No one does ski areas quite like the French. That’s not just because France is preternaturally well endowed when it comes to high-altitude, snow-drenched terrain. It’s also down to the nation’s taste, and talent, for grand designs. The same sense of scale and ambition that brought you the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower has helped turn vast stretches of mountainside into winter playgrounds unmatched in size and ease of use. The Three Valleys, Tignes-Val d’Isère, Paradiski: we may, at times, moan about their high prices and a certain Gallic disregard for customer service; but we keep coming back for more. Several of the ski resorts that make up these mega areas rank among the world’s most fashionable winter holiday destinations, and two of them — Tignes and Val Thorens — are among the most snowsure, too.
But not all the best ski resorts in France come with such large domains attached. There are a few real charmers out there that haven’t mushroomed in size and have retained a more relaxed, end-of-the-line appeal. Others are defiantly — gloriously — idiosyncratic. The simple fact is that whatever your ski holiday requirements, France has a resort that can meet them.
So here, then, are ten of the finest — in no particular order. Allez-y, mes amis. Enjoy.
Main photo: Méribel (Alamy)
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1. Val Cenis
Best for affordable self-catering holidays
Val Cenis is the resort that fell down the back of the sofa. It may be only 15 miles (as the Alpine chough flies) from glitzy Courchevel 1850, and 11 miles from Val d’Isère, but this union of two modest Maurienne villages, tucked away behind the A-list resorts, has never featured on a fashionista’s skiing map. Here, instead of five-star palace hotels you’ll find self-catering apartments and family-run bistros and pizzerias instead of Michelin-starred restaurants. And every time the French schools break up for a winter holiday, canny Gallic families make a bee-line straight for it.
They don’t just come for the lower prices of everything from ski lessons and lift passes to accommodation and hot chocolates. They love the skiing too. Val Cenis’s 78 miles of pistes are along the north-facing side of the valley, both above and below the treeline, and provide a varied array of intermediate and beginner runs. The best-known is l’Escargot — the longest beginner-rated piste in the Alps. It follows a snow-covered mountain road and is sure to be the highlight of anyone’s first ski holiday.
There are plenty of feistier challenges too, supplemented by the pistes in four neighbouring resorts. Along with Val Cenis, they can all be skied using a single, six-day Haute Maurienne Vanoise lift pass. So if you bring your own car, you can turn this “unfashionable” destination into something glorious: the starting point for a freewheeling ski safari that day-trips up and down the valley.
2. Les Menuires
Best for endless intermediate skiing at a reasonable price
Les Menuires is regarded by many as the ugliest resort in the vast Three Valleys. This is great news for anyone who wants to ski the area’s mouthwatering intermediate slopes without paying a small fortune for their accommodation. Prices are properly cheap in its central, high-rise 1970s apartment blocks, and they provide quick access to the same pistes skied by the gazillionaires in neighbouring Courchevel and Méribel.
In fact, the slopes around this perennially underrated resort are among the best in the whole of the Three Valleys. Head up the Pointe de la Masse, just to the west of town, and you’ll find them blissfully uncrowded too. Despite the splendour of this pyramid peak, it’s a bit of a skiing cul-de-sac. Few visitors from other resorts venture up it as a result.
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The other skiers who’ll enjoy Les Menuires are families. It’s not just the child-friendly infrastructure that pulls them in (facilities include two public pools, a big soft-play area and a two-and-a-half-mile toboggan run). It’s the range of accommodation too. Notable among the options is a huddle of catered chalets in the surburb of Reberty 2000. Several offer English-speaking child care services, and are next to a Ski Jardin nursery slope, as well as a child-friendly restaurant. If you’ve got first-time skiers in your brood — but want to bomb off and enjoy some world-class skiing during their lessons — it’s both cosy and super-convenient.
3. La Plagne
Best for ski-in, ski-out convenience
La Plagne does two things brilliantly. On its central plateau you’ll find several purpose-built, ski-in, ski-out villages that are served — for the most part — by broad and gentle pistes. These villages are not especially pretty and are not big enough to generate a significant après-ski atmosphere, but for a second or third holiday for cautious early-intermediates the combination of terrain and convenience is compelling. Come before Christmas, or in January, when it’s quiet, and there are few better Alpine resorts in which to progress from snowplough to parallel turns.
La Plagne’s other world-class offering is its vertiginous off-piste skiing. Many visitors have no idea it’s there, because most of it is hidden away on the north and south faces of the Bellecote, right at top of the resort. But make no mistake, these slopes are mind-bendingly steep and — provided you’re up to the challenge — breathlessly exciting. The runs need to be skied with an experienced local guide, who’ll test off-pisters on the safer southern face first, before switching to the north.
In between these two extremes, keen intermediates are less well-served: though they will find good skiing both above and below the flattish plateau. You’ll also want to buy a Paradiski lift pass — so you can ride the double-decker Vanoise Express cable car over to neighbouring Les Arcs. Once again, our advice is to pick a low-season week. There are 11 villages on this mountain and 53,000 guest beds, and when it’s busy the most popular pistes can be hectic.
4. Tignes
Best for intermediate and off-piste skiers
Admittedly, Tignes is a tad risky as a ski destination. Most of its pistes are set between 2,100m and 3,400m, and at that height they’re well above the treeline. As a result, poor visibility is a problem whenever the clouds come down. But the odd white-out is a small price to pay for the chance to ski Tignes’ magnificent U-shaped valley and its crowning Grande Motte glacier. It’s almost as if Mother Nature intended them for skiing. The groomed, waymarked pistes are unusually wide and steady.
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Meanwhile, off-piste descents beckon wherever you look, and range from easy, first-time powder fields to challenging terrain that will test the strongest legs and steadiest nerves (both should be skied in the company of a qualified guide or instructor). Best of all, the high-altitude snow ranks among some of the most reliable in the French Alps. Never mind that the architecture is big and blocky: that’s primarily a reflection of the resort’s tight, avalanche-safety zones. Focus instead on the bright, white joy of skiing such ego-boosting slopes and you’ll barely notice.
5. Val d’Isère
Best for beginners, socialites and night owls
Here’s another reason why Tignes is so good — Val d’Isère is its immediate neighbour. More than 50 years ago the two resorts joined forces to create a ski area that used to be called the Espace Killy and is now known simply as Tignes-Val d’Isère. Its two halves do a fabulous job of complementing one another.
Val d’Isère, for example, supplies the plunging, devil-take-the-hindmost black runs that intermediate-friendly Tignes generally lacks. The fearsome Face is its signature run. It’s also home to the area’s best beginner slopes, terrain park and mountain restaurants, as well as another healthy dollop of hardcore off-piste descents. You should also stay here if you’re in the market for luxe-y accommodation and buzzing après-ski. Each day, the party starts shortly after lunch, piste-side at La Folie Douce. It keeps going in Dick’s and La Doudoune until 5am.
There is, however, one caveat. The home runs back into the resort are steep, and they’re often icy and crowded at the end of the day. If you’re a mid-level skier, ride the lifts back down instead.
6. Chamonix
Best for experts, ski-tourers and party animals
To the average piste-loving skier — reared on holidays in La Plagne, Les Arcs, Val Thorens and the like — Chamonix makes no sense at all. Instead of the seamless, ski-your-legs-to-jelly experience they’re used to, this long, lively mountain town serves up fragments of terrain, scattered haphazardly along a valley. “How did this place ever get so famous?” they splutter, as they stand in line, waiting for one of the ski buses that links them.
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Meanwhile off-pisters, snowboarders and ski tourers look up and drool. All those random ski lifts are just doorways into the wider, wilder terrain, and with some of the world’s best mountain guides on hand to show them the way, the possibilities seem endless. To them, it’s obvious why Chamonix has become such a bastion of skilled, precise and — at times — hair-raising skiing. Many end up living here, in the shadow of Mont Blanc.
If this sounds like your kind of town, book your holiday in the middle of it rather than in one of the quiet, outlying villages. After all, its bars and restaurants are swarming with adventurers, so you’ll fit right in. Then, hire your guide, let them have a look at how you ski, and trust them to tailor your itinerary accordingly. That may mean you won’t be tackling the most celebrated lines, such as the Couloir Rectiligne. But even at a less exalted level, you’ll have an experience you won’t easily forget.
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7. Les Deux Alpes
Best for less experienced intermediates who are happiest on blues, not reds
Les Deux Alpes is an upside-down kind of ski resort. The steepest pistes are at the bottom of its ski area, where you’d expect to find the gentle blues; and most of the easy stuff is at the top, where the couloirs and cliff jumps should be.
Expert and advanced skiers tend to sniff at it as a result. But if you’re still mastering your parallel turns you’re going to love cruising its long, cold glacier. Up there, at 3,500m, the snow is almost always soft, grippy and confidence-boosting, and the Mont Blanc views are stunning. What’s more, if you keep on going, you can ski all the way back down to the resort, nearly 2,000m below (using a route that bypasses the tricky black runs at the bottom).
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En route, you’ll pass one of the best terrain parks in the French Alps. You might also notice some enticing off-piste lines those experts would enjoy, if only they could be bothered to look. But really, it’s the top-to-bottom descent that makes Les Deux Alpes extraordinary. It’s rare indeed for early intermediates to be able to measure themselves against a whole mountain like this. So it’s no wonder they’re in celebratory mood when they pile into Smithy’s Tavern and La Grotte du Yeti at the end of the day.
8. Courchevel
Best for beginners and intermediates, as well as gastronomes
There are two reasons to ski Courchevel. The first is for the love of its long, broad, north-facing pistes. Many are as wide as motorways. Most — whether they’re rated green, blue, red or black — take a joyful, straight-down-the-mountain route so that, whatever your skiing ability, you can settle into a rhythm and let rip. And although some are heaving in the peak weeks, there’s always a quiet corner to retreat to. Above Courchevel Moriond, perhaps. Or on l’Eclipse, the new race track created for the 2023 World Championships that hurtles down to the bottom of the ski area in Le Praz.
The second reason is to rub shoulders with the super-rich. You may be one of them, of course — and looking forward to your next holiday in the soft, sumptuous embrace of the Hotel Cheval Blanc or uber-chalets such as Shemshak Lodge. Or you may simply want to pop into its bar for an aperitif, and see how the other half do their après-ski. But either way, the epicentre of the luxury ski industry is a thing to behold. Courchevel is home to seven Michelin-starred restaurants. Meanwhile, families will enjoy the giant Aquamotion pool and spa complex.
Bear in mind, however, that not all the accommodation is deluxe. Tucked away around its lower villages you’ll find plenty of more affordable self-catering apartments, hotels and catered chalets. So don’t think that it’s off limits to those with less exalted budgets. Remember too that ultimately you’re there to ski — not lounge around in your bedroom. And when it comes to the quality of the slopes, everyone in Courchevel gets a top-notch experience.
9. Val Thorens
Best for anyone for whom the quality of the snow is paramount
For years people said Val Thorens’s mountain bowl was too high, too remote and too avalanche-prone for a ski resort. But in the early 1970s they built one anyway. The resort that’s grown up here over the subsequent half-century is now one of the stars of the French Alps.
The two chief attractions are the quality of the snow and the terrain. At seven separate points the lift system rises to a thaw-proof 3,000m, and for most of the season the snow on its rolling pistes is soft, cold and squeaky: the kind of cover on which your skis will grip with the minimum of effort. What’s more, when it comes to steepness, many are perfectly pitched for keen but not expert skiers. Yes, there are also some spine-tingling off-piste descents here, on the north face of the Cime Caron and off the top of Les Trois Marches into Méribel’s valley, next door. But it’s intermediates who like it best — especially when you add the allure of the rest of the Three Valleys, of which Val Thorens is a part.
Not everyone is going to love it. Anyone who’s searching for a pretty and peaceful refuge will recoil at Val Tho’s high-rise architecture and booming après-ski. But for the young at heart, it’s a place of joyous escape: friendly, innovative and always ready for adventure, whether it’s on the slopes or out at night along the Rue de Gébroulaz, where its bars are concentrated.
10. Méribel
Best for stout hearts and strong legs
Méribel may count Courchevel and Val Thorens among its neighbours, but thanks primarily to the shape of its long, narrow valley, it’s quite different from both. With a few notable exceptions (such as the flattish area by the altiport), this is a generally trickier place to ski: steeper, more sinuous and with more variable snow conditions. Even its two principal accommodation hubs, Méribel and Méribel-Mottaret, rise uphill in sharp, lung-busting steps.
Does that make it a lesser resort? Not if you’re up for a challenge. More experienced skiers who get bored in Courchevel and Val Thorens will enjoy the more hell-for-leather flavour of the pistes, especially on the Face, which starred in the 1992 Winter Olympics. Hire a guide, and they’ll unlock a broad range of off-piste terrain as well: from the (relatively) easy, open slopes under the Côte Brune chair to the hair-raising steeps of Les Trois Marches. Meanwhile, freestylers will flock to L’Open terrain park, and pluckier kids will whoop and holler on the Pistes Ludiques — fun runs packed with bumps and banked turns.
Fired up by these experiences, the grown-ups can then get stuck into Méribel’s celebrated après-ski, which is at its best in the afternoon and early evening. Le Rond-Point des Pistes — aka the Ronnie — is the mothership of mayhem.
Anyone who likes to holiday in traditional catered chalets should target it too, as the lower half of the valley is full of such properties.
11. Bonneval-sur-Arc
Best for a bit of peace and quiet
Bonneval-sur-Arc is the last village in the Maurienne Valley before its winding road disappears beneath a snow drift. Never mind that big, buzzing Val d’Isère lies on the far side of the Col de l’Iseran mountain pass. In winter, this is the end of the line: a place where skiing’s frenetic pace slows to a contemplative walk, and a morning on a sun-drenched balcony, reading a novel, seems as essential to the experience as bombing down a freshly groomed piste.
Speaking of pistes, there are only 20 miles of them, served by 11 ski lifts, so book some time with an instructor and try something new. Day trips down the valley are essential too. First stop is at the village of Bessans, home to some of France’s most reliable cross-country skiing. The second is at Val Cenis, where 78 miles of pistes can be accessed using your six-day lift pass (you can also ski in four other neighbouring resorts). Mostly, though, you should stay put, wandering Bonneval’s medieval core, snow-shoeing up the valley towards the little hamlet of Ecot and soaking up the serenity of the empty slopes. The contrast with the rest of the Alps is bewitching.
12. Alpe d’Huez
Best for beginner, advanced and expert skiers
It’s not often beginners get to be the stars of a ski resort, but that’s how it feels in Alpe d’Huez. This big, purpose-built ski town, not far from Grenoble, shares its sunny plateau with one of the largest cirques of nursery slopes in the Alps. So instead of learning on a little scrap of terrain tucked away to one side of the ski area, first-timers take centre stage on a series of uncommonly wide and lengthy pistes. Having so much space makes a big difference. It gives learners the chance to settle into a rhythm and focus on their turns without having to worry about bumping into others. If you stay near the Rond-Point Des Pistes, at the northern tip of the Quartier Cognet, you’ll have doorstep access to this easy terrain too.
But Alpe d’Huez isn’t just for beginners. At the top of the ski area, the pyramid peak of the 3,330m Pic Blanc offers a radically different scene. Black runs plunge down its southern and western faces, while mountain guides can lead off-pisters onto long backcountry descents. The Grand Sablat is probably the best known of these. It starts on the Grand Sablat glacier, heading east, and doesn’t stop till you pull up in the tiny village of Clavans-le-Haut, 2,000 vertical metres below. There’s accommodation to suit every budget too, from low-cost apartments to five-star hotels.
13. Les Arcs
Best for anyone looking for a big, family-friendly playground
It won’t be to everyone’s taste. Les Arcs consists of seven villages, scattered across the ski area, and none provides the kind of busy, buzzy hub you’ll find in Val Thorens and the like. But if nightlife isn’t a priority, and you and your party love skiing broad, intermediate pistes, it deserves a place on your shortlist. Les Arcs excels at this type of terrain, and there’s more of the same in La Plagne, on the far side of the Vanoise Express cable car. Together, the two constituent parts of the Paradiski ski area offer 265 miles of groomed and waymarked runs.
Among Les Arcs’ biggest fans are families who’ve got beyond the nursery slopes. Three of its villages in particular are a treat. Arc 1950 is a cleverly designed cocoon of self-catering apartments that wrap around several snowy plazas and is probably the most successful new ski village of the modern era. Arc 1800 has a top-notch indoor aquapark, as well as a superb luge course. Meanwhile, in Arc 1600, Club Med’s state-of-the-art resort-hotel, Les Arc Panorama, is a one-stop shop for family holidays. Excellent food, kids’ clubs, ski lessons, equipment hire, a swimming pool: it’s all there under one enormous roof.
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Take me there
Inspired to visit France but yet to book your trip? Here are the best ski packages from Crystal Ski and Ski France.
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