Meribel, France

Meribel Holiday Chalets and Apartments – Meribel, France

The stunning ski resort of Méribel is situated in the heart of the “Eternal Snow” Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps, near the town of Moutiers. Méribel actually refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie Department of France, called Méribel Centre, Méribel-Mottaret and Méribel Village. The “chocolate box chalet” villages are within the Vanoise National Park and a part of the famous Les Trois Vallees interlinked ski system.  

When you choose a self catering holiday home in Meribel, you'll find many “snow experts” in the shops and companies very enthusiastic to help you. This area is a magnet for snow lovers and experts, from traditional skiing and snow boarding, to cross-country skiing, dog sled rides and even getting about on the new eco “snow motorbikes” known as gyropodes. There's also paragliding, ice falls, snow shoe outings, pilot schools and if all that snow gets too much, there's a fantastic indoor climbing wall. Also, if you fancy walking rather than skiing for a change there's actually 25 kms of signposted footpaths of winter walking.  

But perhaps you want to stay in a Meribel holiday rental chalet or apartment for a stunning Summer holiday, and this place, so often associated with Winter, is known locally as the Secret Summer Paradise. Summer lifts give access to the mountains and it goes without saying that the views are breathtaking. The clear mountain lakes providing swimming opportunities, there's mountain biking, rock climbing golf and paragliding as in winter but if you want something less strenuous there's always cheese tasting at some of the local farms. 

In winter and summer the gastronomy is spot-on in Meribel from the traditional raclette and fondue, there's also many international restaurants and clubs for apres-ski relaxation.  The horse drawn carriages clip clopping through the town add the cherry on the top of the icing of this very pretty holiday resort.

In summer, the climate is generally hot and sunny in the lower valleys and pleasantly cool higher up. The valleys accumulate the heat because the air remains in contact with the sheltered, sun drenched ground for longer and thus increases the air temperature. However, in winter, conditions are often reversed and these valleys become much chillier as the cold, dense air sinks down the mountainside to form a pool in the valley itself.

Travelling to your self catering holiday rental property in Meribel, France: Meribel has good access to Geneva, Lyon, Chambery and Grenoble airports with many easy to access coaches ready to transport you. From Paris it's just over a 6 hour journey, snow chains or winter tyres are recommended. There's also the train, look up eurostar's ski train information for excellent links from the UK.