski area and Évasion Mont-Blanc

Megève skis across several sectors — Mont d’Arbois, Rochebrune, Cote 2000 and Le Jaillet — linked into something much larger. According to the tourist office, the Évasion Mont-Blanc area totals over 400 km of linked pistes, 40 lifts and 228 runs (34 green, 53 blue, 78 red, 41 black), shared with Saint-Gervais, Combloux, La Giettaz and Les Contamines-Montjoie. The Jaillet sector also belongs to the Portes du Mont-Blanc area (10 lifts, 66 runs) alongside Combloux and La Giettaz. For the coming season the lift company gives a general opening on 19 December 2026 and closing on 4 April 2027, with earlier partial openings possible depending on snow cover. Those two dates, not the calendar, decide what is skiable.

Dog sledding with Evolution 2 Megève

The most memorable snow activity for anyone who does not ski, or for children too young to manage full days on the piste. The ride itself lasts around twenty minutes, preceded by a briefing and a chance to meet the dogs, and runs at two sites: the Megève ridges, with a 360° panorama, or the Mont d’Arbois golf course. The operator notes that snow is guaranteed all season on the ridges but not on the golf course — worth asking about when you book. Children are accepted from the age of 2; the activity is not suitable for pregnant women. Published packages start from €225 per person. The meeting point is Camp Trappeur, Le Planellet, 373 route de Follières.

This is a strictly winter activity, and the website shows it clearly: as we write, it is advertising bookings for winter 2027. That is not a sign of closure — it is the normal rhythm of an activity that needs snow.

Summer: golf, mountain biking and altitude

This is the part week-long visitors never see, and the part that changes everything when you stay for months: from mid-May to early September, Megève functions as a full summer resort in its own right.

Golf du Mont d’Arbois

An 18-hole par 72 course at an average altitude of 1,320 metres, at 3001 route Edmond de Rothschild. Individual green fees run from €45 to €102 depending on whether you play 9 or 18 holes and on the period, with season packages that make sense for longer stays. Published hours are 9am to 6pm in low season and 8am to 7pm in high season, in July and August.

Summer only. The official site announces the course as open from 16 May 2026; Megève Tourisme lists a season running from 16 May to 1 November 2026, while noting those dates are still to be confirmed. In winter the ground changes use entirely: it is one of the two sites where the dog-sled outings run.

The summer lifts — mountain biking and high-altitude walking

In summer some of the lifts reopen and put the ridges within reach without a climb. The summer pass covers unlimited lift use across the Évasion Mont-Blanc area (Megève, Saint-Gervais, La Giettaz and Les Contamines). For mountain bikers there is a purpose-built route with modules and banked turns at Mont d’Arbois, and the lift company runs supervised electric mountain bike courses in partnership with the MB Race. Two things to note for families: a birds-of-prey show staged with Les Aigles du Léman, and the Village des Lutins, a play area at the top of Rochebrune.

Summer 2026 season: 20 June to 6 September, with each lift on its own dates — the Mont d’Arbois gondola from 20 June to 6 September (9.15am–5.45pm — the operator currently flags this lift as closed until further notice, so check before you set off), the Rochebrune cable car from 4 July to 6 September (9am–5.45pm), and the Petite Fontaine chairlift from 4 July to 30 August (9.45am–4.30pm). Outside that window the mountain is still open on foot, but nothing is running uphill.

Across the seasons: on foot, by carriage, in the air

Three activities that exist on both sides of the calendar, in a different form depending on the season. These are the ones that give a long stay its shape, because you can come back to them in February just as easily as in July.

The Lac de Javen walk

The easiest walk to organise straight from the village centre: a 4.4 km loop, about 1 hour 30, 307 metres of ascent, graded moderate, topping out at 1,390 metres. It starts opposite the tourist office on rue du Dr Charles Socquet, so no car is needed. Megève Tourisme describes the surface as earth, “suitable for city pushchairs,” and notes that there are restaurants and children’s play areas at the lake itself.

The real point is that the route exists in both seasons. The tourist office publishes a spring / summer / autumn version and a winter version on a groomed track, on the same line and the same distances, setting off from the tourist office towards the Musée du Haut Val d’Arly. One difference to know if you are travelling with a toddler: the summer version takes a pushchair, the winter version does not. More broadly, Megève counts over 150 km of waymarked trails, walkable “in summer and in the off-season.”

Horse-drawn carriage rides — Le Cheval de Feug

Horses are part of Megève’s identity, and the carriage ride is one of the village’s most emblematic activities, at any age. Le Cheval de Feug is an equestrian farm at 255 route du Feug in Demi-Quartier — the adjoining commune, right on Megève’s doorstep. The outing lasts around an hour from the farm and comes with a visit to the stables, where you are shown how the horses live and what they are fed: that is what makes it a proper family outing rather than just a ride. Carriages seat 4 to 12: €72 for 1–4 people, €130 for 5–8, €160 for 8–12. Departures at 9am, 10.15am, 11.30am, 2pm, 3.15pm and 4.30pm; booking is required at least 24 hours ahead, and cards are not accepted — bring cash.

Available all year: Megève Tourisme gives an opening period of 1 January to 31 December 2026, Monday to Saturday, by reservation. The farm runs a summer programme from Easter to All Saints and a separate winter programme (carriage rides, pony sledging, ski-joëring, Savoyard fondue by carriage); it is closed on Sundays. If you would rather set off from the heart of the village, carriages also wait on the church square, with availability concentrated from 15 December to 15 April, in July, in August and over the All Saints holidays, and by reservation the rest of the year.

Tandem paragliding — Megève Aventure Parapente

The most direct way to understand the shape of the valley. The school offers tandem flights “in summer as in winter,” taking off from Megève, Praz-sur-Arly, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains or Passy Plaine Joux depending on the season and how much of a ride you want. Published summer prices run from €90 for the “featherweight” tandem to €100 for the discovery flight, €110 for the sensations version, €140 for the performance option and €150 for the sunset flight. They can be reached by phone daily from 9am to 7pm.

Flyable in both seasons, with two honest caveats: take-off sites change with the period, and any flight remains subject to the weather and the day’s air conditions. As a cross-check, Megève Tourisme separately lists tandem baptism flights with a year-round opening period, open daily “weather permitting” — so this really is an all-year activity here, not a summer one.

Seasons and hours: what to check

This is what catches people out, regulars included. Putting the dates for all eight activities side by side, five rules emerge:

• The season that matters is the lift season, not the calendar one. Winter 2026/2027: 19 December to 4 April. Summer 2026: 20 June to 6 September. Between those two windows the mountain is still open on foot, but nothing runs uphill.
• The shoulder season is the delicate part. April to June, then September to December: this is when the largest number of facilities close or move to reduced hours. It is also, on a long stay, the quietest and cheapest time to be here.
• “Closed” in mid-summer does not mean “closed for good.” A snow-activity website showing a closure in August is almost always simply out of season: dog sledding, for instance, is already opening bookings for the following winter.
• One venue can run several calendars. At Le Palais the outdoor Olympic pool opens only from 13 June to 13 September 2026, while the ice rink holds public sessions in the middle of August. Read the timetable for the facility, not for the building.
• Published dates move. Megève Tourisme flags the golf season dates as “to be confirmed,” and the ski area’s early openings depend on snow cover. For anything involving a drive or a firm booking, checking the day before is still the best habit.

That is precisely what this list shows: Megève is not a winter resort that survives the summer, it is a village running on two full seasons and two slower ones in between. A week’s holiday shows you a quarter of it. A seasonal rental in Megève over several months gives you time to ski in February, play golf in June, push a pram up to Lac de Javen in summer and walk the same loop on a groomed track in winter — and to keep Le Palais in reserve for the days when the weather decides otherwise.