Spa bliss in the Alps: hot springs and hiking in the shadow of Mont Blanc

Les Thermes de Saint Gervais, which first opened its doors in 1806. Photograph: Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc tourist boardView image in fullscreenLes Thermes de Saint Gervais, which first opened its doors in 1806. Photograph: Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc tourist boardSpa bliss in the Alps: hot springs and hiking in the shadow of Mont BlancAn autumn break in the French mountain town of Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains offers thermal treatments and glorious walking trails before the winter ski crowds descend

Mont Blanc is hiding behind the clouds, but the Aiguille du Midi spears the sky above a mountainside ablaze with russet, gold and tawny tones. The maples flare red; rowan trees are dusted with crimson berries.

Our little group has trundled up to Mont Lachat station (altitude: 2,115 metres) on the Tramway du Mont Blanc, the century-old cog railway that climbs improbably steep slopes from the French alpine town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. Operational since 1909, the railway was once intended to reach the 4,809-metre summit of Mont Blanc, but war, glacial terrain and waning funds put an end to that ambition. But even from Mont Lachat, the view is a showstopper. On one side, the Bionnassay Glacier slips scenically down the slope, a buzzard soaring over the milky-green glacial lake at its base, while on the other the Chamonix valley basks in soft autumnal sunshine.

View image in fullscreenAutumn is golden season in the Alps, when you can find quieter hiking trails, lower prices and air crisp enough to stir the senses without nipping your fingers. Once focused purely on winter sports, the region’s resorts have spent years building up their summer credentials to offer hiking and biking through flower-strewn meadows. Now they’re marketing their shoulder season, too, to meet a growing demand for off-peak escapes.

The little spa town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, 50 minutes from Geneva and sandwiched between its glitzier neighbours Chamonix and Megève, is perfectly placed to take advantage of this trend. Unlike many resorts, the town of 5,800 doesn’t fall silent once the snow (or summer crowds) melts away, in large part thanks to its thermal waters, which were discovered at the beginning of the 19th century.

A year-round gondola called Le Valléen now links the train station in the village of Le Fayet, farther down the slope where the thermal spa is located, to Saint-Gervais proper. Opened in late 2024, it means you can arrive by rail from London via Paris and reach the heart of the resort without needing a car. “If you go to Megève in the shoulder season there’s no one there,” says long-serving mayor Jean-Marc Peillex. “That’s not the case here. The secret is that instead of thinking about tourists, you think about the people who live here. Then the tourists will be happy too.”

View image in fullscreenA gondola heads up Aiguille du Midi. Photograph: KI Photography/AlamySaint-Gervais (850 metres) may lack Megève’s polish but it has its own quiet charm: a medieval fortified house, a 17th-century church with geometric stained glass windows, elegant belle époque buildings near the spa and a thriving market every Thursday. Several excellent restaurants stay open year round, and our hotel, the chocolate-box Coeur des Neiges, offers rooms at less than half the summer or winter rate, making it an ideal base for autumnal exploring.

From here we take the Mont Blanc tramway one stop to Motivon, at 1,400 metres, then hike for an hour without seeing another soul; the only sound is the gentle clanging of cowbells. Our destination is the Distillerie Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, one of Europe’s highest microdistilleries at 1,365m. It’s actually set in a converted donkey shed with windows framing pine forests and plunging valleys, shelves fashioned from old skis and two gleaming copper distillation stills.

This is where Scotsman James Abbott, kilt and all, produces some 450 bottles a year of single malt whisky (in a Speyside style), along with vodka, the traditional herbal liqueur génépi and a superb mountain gin infused with ingredients such as blueberries and wild herbs from the nearby slopes.

View image in fullscreenThe Tramway du Mont Blanc, the century-old cog railway that climbs ‘improbably steep slopes’. Photograph: Hemis/Alamy“The locals noticed that when I went to parties, I took whisky, not wine,” James laughs. “They said: ‘Why don’t you make your own – you drink enough of it.’” It turns out he does it rather well: the whisky sells for €95, the gin for €50, and both go down beautifully after a day in the mountain air before we hop back on the tramway.

Although the tramway stops running from the end of September, there’s no shortage of scenic hiking trails fanning straight out from town which are accessible later in the year, plus a free, year-round bus service linking the villages that make up the commune of St-Gervais. We’re due to take it the next morning for a walk from Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, whose baroque church is resplendent with blue-and-gold interiors and frescoed ceilings, but a heavy rainstorm postpones our plans.

That’s not a problem when just down the road (or a free cog lift ride down the mountainside) are Les Thermes de Saint-Gervais, which have been soothing weary bodies since 1806, when notary Joseph-Marie Gontard discovered the springs. The mineral-rich waters, packed with sulphur, magnesium, calcium and zinc, bubble up from underground at 39C, feeding a three‑hour wellness circuit.

We drift between pools of different temperatures, move lazily from sauna to steam room, enjoy the rainforest spa and wallow outdoors as jets of water pummel our backs while the gondola glides silently overhead. Who cares about the rain?

View image in fullscreenLes Thermes de Saint-Gervais. Photograph: Leblanc Catherine/AlamyBy the time we emerge, the storm has cleared, so we continue to Saint-Nicolas. From here, a steep two‑hour trail winds up to the Refuge du Mont-Joly, a century-old wooden inn that smells of woodsmoke and melting cheese. Normally there are sweeping views of Mont Blanc from the terrace, but today the peaks are shrouded in cloud.

We might not be able to see the mountains but we can taste their produce, notably in the enormous portion of blueberry tart that follows a tartiflette big enough to satisfy a sumo wrestler. As I tuck in, snow begins to fall. By morning it will be gone, melted by the late-summer sun. But now it lies thick and soft outside, turning the world white, as if the Ice Queen from Narnia might step through the door at any moment. That’s autumn in the Alps for you.

The trip was provided by the Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc tourist board. Doubles at the Coeur des Neiges from €108 room-only, or from €76 room-only at Plan B at Le Fayet. The Refuge du Mont-Joly is closed from the end of March to late May, and from November to mid-December.

The Tramway du Mont Blanc now stops at the Nid d’Aigle lookout (2,380 metres), after the line was extended in July