Those who enjoy an active holiday will feel right at home in Méribel. For walkers alone, there are dozens of routes, ranging from a relaxed stroll around Lac de Tueda to longer hikes with significant elevation gain. Along the way, you walk among the pine trees, past clear mountain streams, and with a bit of luck, you might even spot a marmot. A beautiful longer route starts at Lac de Tuéda and leads via the Vallon du Fruit to Refuge du Saut, a mountain hut at an altitude of over 2.100 meters. From the parking lot at Tuéda, it is about a two-hour hike, with a strenuous climb along the way that is locally called the lung buster is mentioned. Once upstairs, a cold drink tastes extra good, preferably with a piece of our new regional favorite: blueberry pieYou can also stay overnight at Refuge du Saut and wake up right in the middle of the mountains. However, be sure to book well in advance, preferably several months before your stay, as the number of beds is limited.

I like to call myself a hike & wine kind of girl and Méribel lends itself particularly well to that. During the day you head into the mountains, at the end of the afternoon you swap your hiking boots for a terrace with a good glass of wine, and in the evening you pop into the sauna. Exactly the combination of being active and enjoying what we love. Are you not an avid hiker or do you not feel like conquering a mountain every day? Then you are in the right place here too. We visited Méribel during Zen Altitude, an annual multi-day festival centered on slowing down, recharging, and consciously spending time in nature. Activities such as Pilates, yoga, painting workshops, and forest therapy are organized at various locations in the mountains, primarily around Lac de Tuéda. To be honest, on paper, some of these might have sounded a tad quaint at first. When I received a French-language text message with a photo of an intimate tree hugger the evening before our forest therapy, I started to break a sweat. But that doubt proved completely unfounded. During the guided walk, we learned all sorts of things about nature that we probably would have walked right past otherwise. That is precisely what we ultimately liked so much about the festival. You are not only outdoors, but you are also trying something new and actually learning something about the surroundings along the way. Add to that the various spas, saunas, swimming pools, and sunny terraces, and you have a very nice balance. Plenty of opportunities to be active outdoors, but also ample space to take things a little easier.

Also nice: Restaurant The 80, within walking distance of Hotel L'EterlouA nice place for dinner, but just as cozy to drop by in the late afternoon for a drink and a game of boules. Very French and with that, just right. In addition, we were sent a substantial list of nice restaurants on the slopes by friends who go skiing. Unfortunately, many of them turned out to be closed in the summer, even when Google Maps insisted they were open. Moral of the story: always call ahead before heading out in high spirits. In other words: don't get your hopes up too high.

We started our trip at Hotel L'Eterlou, a cozy hotel right in the center of Méribel. The rooms are somewhat dated and the winter sports atmosphere is still clearly present even in the summer, but this is offset by a particularly fine location. Several restaurants, the bus station, and the lifts towards the mountains are all within walking distance. Moreover, the hotel has its own restaurant and a heated outdoor pool, very pleasant after a long day of hiking.

For a summer trip, falls Hotel Le Coucou Unfortunately, it's off the list, as the hotel only opens during the winter season. Still, we didn't want to keep it from you. With warm, distinctive interiors, multiple restaurants including Beefbar, two swimming pools, and an extensive Tata Harper Spa, the five-star hotel fits quite perfectly into the Barts Boekje scene. So, keep it on your winter list for now.