How much is this second home in the French Alps? | Annecy, Megève & the Real France

We motorcycled through some of the most beautiful roads in the French Alps to see what €650,000 really buys you near Annecy and Megève — and the results might surprise you.

▶ Want to buy your dream second property in France? We assist non-French residents in purchasing and managing their second home in France: Work with us at FTO x HCB. https://bit.ly/467y5oO

▶ Watch the full episode HERE: https://youtu.be/5mf4wcs0Xcg

In this clip from The Grand Détour, Géraud and Richard begin their motorcycle journey in Annecy, on the edge of Lake Geneva, and head deep into the French Alps to explore what kind of homes you can buy and what the average property price is in this region of France.

Their route takes them from Annecy to La Rivière-Enverse, where they tour a spacious €650,000 nine-bedroom chalet just five minutes from a ski station — the kind of home that proves the French Alps still hold incredible value compared to other Alpine destinations.

As usual, this mission is not without its challenges! Along the way, they encounter heavy rain, clutch problems, and some unforgettable views before arriving in Megève, one of the most charming and luxurious ski towns in Haute-Savoie, where they visit Gérauds favourite restaurants.

This episode also introduces the brand-new FTO x HCB Membership, designed for second-home owners in France who want expert help managing their property and local admin — including translations, mail forwarding, and more. If you need help buying and managing second homes and investment property in France, speak to us!

Whether you’re a motorbike enthusiast, thinking about buying a home in the French Alps, or just love discovering the real side of France that most travel shows miss, this series is for you.

If you’re looking for the best places to buy a home in the French Alps — especially around Annecy, Megève, and the Haute-Savoie region — this episode is a great starting point. You’ll see real properties, local prices, places to visit in Annecy and Megève and what life actually looks like in some of France’s most desirable mountain towns.

FULL ROUTE:

Annecy (Haute-Savoie, near Geneva) → just outside Switzerland.

Property Visit #1: LA RIVIERE ENVERSE (near Annemasse, French Alps) → a €650K chalet, 5 minutes from a ski station. Visit: https://bit.ly/3K6vMeh

Megève → famous ski town in Haute-Savoie, one of Géraud’s favourites.

Chapters:
0:00 Motorcycling through Annecy
1:19 Visiting the home in Annecy
6:19 Visiting the best restaurants in Lac Bleu, near Annecy –
7:00 How FTO x HCB can help you buy a home in France
9:13 Motorcycling through Megève
10:50 The benefits of living in Megève
12:10 Why do people relocate to France?

▶ Want to buy your dream 2nd property in France? We assist non-French residents in purchasing and managing their second home in France. Work with us at FTO x HCB. https://bit.ly/45TQJQT

ABOUT THE GRAND DÉTOUR:
Two bikes. Two friends. One mission. Join Géraud & Richard as they motorbike through France, discovering stunning landscapes, local life, and the best second homes for sale. Each episode blends adventure with real homes you can buy in France — proving you can get more for your money in France than you might think.

From Alpine chalets to village retreats, The Grand Détour shows you a different side of France: the roads, the homes, and the lifestyle waiting to be discovered. Subscribe and start the journey with us.

Visit Géraud’s site for a taxation expert in France: https://bit.ly/41vhmum
Visit Richard’s site for expert help on moving to France: https://bit.ly/4mFW3if

Subscribe to Géraud’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ftvwuUxqgEVqHTw22D53A
Subscribe to Richard’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiK2UlAHUwRRVkPAFBTj3EQ

[Music] [Applause] [Music] We left Amassy full of optimism and then the skies opened. Buckets of rain, zero visibility, and my bike having one of those sulky moments. Not the most graceful start. But hey, no one said this would be easy, especially not the bike, which clearly had its own agenda. [Applause] So guys, we’ve just stopped because it’s just about to pour down with rain. Jerro doesn’t have any rain gear. So in in solidarity to Jerro, I’m not actually going to get mine on. Right. Um, we got nearly an hour still to go. It looked like it’s getting worse and we got a house to go and visit. So, I think we’re going to turn up at the uh estate agent soaked. [Music] So, you dragged this here. All right. Finally. Yeah. Um, Venoir GI in Green Acres reckon that the average purchase price in this area, the Alps that we’re in, yeah, is uh just over half a million. So, I think it was 573,000 if my memory is to be precise. Okay. Well, thank you, B. So, that’s come from the the notars that work all around France that have published it in 2024. That’s what people were spending for that kind of money. And I just wonder what you get for that kind of money. Actually, Richard, it really depends on where it’s located because when you in a very famous skia station, as will be tomorrow, uh you can get very little places for a huge amount of money. Yeah. with this place. I wanted to show you what you can get with the average price, but in somehow less famous area and still very close from any skiing station. Okay, so how far are we from skiing station? Uh Jill said 5 minutes. Okay, it’s perfect. Well, let’s go and have a look. Let’s go. I like houses with the name. I’m actually amazed by the size of the exterior, but should we go and have a look inside? Absolutely. Welcome to Shalanta, Richard. So, it’s just interesting to see, Jurro, what you get for the sort of average price in already. It’s slightly over the average price. Slightly. Yeah, slightly. How much? 650. Okay. Yeah. But it’s it’s quite huge. It’s nearly 200 square meters. We’ve got nine rooms. Look at the views. Yeah. So, if you’re thinking about buying a second home here, um you can nearly live here year round, can you? Absolutely. Look, you’re pretty much on your own. There is nobody around, nobody in front of you. You’ve got the whole valley and the space of the place is just, you know, you could, as I said, you I’m I’m shocked at how usually when you go to like mountain places, you know, retreats, it’s all small. You can have a lunch like eight, 10 people here. So, how many bedrooms this place has got that? Nine. Nine bedrooms. Yeah. Nine. Well, let’s go and have a look at the view. Yeah. What a view. And apparently behind there there’s a really big mountain. Yeah. What? And there’s a mountain over there and mountain over here again. But as you can see, uh you can use it for for summer as well. Yeah. I mean, it’s not just a ski one. You can use I think it could do having a hot tub there. Yeah. And there should be one. Set in the heart of the Alps, this chalet had space for a football team. Night bedrooms across three floors, all flooded with natural light. Bright, quiet, and beautifully put together. I just saw a 600K. It’s the kind of place you could actually see yourself living in or escaping to when life gets loud. The air felt fresh, the silence almost complete. For the money, it’s a rare kind of find. Honestly, if I wasn’t buying my own house, I’ll be calling the estate agent. I took this just in case we need it. I’m not sure it’s quite the weather for it, mate. Although I have been pretty cold on that bike, my mind. That’s That’s why I have it. I’m ready. Just in case. Anyway, it’s really amazing there. Thank you for bringing us here, Jere. This is a really cool part of the world. Yeah, absolutely. I you know, I’ve never been here actually. I I usually always go skiing in the Pyrenees. That’s where I grew up. So this is like this is and I never thought it was that affordable. Yeah, absolutely. So Zero, that’s a great example of what you can get for the sort of average price of purchase, I guess. Did you like it? I’m amazed, honestly, mate. I just thought it was going to be a little chalet. So So where are we going now, mate? We’re going to my I’d say my favorite place in the Arabs, which is MAJV and with my favorite MEV restaurant tonight. But right now, let’s go to a very nice restaurant in Okay. Okay. Which is near a little lake. So, we’re going to get back on the bikes, of course. It’s actually I’ve just shown my bike has shown me that I’ve traveled 1,100 kilometers from London uh yesterday or two days ago now. You know what? I want to try it. So, at some point, do you want to have a go of mine? Maybe not now, but at some point I will try. I’m looking forward to having that. It’s a lot more comfortable. All right, mate. Let’s get on the bike. Let’s go. Hey Jerro, first and foremost, cheers for must precise that this is zero alcohol beer. The reason you brought me here obviously is to show me a beautiful house this morning and great location. But the reason that’s actually driven us to do this is something else. It’s a new business that we’ve launched or we’re launching and it’s to help second home owners. Yeah. Why did you have the idea? Because I’d actually already had the idea and then Well, maybe you had the idea first. I don’t know actually. But what’s it going to be? You know, I had French tax online for six years now. And you know, we’re doing a rental income tax return. But the thing is once we’ve done the tax return, the clients keep asking us questions. Oh, uh, would you please translate me this letter? Uh, would you please help me pay this bill? And I was like, okay, girls, this is a problem because this is off season, the tax season, but we still have so many requests, so many people to to help. Well, yeah. I mean, we have the VIP service package at French Connections, HCB, um, but it doesn’t cover quite the tax angle of that. And most of our clients are actually fully relocating, not necessarily living in a second home. together as a team, we’ve been able to do that. So, it’s going to be called FTO HCB membership. That’s what it’s going to be, guys. The general thing here is what’s going to the membership going to entail. There’s going to be three levels of pricing. We’ve got the basic basic plus and premium. Of course, uh basic and basic plus are the same, but there is the letter redirection. Oh, yeah. For forward in the mail. Yeah, exactly. And the premium will be pretty much like less clients per person, per account manager, and more hours of work. What’s the basic going to cost? It’s €9 per month. Okay. And if you pay the whole year, you get one month free. What do you get for the 99? You’ve got 4 hours of work from our people and then you go, of course, access us to all our network per month. Per year. Per month. Per month. Of course. VH included, which is is a thing. Of course, it should be live in October, I believe. Yeah. Uh there will be a waiting list. So, don’t wait too much because we will be opening slots like 300 after 300 because of course there will be a limited amount of people in our house working and we cannot have a,000 clients right away. Yeah. Right. Discants from French Connections, HCB and online, of course. Yes. Awesome. Let’s maybe get finish the beers, get on the bikes and have lunch first. Oh yeah, we’ll have lunch. [Music] The rain came back just in time for the next stretch and so did the clutch problems. Mine was about as reliable as a politician’s promise. But the road to Majv twisting through postcard scenery, worth every gear grind. Just [Music] my hand is sore because my hand is sore because my bike is not equipped with hydraulic clutch. So, it’s a very old-fashioned system on my uh MV Austa which was built for beauty, not for comfort. Um, and in hindsight doing a I I’ I’ve racked up the mileage since uh I left the UK. I’m currently on 14 hours on the bike and 1,300 km in 2 days. Nice. My hand is sore. And I’m very surprised that my brand new seat is actually much more comfortable than expected. Wow. Yeah. Thanks to Stefan from SV in Exon Province. It’s not only beautiful, it’s very comfy as well. [Music] So, Richard, how do you like it today, mate? Well, other than the my uh temperamental Italian motorcycle, it’s been wonderful. Thank you for bringing me here. It’s uh it’s it’s really cool. I often say to people like I I was born in the southwest of France and never really left, right? And and it’s kind of I I get it. I get why people come here, especially in the summer. I mean, it’s actually not so cool. I mean, the areas and all the kids playing around, the kind of all of the activities. You could see yourself coming here with your family. I know you come here in August, right? Absolutely. Yeah. Uh especially since I I have a kid, I really believe that the mounts uh feel different. You know, it’s less crowded. You have to be ready to spend a lot of money if you want to afford something here. But the good news good news is you can buy something as this morning. Yeah. In a small village which is not famous as Kchel Mar blah blah blah and still as you’ve been see Yeah. You can you can get some very nice cozy stuff with a a nice pot of land that was 1200 square meters this morning. Quite quite good. Right. Richard, why do you think people either move to France permanently for client or just buy a second home here? There’s two things that seem to bring people here. The first one, and it’s not necessarily true of this region, and the first one that you comes comes to mind is value for money. You’re going to get a bigger house, etc. I think that the biggest thing is is the lifestyle, right, that it brings. And people find an area, and this is why I’m so glad that we, you know, we can do this this series because quite often people have just been to one place and they fall in love with this one place and they think that this is as good as it can get. But actually, France just keeps on giving. Escaping the the rat race seems to be something that, you know, the a lot of people that are slightly younger want to do and having to work and and even if that’s just finding your peace and your safe place for a few weeks so that you can go back into the rat race and feel feel relaxed. The problem is, Richards, is where do we buy this second home? I don’t know. This is only episode one and we need to to do so many other episode. Normandy, Britany, North, Paris, Southwest. I feel like this is each time we’re going to keep on giving. What I suggest, mate, is I finish this real beer, you get on with your coffee, left at Chino or whatever it is, and then we’ll go and have some dinner. So done. We roll into Majv just as the light began to fade. The town was calm, beautiful, and dinner was everything we needed. A proper local spot tucked away and full flavor. The kind of first day that leaves you tired, happy, and quietly smell. [Music]