Road notes

Thirty-five kilometres and around forty-five minutes separate Megeve from Chamonix. Close enough to ski there for the day, provided you leave early and arrange the return before you go.

Four ways to reach Megeve from Geneva Airport, and none is better in the abstract. The shared shuttle is the cheapest, the hire car the most flexible once you are there, the private chauffeur the most predictable. Here is what actually decides it.

From 1 November to 31 March, French law requires winter equipment on the entire road network of Haute-Savoie: 3PMSF tyres on all four wheels, or chains in the boot. What actually slows the journey is not the snow — it is the vehicles that are not equipped for it.

On Saturdays the valley changes tenants: chalets empty in the morning and fill in the afternoon, and everyone uses the same road at the same time. Between December and April, allow 1 h 45 to 2 h between Megeve and Geneva Airport instead of 1 h 15.

The French sector of Geneva Airport opens onto the Ain, north-west of the city: it serves the Pays de Gex — Ferney-Voltaire, Gex, Divonne-les-Bains. For Haute-Savoie — Annemasse, the Arve valley, Sallanches, Megeve, Chamonix — you leave on the Swiss side.

For a European flight out of Geneva, leave Megeve about 3 h 30 before departure in normal conditions, and 4 h on a Saturday in high season. The drive is 75 km and takes 1 h 15 outside peak times, up to 2 h on changeover Saturdays.