Best places to ski in France

Whether it’s hitting the stunning black in the icy blue shade of Mont Blanc, skiing under shimmering chainsaw peaks or skiing trees through comic book forests, France has an unparalleled variety of skiing – for all abilities, styles and budgets.

The winter ski season usually lasts in the popular French Alps, the quieter Pyrenees and the low-lying Jura from mid-December to April. Higher alpine alpine resorts like Val Thorens (the highest in Europe), Val d’Isère, and Les Deux Alpes are the first to open in late November, depending on snowfall. Limited downhill skiing on glaciers over 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) in Tignes and Les Deux Alpes guarantees a shortstop fix for four weeks or so in July or August: Each year warmer temperatures and glacier melting shorten the ski season Summertime a little more.

Christmas and February school holidays are high season: expect higher prices for transportation and accommodation, crowded bars and restaurants, and queues for ski lifts. Book months in advance to bag your choice of venue (old-world alpine hamlet, car-free village, purpose-built resort) and nail-biting (a mountain cottage with beds, family-run hotel, self-catering chalet, luxury cocoon with spoiled hot tub) And a great view of the snowy peak).

To cut carbon, train in the French Alps and use public transportation or local car-sharing services like BlaBlaCar or Morzine Co-Voiturage for the final stage from station to snow. From the UK, take the TravelSki Express overnight snow train to Bourg St-Maurice or pair the Paris-bound Eurostar with the connecting TGV and regional train; Snowcarbon is a handy rail planner.

The resort’s ecological footprint is becoming increasingly vital for skiers. The green-minded Morzine-Avoriaz hits the ground running with renewable energy-powered chalets, electric vehicle transportation, car sharing, waste disposal initiatives, and vegan dining. Skiers can rent ski clothing from Crevasse Clothing, dine on artisanal cuisine showcasing local produce at the hotel’s MiL8 lounge and Avoriaz’s new cool restaurant, and drink zero-waste coffee roasted in the valley by Cafés Vorlaz and handcrafted beer with local eco-racers at Morzine’s experimental micro-brewery. Bec Jaune. Both products, which can be reached by train to Cluses or Geneva and then shared transport, bear the Flocon Vert (‘Green Snowflake’) label, awarded to the sustainable practice of 11 resorts in France.

Skiing on all levels is awesome. Morzine and Avoriaz are in the family-friendly ski area of ​​Portes du Soleil (400 km/249 miles of trails), but could not be more different in nature: Britain’s beloved Morzine is a party-loving market town fashioned from traditional wooden and slate chalets. Sloping rooftops atop a mountain at 1,800 meters (5,906 feet), Avoriaz Ski is an eccentric, car-free mix of avant-garde architecture of the 1960s and snowy streets pulled by old horse-drawn sleds.

Another location in the Chamonix Valley, this posh village resort with its baroque old town and fleet of horse-drawn shechi carriages was dreamed up in the 1920s by Baroness Noemi de Rothschild looking for an Alpine escape (of wine and banking fame). It has been a hit with Parisians, gourmets, and wealthy families ever since.

This is the only French ski resort that sparkles with three Michelin-starred gourmet restaurants (French chefs Emmanuel Renaud, Anne-Sophie Beck and Anthony Pesqueira) and the winter reboot of St-Tropez’s popular Le Café and Parisian piano cocktail bar Le Piaf.

Lunch on the slopes is unforgettable. rural Alpine chaletsOnce used by patrons in the summer, these family-friendly slopes decorate the resort in the Évasion Mont Blanc ski area. It houses some of the restaurants with a distinct atmosphere in the Savoyard. Refueling on a slushy comte on toast, Tartiflet A splash of sticky Reblochon cheese and raspberry tart at Chalet Le Forestier or Auberge du Bonjournal are highlights of a ski holiday. Après ski with truffle and oyster pizza at L’Idéal 1850, and dinner at 1930s mountain restaurant Les Mandarines (ski under torchlight afterwards) are equally exquisite.

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Giant in size and variety, the Espace Kelly at the top of the Tarentes Valley is the dream of it all. From miles of off-piste off-piste to green, beginner-friendly and kid-friendly slopes, this amazing ski area supports you – whatever your age or level. At its heart are the popular resorts of Val d’Isère and Tignes. Both require cash to splash, but make up for it with world-class facilities, a whole gamut of accommodation and dining, and great nightlife: the legendary Folie Douce is an outdoor snowboard hotspot to kick off an après-skate party with scintillating dancers on stage, DJs and dancers rogue table.

Lakeside Teigen is an adrenaline junkie. In the frozen Lac de Tignes, young children can play in the maze of snow and igloos, go ice skating, and try to curl a ball. Intrepid teens can fly a skateboarder and catapult themselves into a 40-meter (131-foot) void with the Bun J Ride. Ice snorkeling and ice flotation are also great.

With its gentle sloping church and group of traditional Savoyard houses, the village of Real McCoy in the Tarentaise Valley is straight out of a beautifully illustrated storybook. Skiers spill from bed onto snowy slopes at 1,450 meters (4,757 feet), linked by lifts to the snow-capped Trois Valais – the world’s largest ski area divided by 600 kilometers (373 miles) of slopes. Its seven beloved resorts include Britain’s beloved Méribel, sky-high Val Thorens, family-friendly Les Menuires, and A-lister Courcheval with its very elegant fireplace. Skateboarding for all levels, although intermediates and above have a real blast.

Other beautiful ski villages: Les Gets and St-Jean d’Aulps (Portes du Soleil); Lanslebourg-Mont Cenis, Lanslevillard and Bonneval in the backcountry Val Cénis.

The little-known Hirmentaz in Haute-Savoie’s Vallée Verte is one of the smaller running resorts, with 25 slopes and 15 lifts suitable for beginners and not-forward intermediates. The low elevation of 1,100 meters (3,609 ft) means the snow can be patchy at the end of the season. But in terms of paying for your money, budget skiers won’t ski for less – an adult one-day ski pass costs €22.30 (or €19.60 for five hours) compared to €67 in Chamonix (no half-day pass available). ) .

Much loved by local families, young children get out of the car on the slope. Sports shops that rent ski equipment are within walking distance of the parking lot, and crepes cooked on the slope-facing terrace at Hôtel Les Skiers are certainly the cheapest in the Alps. Bernex (forest trails in pine forests) and Thollon-les-Mémises (panoramic views of Lake Geneva) are other excellent value small resorts in the area.

This historic Chamonix Valley town in Haute-Savoie’s Chamonix Valley is backed by the legacy of Hercules mountaineer and ski icons in spades. Mountains loom in every direction, culminating with Mont Blanc (4,807 m / 15,771 ft) – Europe’s highest peak – and Eigue du Midi (3,842 m / 12,605 ft), reachable year-round by cable car. From here, experienced skiers navigate sculpted glaciers with a guide on the 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) slope of Valley Blanche, one of Europe’s most legendary off-piste runs.

Freeriders head past the great lines to steep slopes (many of which are undone), lords and emperors at the Grands Montets ski area in Argentière and to the white-knuckle blacks at Les Houches; The vertical Kandahar on the Verte des Houches piste is legendary. Brévent-Flégère’s sunny slopes are also excellent for advanced skiers. Pamper post-ski muscle soreness with a swim in the spa with a view of the QC Terme.

Downtown Chamonix is ​​equally high octane. There are plenty of places to eat, shop and drink. do not miss raclette and other local cheeses at dairy cooperative boutique Coopérative Fruitière en Val d’Arly (93 Whymper Street) and the best Alpine pancakes, cooked to order in a modest log cabin at Gauffres de Chamonix (65 Whymper Street).

Alpe d’Huez is known for its clear snow hikes, abundance of medium red, and one of the longest black trails in Europe – the almost vertical La Sarine, 16 kilometers (10 mi) long (top tip: catch the sunset on the last run of the day from Pic Blanc cable car). The resort’s steep, winding 14 km (8.7 mi) access road with 21 sharp turns is a frequent star of the Tour de France. But for festival lovers, the resort is all about dancing to the tunes of live music, techno, and other electronic music performed by world-class artists on several indoor and outdoor stages — some at 3,300 metres — at the week-long Tomorrowland Winter Festival each March.

Ski life unfolds at a slower, gentler rhythm in the sparsely populated Jura, which stretches to the northeast along the Franco-Swiss border from Lake Geneva to Belfort. Cheesemaking, cross-country skiing, and cowbells paint the melody of the daylight hours, and small rhythms emerge at a steady pace along 214 kilometers (133 miles) of trails across the countryside around Metabeev-Mont-d’Or. A lift at the ski station takes skiers past the slopes to the summit of Mont d’Or (1463 m / 4,800 ft), where serene views of Lake Geneva, the Matterhorn, and Mont Blanc unfold on the horizon. Warm up the coke afterwards with a shot of snowboarding from the local area fir liqueur (Pine tree liqueur).

Other picturesque resorts across the countryside: Autrans in the Massif du Vercors (Isère); Domaine du Chioula, an hour’s drive from Toulouse (Arig).