Activities - land
Simply Morzine’s alpine adventures offer memorable family activity holidays in France like no other. In summer, Morzine transforms into a hive of near endless family holiday activities. The French Alps is the ideal holiday destination for active families! On the doorstep of our properties, the mountainous terrain provides the stage and backdrop for a MASSIVE variety of land-based activities for all the family.
Morzine is world-renowned as a mountain bike Mecca - whilst the mountain cols are popular amongst road bikers - and often hosts a stage of the Tour de France. The ski lifts are your golden ticket to the hills - giving access to infinite alpine walks, beautiful lakes and all the French Alps have to offer – not forgetting the inspiring scenery and spectacular views. The natural lay of the land allows guests to enjoy the excitement of a host of alpine activities close to their Simply Morzine accommodation. Sometimes we think there is perhaps too much to do in this magnificent part of the French Alps!
Please browse further information on all ‘LAND’ based activities within the boxes below.
Les Gets Luge on Rails
Les Gets Luge on Rails
Location: 10/15-minute drive to the Les Gets/Perrières car park, which is free.
Price: 1 trip 8.00€ (7.00€ with Multi Pass), 5 rides 32.00€, 10 rides 58.00€.
Children aged 3+ but under 1.25m height are free of charge (must be accompanied by an adult).
PRICE REDUCTION WITH MULTI PASS.
Minimum requirements:
Ages 3-7 or under height 1.25m: In a luge with an adult.
Ages 7+ and minimum height 1.25m: Can occupy own luge.
You will need to bring: Long-sleeved t-shirt and trousers are strongly advised.
Hop aboard at the Perrières parking area. Spanning 1,100 meters in length with a vertical drop of 104 meters and an average descent gradient of 14.50%, the luge features turns, a steep drop (with a peak at 46%), speeds of up to 40 km/h, and guaranteed thrills all year round.
After conquering the luge, you can also enjoy trampolines and a snack bar nearby.
Photo courtesy of the Les Gets press office.
Padel
Padel
This fast-growing sport combines elements of tennis and squash, offering fun for all ages and skill levels.
Morzine’s two modern outdoor padel courts, within the tennis complex, provide an excellent setting for both casual players or those new to the sport and more competitive matches. Enjoy the stunning alpine backdrop while playing, and take advantage of professional coaching available if required.
Whether you’re a seasoned player or a beginner, padel in Morzine promises to be great fun and maybe something new for you to try.
Morzine Luge
Morzine Luge
Location: Walking distance.
Price: 1 trip 6.80€ (6.00€ with Multi Pass), 6 trips 36.00€, 10 trips 57.00€.
Children aged 3+ but under 1.25m height are free of charge (must be accompanied by an adult).
PRICE REDUCTION WITH MULTI PASS
Minimum requirements:
Ages 3-7 or under height 1.25m: In a luge with an adult.
Ages 7+ and minimum height 1.25m: Can occupy own luge.
You will need to bring: Long-sleeved t-shirt and trousers are strongly advised.
Morzine has a purpose-built luge with two lanes for a fast and 'not so fast' descent. You take the chairlift up and make the 900m descent on specially designed toboggans. Great fun for the family!
Golf
Golf
The Haute Savoie Alps possess some excellent courses set amidst some of the most spectacular landscapes in Europe. All courses have good facilities including clubhouse, coaching, bar-restaurant, buggies, golf trolleys and electric cabbie cars, etc.
Local courses:
Morzine-Avoriaz: 15 minute drive.
Standard green fee: 35€ (9 holes) or 55€ (18 holes).
Les Gets: 10 minute drive.
Standard green fee: 71.50€ (18 holes).
Other courses:
Annecy: 90 minute drive.
Chamonix: 80 minute drive.
Megeve: 75 minute drive.
Evian: 50 minute drive.
Mini golf
Mini golf
Location: Lac de Montriond
Price: 5€ child / 7€ adult or free with Multi Pass for both children & adults.
Enjoy a 12-hole mini-golf course located by lake Montriond. Mini-golf is suitable for children from 3 years old and is the perfect accompaniment to our lake Montriond family walk.
Trail running
Trail running
Morzine and the wider Portes du Soleil is a haven for trail running in the summer months, with something to satisfy all fitness and ability levels. The area offers a huge choice of terrain and distances with varying difficultly levels, from easy to extreme. Expect muddy tracks, rocky paths, meadows, mountain assents/descents and gentle, looping valleys. There are many routes close to our Simply Morzine properties which are well signposted, with more being developed every year. If you’re into trail running, or just want to give it a go, do it in Morzine. More information and routes can be found here.
Walking
Walking
The Portes du Soleil area and Chablais mountain range offer infinite walking possibilities. In mountains, distance is a poor guide; hours of walking and amount of ascent give a better indication of how strenuous a walk will be. A reasonable level of fitness is required on our easy walks, a good level of fitness on our medium walks and a very good level of fitness on difficult walks.
EASY = Walking mainly on paths, sometimes rough underfoot. Mainly flat with some gentle ascents but no more than 350 metres in total. No more than 4 hours walking in total.
MEDIUM = Walking mostly on paths in mountain terrain with a few steep ascents, but no more than 700 metres in total. About 4 to 6 hours walking in total.
EASY GUIDED WALKS
Lake Montriond
Les Gets, Mont Chéry & Mont Caly
Walking & Exploring (using Multi Pass) to Fantasticable
Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval national park
MEDIUM GUIDED WALKS
Family Mountain Experience (la Rosta Ramble): See our Simply Morzine Activities section.
Other Medium Walks Include:
Smuggler's route to Col de Cou and the Swiss border.
Extended walk to Fantasticable via Pointe de Mossette and the Lac Vert with Multi Pass (Swiss border).
Samoëns across the Col de Golese (to Samoëns following the GR5)
Le Lac de Darbon and Col de Floray (Abondance Valley).
Col de la Ramaz and Graydon (Côte d'Arbroz to la Grande Turche).
Your representative will be happy to discuss the walking opportunities in the area. We have a collection of maps / routes to help you plan your own walks and local (OS equivalent) maps can be purchased in the town.
The official Morzine Avoriaz Summer Walking Guide has lots of useful information which you can download here.
For further information regarding Walking in Morzine please see our separate Walking page.
Rock Climbing
Rock Climbing
Duration: Half Day.
Location:
- Bureau des Guides booking office (opposite Tourist Office): Walking distance.
- Activity: Near St Jean d’Aulps (meet at the Abbey car park), 15 minute drive.
Price: Adults and Children 45€.
Minimum requirements: Guideline age 8+. Reasonably strong/active. At ease with heights.
This is a supreme all-round sport that enables you to experience unique sensations on specially prepared rock faces suitable for all levels of expertise. Half-day sessions on a training rock face with the Bureau des Guides are suitable to give beginners an introduction, or to help rusty climbers get back into the groove and develop their skills.
There are 3 cliffs close to the village of Le Biot:
- The ‘Touvière’ rock face for beginners, with routes up to 30 metres in length (5 to 6B), is suitable either to give beginners an introduction or to help rusty climbers get back into the groove.
- The ‘Pas de l'Ours’ rock face has some routes up to 80 metres in length (up to level 8A, 8B).
- The Arblay rock-face, Col du Corbier, is for experts looking to work on their technique (from 7B).
Road Biking
Road Biking
Local mountain roads provide testing routes both up and downhill for the enthusiast. The Tour de France regularly comes to Morzine and this is a great opportunity to observe the world's greatest cycling event at close quarters.
There is a good choice of routes, from novices looking for an introduction to riding in the Alps to seriously testing ascents.
There are two notable climbs above Morzine. The first is the Col de Joux Verte to the purpose-built ski resort of Avoriaz at 1,800 metres. The climb to Avoriaz was used as the final climb in the 1994 Tour de France mountain time-trial when Piotr Ugrumov won the stage.
Morzine's major climb is the Col de Joux Plane, which is 1,700 metres in altitude and a difficult ascent (from Samoëns). The col was the final climb on stage 16 of the 2000 Tour de France on the stage from Courchevel to Morzine. Lance Armstrong cracked on the climb and Jan Ullrich took over a minute out of the American. Armstrong had already done the work to win the Tour de France but described the stage as 'the hardest day of my cycling life'. Then in 2006, the route became infamous for Floyd Landis’s astonishing ride ahead of the pack, and his subsequent doping scandal.
Another notoriously tough local climb is the Col de la Ramaz, linking Mieussy to Morzine via Praz de Lys & Les Gets.
In June 2012, Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky retained his defence of the Critérium du Dauphiné on the final stage from Morzine to Chatel. This was an important milestone for Wiggins in the lead up to his now historic victory in the Tour de France. In 2013 history repeated itself for Team Sky, with Chris Froome winning the Dauphiné then going onto the yellow jersey in the tour. In 2016 Chris Froome secured his 3rd Tour de France victory on the Joux Plane as Morzine was chosen to be the finish of the last competitive stage before the procession in to Paris.
There is some good rolling terrain with shorter vertical ascents in the area north of Morzine towards Lake Geneva, and also in/around the Vallée Verte. These are picturesque country routes and good preparation before tackling the major cols.
If you are looking at doing a mid-level col, we can recommend the Col de l’Encrenaz circuit which is fairly short and a nice early-morning or pre-dinner ride.
For a long-distance flat route, a tour of Lake Geneva (approx. 180km, drive to Thonon) is well-worth doing as a change from mountain riding, or for the clinically insane, why not attempt it from Morzine (approx. 235km, beware of the long and arduous slog back up 600m vertical ascent to Morzine at the end!).
The official Morzine Avoriaz Road Biking Guide also has lots of useful information which you can download here.
For further information regarding Road Cycling in Morzine please see our separate Road Cycling page.
Mountain Biking
Mountain Biking
The Portes du Soleil area is the spiritual home of mountain biking in the Alps and is quite simply world famous for cross-country, freeride and downhill MTB (VTT in French). Its interlinked lift system allows bikers to cover lots of different trails across all levels of riding, from steep and technical downhill to cross-country routes through incredible scenery.
The region is near-endless and there are testing trails for everyone: fast forest trails, technical twisting single tracks, exposed high mountain routes, scenic valley traverses, epic climbs and long descents. Trails are graded from green (easy-“ish”!) through blue and red to black (extremely difficult), and there is a good choice of mountain restaurants to keep you well fuelled.
Overall, there are approximately 650km of marked VTT trails, 24 lifts, 50 downhill tracks and 10 bike parks / north shore areas. For keen cross-country bikers, the ‘Grand Tour des Portes du Soleil’ is an absolute must.
Major events are held in the area each summer, including the Mountain Bike World Cup, European championships and French national championships.
*** If you are lacking confidence on a bike off-road or have younger children wanting to learn MTB: ***
Because the terrain up the mountain is so challenging, we can recommend an enjoyable easy bike ride in the valley following the River Dranse back to Morzine and beyond. Details of this ride can also be found in the downloadable guidebook below “River Dranse path”.
It is also possible to book children’s small-group lessons to learn the basics of mountain biking, starting on flatter terrain before progressing to short downhill runs.
The official Morzine Mountain Biking Guide also has lots of useful information which you can download here.
For further information regarding Mountain Biking in Morzine please see our separate Mountain Biking page.
Tennis
Tennis
Location: Walking distance.
Price: Free with the Multi Pass.
BOOKINGS CAN BE TAKEN UP TO 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE.
Open from approximately 08:00 to 20:00, Morzine has 8 all-weather tennis courts (5 hard courts and 3 synthetic grass courts) as well as a tennis club serving drinks and snacks.
An open tournament (singles) is held in the main summer season every Friday, starting at 18:00. It is open to everyone and the winner becomes Morzine champion for the week :)
Coaching is also available, for both group and private lessons.
Courts are available by the hour and rackets and balls can be hired.
We have a small selection of basic tennis rackets available for complimentary use by Simply Morzine guests.
Bookings for court hire, can be made either directly in person at the clubhouse up to 48 hours in advance, please note that you will need to take a valid Multi Pass with you.
Ice Skating & Ice Hockey
Ice Skating & Ice Hockey
Location: Walking distance
Price: Free with the Multi Pass (3.90€ for skate hire).
Open for public skating from 14:00 to 17:00 daily, & 20:30 to 23:00 on Thursday evenings.
This impressive rink is used for public ice-skating and plays host to Morzine’s national league ice hockey team. Occasionally, figure skating and ice dance galas are also on offer.
Les ‘Pingouins de Morzine’ punch well above their weight in the world of French ice hockey. They play in the French National Premiership, (the equivalent of Nottingham Panthers, Cardiff Devils, Sheffield Steelers etc).
In the summer season, friendly and exhibition matches are usually played on most Wednesday and some Saturday evenings. Tip off is usually 21:00, ticket prices approx. 12€-16€.
Horse Riding
Horse Riding
Location: Walking distance.
Price and Duration:
- Guided rides: Adults and Children: 1 hour 35€.
- Lessons (private): Adults and Children: 1 hour 60€.
- Pony rides: 30 minutes 12€.
Minimum requirements: Ages 4+ (ages 2+ for Pony rides).
The Morzine Dérêches riding centre offers a large range of equestrian activities. Accompanied rides for all levels follow numerous trails through beautiful mountain scenery, making for truly memorable riding.
For children and beginners from 4 years old, awareness / saddling sessions in the paddock are available. For the over 2s, parents can rent a pony to walk along the forest paths. This is a great experience for children to get up close to the horses.
Alta Lumina (Night Walk)
Alta Lumina (Night Walk)
Alta Lumina is an enchanted night walk in the village of Les Gets. Follow along the path of a travelling music-maker and his hot air balloon, and see his incredible journey beyond the mountains. The night walk is open all year round and is set along a one-kilometre pathway where the story is told through lights, music, imagery and interactivity.
More information, videos and prices can be found on the Alta Lumina website here.