Brides-les-Bains: Summer activities in the French Alps

Latest update: 6 August 2024

Is Brides-les-Bains only fun in winter? No way! The French Alps are perfect for spring and summer. Brides-les-Bains is a spa village where you can take it easy, even if you don’t come to get a spa treatment. Go on a walk, have a drink at a cafe, join a yoga class, or perhaps a woodworking workshop.

Where is Brides-les-Bains?

Brides-les-Bains is located in the French Alps, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and in the department of Savoie. The center is in a valley at an altitude of 556 meters.

Brides-les-Bains is mainly a winter sports destination for the Dutch. The French also know it as a spa and wellness destination. But that’s not all it has to offer: you visit Brides-les-Bains outside the snow months. That is what I do: I am visiting in the early summer. When the surroundings are bright green, all kinds of activities are organized in the village, and cyclists eagerly make use of the altitude differences.

Thermal cure relaxation in Brides-les-Bains

In addition to sporty cyclists, I mainly see elderly French people, usually with a little additional weight. It turns out that they come to Brides-les-Bains on doctor’s orders. They stay here for three weeks to follow weight-loss programs. The French healthcare system pays for these treatments, but they must pay for the stay themselves. Many people come back every year—for the program and to meet friends from last year.

Many restaurants also offer low-calorie menus for people who come to Brides-les-Bains for the programs. The restaurants can be recognized by the Diététique label. In hotel restaurants, there is no à la carte menu, only the regular or low-calorie menu. This is very convenient and also a healthy and tasty choice if you are not on a diet.

Are you hungry? Then I have an article for you about the restaurants in Brides-les-Bains – enjoy your meal!

A full activity program

The municipality of Brides-les-Bains ensures all kinds of activities for residents and tourists. Most of them are free, like a musical performance or dancing get-together in the Parc Thermal. The kiosk is usually open then, so you can also have a drink while enjoying the show.

Or take a yoga class at the Dova activity center (Google Maps location). I participate in a relaxation class and a light yoga class. Because it is all very slow and easy, the classes are reasonably easy to follow in French. But, thankfully, the teacher also translates some things into English.

Ask at the tourist office what is on the schedule this week or download the activity program online.

Woodworking workshop

One of the paid summer activities is the woodworking workshop in the Parc Thermal, the green park around the Doron de Bozel River. In France, I am always a bit unsure whether I will manage with English, but woodworker Claude Vial speaks French slowly, with a word of English here and there, and we make it work.

There are two work tables ready with a set of chisels. It’s a private workshop for me and my best friend. In the next three hours, we will chisel a flower out of wood. Claude first teaches us to feel the wood. If the tree were still standing and you would move from the bottom to the top, it would be much easier than, for example, from the side. Or at least, that’s what Claude claims, and he’s right. It’s easy to feel the resistance when testing different directions when working with the wood.

Claude patiently marks out where we need to insert, helps where possible, and covers up our mistakes where necessary. It is a lot of work – precision work. It really is an art to make beautiful smooth flower petals. I continuously try to smoothen things up – with varying success. Claude shows some of his work featured in a book. He clearly has more skills than we do.

Woodworking is relaxing and strenuous. It clears my head nicely, and it is fun to make something with my hands. In three hours, we made a fairly mediocre flower, but I am still proud. Claude tells me that he easily spends a week on a mirror with a carved wooden frame and figures, just to give you an idea of how much time woodworking takes.

Our chiseling attracts a lot of attention. Many people come to see what those two crazy Dutchies are doing in the park. It looks like good advertising for Claude!

Want to give it a try? Claude organizes the workshop on Saturdays and Sundays in summer. Reservations can be made at the tourist office.

Google Maps location

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Le Grand Spa Thermal

Le Grand Spa Thermal is one of France’s largest thermal spas. And it is really huge; I almost get lost in all the options. Jacuzzis, hammams, aromatic baths, Nordic showers, and even more jacuzzis and baths. Upon entering, I get a hanger to put all my things, a bathrobe, a towel, and a cup for free water and tea. One of the employees first gives us a short tour, and then we are allowed to ‘go solo.’ Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show you because the intention is to relax, so no phones are allowed.

But it is all very lovely and clean inside. And wonderfully quiet. We usually have the rooms to ourselves. You can visit Le Grand Spa Thermal for a few hours of relaxation like I did, but there are also weight loss programs and extensive wellness options. Quite a few people are coming for a slimming massage or seaweed treatment.

Google Maps location

Endless hiking in Brides-les-Bains

Don’t worry! You don’t HAVE to walk endlessly, but you could. The mountains around Brides-les-Bains are perfect for beautiful walks. At the tourist office, you can pick up several hiking itineraries. I have tested a few for you, so quickly read how and where I sought out nature in Brides-les-Bains.

Hotel Amelié in Brides-les-Bains

Don’t expect fancy, trendy hotels in Brides-les-Bains. Instead, you will find authentic French hotels – simple and comfortable. Hotel Amelié is one of them. It is in the center, in the square of the cinema and the tourist office. Everything is within walking distance, but that’s always the case in Brides-les-Bains. It’s not that big.

Hotel Amelié is a straightforward hotel with a 90s interior, spacious rooms, and good cleaning service. I have a large room with a balcony from which I have a view of the mountains. That’s nice to wake up to, isn’t it? I also think it is a big advantage that the toilet is separate from the bathroom. Very convenient when it’s not just you.

The hotel has a lounge terrace where you can have a drink and something to eat. Sometimes, they have live music. Hotel Amelié has a restaurant, which is also where I eat my breakfast in the morning. It is simple but complete. The spa guests are ‘safe’ with a low-calorie menu and products in the evening and morning.

View rooms.

By train to Brides-les-Bains

If you want to go to Brides-les-Bains from the Netherlands, you have three options: car, train, and plane. The nearest airport is Chambery, otherwise, you must go to Turin, Geneva, or Lyon.

But I’m going by train, and that’s really easy to do. It’s a long travel day, that’s true. But it’s cut up into pieces, and I have time for lunch at a brasserie in Paris, so you won’t hear me complain.

From Amsterdam, I travel to Paris by Eurostar. There, I take the metro to Gare du Lyon. Then, a TGV to Chambery, where I change to the slow train to Moutiers-Salins-Brides-les-Bains. I get slightly worried about that last train as it suddenly changes direction after a stop in Albertville. Luckily, that’s how it’s supposed to go. From the Moutiers-Salins-Brides-les-Bains station, it is 15 minutes by car to Brides-les-Bains. All in all, the travel time is about ten hours for me.

I booked the trip in one go with SNCF: here.

The tourism office of Brides-les-Bains invited me. They have given me complete editorial freedom.