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Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Méribel

Festivities and fun in the Meribel valley this Christmas

featured in News & reviews Author Caroline Sayer, Meribel Reporter Updated

Where to go and what to see over Christmas and New Year in Meribel.

The best of Christmas in Méribel

Méribel is a wonderful place to spend Christmas for children and adults alike. All the Christmas card fantasies are true here: snowy toboggan runs, snowball fights, Father Christmas in his sleigh and carol singing in the snow. Shops, restaurants and bars remain open every day over the holiday period as do all the ski lifts so you can eat, drink and be merry and ski all day too.

In addition to all its usual family activities, Méribel organises a host of special festive events. After all, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without:

Christmas Eve mass which will be held in the ice-rink from 6.50pm on Thursday 24th. A Christmas day mass will be said at St Martin church in Les Allues at 6pm on Sunday 25th. For the latter, free buses will run from the resort centre.

Carol singing. Join in with Méribel’s choir for outdoor carols at Les Allues on Sunday 20th at 6pm or Méribel centre on Thursday 24th at 5.30pm. The complimentary mulled wine will aid your singing voice. Or, enjoy some alternative Christmas carols with singer Mikey Gray at Jack’s bar on Friday 25th from 5pm, with free vin chaud, roasted chestnuts and other little luxuries.

A traditional torchlight descent by the men in red suits, (no, not Santa Claus, French ski school instructors), will be followed by a professional firework display. The fun starts around 5.15 on Thursday 24th in Méribel Mottaret centre. A second torchlight descent and firework display will be held in Méribel centre on Christmas day (see below).

Father Christmas himself. The great man himself first will visit Méribel centre on Christmas Eve in his horse-drawn carriage accompanied by a parade of magical creatures. Be there at 4.30pm on Thursday 24th December and if you’ve been very well behaved, he may have some goodies to give you… He will then whisk away to Mottaret centre on his sleigh, arriving between 5 and 7pm where hot drinks and more goodies are on offer.

Father Christmas will be back on Friday 25th in Méribel centre, where you can enjoy a Christmas parade from the Tourist Office square to the Chaudanne, where there will be a torchlight descent and more fireworks.

Stuffing yourself with Traditional Christmas dinner. Evolution Restaurant is serving non-stop traditional roast turkey from noon ‘til night on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with all the trimmings: chorizo & sage stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, pickled red cabbage, honey roast carrots & parsnips, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, gravy and even a veggie nut roast. Not forgetting mincemeat tart – if you still have room.

Embarrassing novelty sweaters. Wear your gran’s hand knitted jumper with pride at the festive themed party in Jack’s bar on the 24th to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Fancy dress. The only thing better than skiing on Christmas day, is doing it dressed as Santa Claus, a Christmas tree or reindeer. Lots of people dress up so the slopes are a festive and fun place to be on the 25th, and it’s usually the least busy day of the week on the slopes too. Make sure you send your photos to all your friends at home to make them jealous….

A hangover. Sooth yours away in the calm of the Olympic Centre relaxation area, where you can float in a Jacuzzi, get rid of all those toxins in the steam room and sauna, or enjoy a restorative massage.

New Year’s Eve in Méribel – what to do, where to be:

Young families and early-to-beds can enjoy all the fun of ‘le Saint Sylvestre’ at the thoroughly sensible time of 6pm. Three villages in the valley will be hosting simultaneous parties with music, torchlight descents by local skis schools, firework displays and complimentary hot drinks. The Chaudanne in Méribel Centre, the ‘snowfront’ in Méribel-Mottaret and Méribel Village centre are hosting these free shows. The fun starts at 6pm and continues until around 7.30pm. Then, if you like, you can go to bed early having done your celebrating already.

Almost all local restaurants offer a special, multi-course, fixed price menu on this night. The dinner usually lasts for many hours with the last courses often being served well after midnight. Menus are displayed several days in advance, allowing you to make your choice of venue. It is essential to reserve in advance and important to arrive seriously hungry – greed and gastronomy are taken very seriously by the French. Here are some of our favourites.

At the top end of the market is Le Grand Coeur et Spa, offering an 8-course gourmet menu at €275, including a luxury tombola and band.

A five-course dinner at the excellent Le Cep costs €98

Evolution Restaurant offers a six-course menu including champagne and oysters at 75€.

If you’d rather skip all the food flummery and just want a quick supper before the revelry begins, try Barometer for bar meals or le Refuge for pizza or salad.

To cope with demand, most of Méribel’s bars have ticketed entry only on the 31st. Many have DJs or live music and the parties continue until late. For example;

La Taverne will charge 10€ per ticket after midnight for a party with DJs Bubble & Crisp.

Jack’s Bar and Evolution are offering a 10€ ticket for a joint celebration in both venues with music from the Méribel Allstars troupe and DJ's. The party will continue until 5.00am

The Den has a DJ and Prohibition-themed evening from 7pm.

For something different, spend the evening at the Bowling alley in the Olympic Centre which has a DJ and a Gold & Black theme.

Barometer is one of the few bars with free entry and remains open until 5am.

The centre of Méribel will be the focus of festivities at midnight. This isn’t an official event, more a local tradition with a countdown to midnight, noisy firecrackers, much embracing of complete strangers and off-tune renditions of Auld Lang Syne.

If you need an English breakfast and several pints of tea to restore you to health the next morning, Evolution is the place to head, with everything from bacon butties to a their full Big Breakfast, complete with sausages, bacon and hash browns.

Or why not take yourself off to the Olympic Centre for a restorative swim, sauna, massage or steam room or for some luxurious pampering at the beauty centre?

The ski slopes are a wonderfully quiet place to be on the morning of January 1st, as few people manage to make it onto the slopes before midday. If you can, do make the most of empty slopes on this, the quietest day during the busy holiday period.