About St Gervais

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Resort Summary

Resort recommended for: all skiing standards: beginners, intermediates, advanced; cross-country; ski touring; snowboarding; snow-showing; airport access; child friendly; eating out; families; long weekends; mont blanc views; mountain restaurants

Resort altitude: 860m

On the snow: top 2350m - bottom 860m

Lifts in area: 125

Pistes/ trails: 500km

Nearest airports: Geneva - 1 hour

Resort website: www.st-gervais.net

Why St Gervais?

• A year-round holiday resort with a famous thermal spa
• Easy to reach: 50 minutes motorway drive from Geneva and 5 minutes from TGV station
• Massive and varied ski area linked to Megeve, Combloux and Les Contamines
• Stunning alpine scenery with views of Mont Blanc
• Well-priced accommodation in a vibrant mountain town.

Recommended for: all skiing standards, cross-country skiing, ski touring, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, good airport access, children, eating out, families, long weekends, Mont Blanc views, mountain restaurants

Amenities

St Gervais has a lovely renovated town center with a good selection of restaurants, bars and shops. Just above St Gervais, at the first stop of the cable car is the small hamlet of Le Bettex, the birthplace of skiing in the region. Here you will find a charming restaurant, a ski school and several shops. Facing Mont Blanc, St. Nicolas de Véroce is a typical mountain village. Make sure you visit its’ greatest treasure, a beautiful baroque church. Free resort shuttle buses operate throughout the area. After an invigorating day on the slopes, the best way to relax is with a visit to the hot springs at Le Fayet. Les Thermes de St Gervais, situated in a magnificent park setting. It has been open for over 200 years and is prepared to treat you to the most advanced techniques in spa treatments. You are sure to be rejuvenated. There’s a good choice of bars, restaurants, bakeries & creperies (not to mention the chocolate!) and several supermarkets to use for everyday essentials. The local market comes to town on a Thursday with a range of Savoyard treats. Various festivals and concerts are held in the town throughout the year and it has an excellent theatre and cinema.

Background

The attractive spa town of St Gervais has been a holiday resort since tourists first took waters there in 1806. Lying above a dramatic river gorge midway between the 2 world famous ski resorts of Chamonix and Megeve, it is part of the massive Evasion Mont Blanc ski area. The perfectly groomed slopes and challenging off-piste terrain, with 125 ski lifts, 312 miles of downhill slopes and 5,400 feet of vertical drop, offer skiing and snowboarding for all abilities. Non-skiers can enjoy several miles of high mountain footpaths, spectacular views of Mont Blanc and many of the on-slope restaurants with a pedestrian lift pass. Cross-country skiers have free access to all 17 miles of the St Gervais Nordic ski circuit.

The small hamlet of Le Bettex lies just above St Gervais, at the first stop of the cable car and is the birthplace of skiing in the region. Here there is a charming restaurant, a ski school and several shops.

Cross-country skiers have free access to all 17 miles of the St Gervais nordic ski circuit. Pedestrian lift passes are available for non-skiers, allowing access to several miles of high mountain footpaths, spectacular views of Mont Blanc, and many on-slope restaurants.

Megève, France’s most elegant and upscale resort, is just a cable car ride away from Le Bettex. Everyone will want to take a ride on the Tramway du Mont Blanc, one of only three remaining rack and pinion railways in France. A scenic ride takes pedestrians and skiers through forests and snow-covered pastures to the Bellevue/ Les Houches plateau (5,905 ft.) at the foot of Mont Blanc.

The Four Villages

Le Fayet - 580m

Le Fayet, the entrance to St Gervais and the crossroads to other resorts in the Mont-Blanc area, is home to Les Thermes de St Gervais: the resort’s combination of ski and spa activities gives it the reputation as truly dual season.

St Gervais - 850m

St Gervais’ traditional buildings, baroque church and cobbled main street all add to its beauty as a typical Savoyard market town, rich in the heritage of the Haute Savoie region.

St Nicolas de Véroce - 1150m

The village of St Nicolas de Veroce sits around a beautiful baroque church and enjoys stunning views of the Mont Blanc mountain range. The chairlift from the heart of the village links into the Evasion ski area. St Nicolas is also the start of many snow shoe excursions and cross country skiing.

Le Bettex - 1400m

Opposite the exceptional panorama of the Mont Blanc range, Le Bettex offers charming alpine hotels or chalet-style residences and the main access lift for the Evasion ski area. A regular shuttle bus links the villages to St Gervais, as well as to the lift station in Le Bettex.

Tourist Office

Located in the centre of the town. Click on this thumbnail map to view tourist map of St Gervais (location E19).