Saint-Gervais-les-Bains is two things at once: a spa town that has been treating people with its thermal water for more than two centuries, and a ski resort inside the Evasion Mont-Blanc area. That combination is unusual in the Alps, where thermal baths and lift systems rarely occupy the same village.
How to get there: Geneva is the nearest airport. Saint-Gervais has its own railway station, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet, which is also the terminus of the Mont-Blanc Express to Chamonix and Martigny.
Slopes and lifts: the Saint-Gervais sector runs from 1,150 m to 2,353 m, with more than 900 snow cannons on it, and the main access is from Le Bettex. The pass covers the whole of Evasion Mont-Blanc: 445 km of slopes and 110 lifts across seven linked resorts, between 850 m and 2,353 m. The Les Houches side is shared with the Chamonix valley.
The Tramway du Mont-Blanc: the highest rack railway in France starts in the town and climbs towards the Nid d’Aigle, on the normal route up Mont Blanc.
The thermal baths: Les Bains du Mont Blanc sit at the foot of the Bonnant gorge, with indoor and outdoor pools, saunas and steam rooms.
Where you stay: the town is in the valley and the skiing is above it, so most accommodation is a bus or gondola ride from the snow; Le Bettex, higher up, is the ski-in option.
