5 Reasons Why You Should Go Skiing in Les Trois Vallées in France

If you still haven´t done your winter holidays plans, let me help you with the decision making! Today I will tell you something about skiing in Les Trois Vallées, an excellent ski area situated in the department Savoie in France. As its name suggests, it covers a territory of 3 valleys – those are Saint-Bon, Allues and Belleville. Even though I am not a very good skier, after we spent a week here last year, I felt in love with this place. I was there last year with friends and we had a great time! And not only thanks to the fondue or raclette, or evenings spent playing cards. If you want to know why you should go skiing in Les Trois Vallées, just keep reading!

5 Reasons Why You Should Go Skiing in Les Trois Vallées in France

1. Size of the Ski Area

600 km of ski slopes that are accessible with only one ski pass makes Les Trois Vallées the largest single ski pass area in the world. It was not always the case. The ski slopes used to operate separately until they were reunited in a single ski pass area called Les Trois Vallées in the early 70’s. For your interest, the longest ski slope is 12 km long and its name is Cîme de Caron.

As a consequence of the area size, there are several resorts to choose where you stay, out of which the most known are Val Thorens, Les Meuniers, Courchevel and Méribel. Some of them are full of young people partying all night long, some are very chic and pretty expensive, some others are suitable for families and therefore more affordable.

Les Meuniers

Val Thorens

2. Snow and Maintenance

With a skiable altitude from 1,100 m to 3,230 m (more than 85% of the ski area is situated above 1,800 m) and over 2,000 snow cannons covering half of the ski area, the quality of snow is guaranteed throughout the whole season. Moreover, every night the slopes are maintained by 70 grooming machines and over 160 workers who do their best so that you can enjoy a smooth downhill.

3. Great Variety of Landscape

All 3 valleys are very well maintained and prepared for the season and so everybody can find their happiness here. From beginners to lovers of adrenalin, from skiers to cross-country fans. The different valleys offer a great variety of landscapes, including slopes for freeriding. While the green, blue and red slopes are well maintained every day and night, the black slopes stay often unmaintained in order to provide the lovers of adrenalin ski with the pleasure. But, on the other hand, Les Trois Vallées is also a good place to learn skiing and snowboarding. Beginners can head to gentle slopes marked as ‘Easy Rider’ zones. The lovers of cross-country skiing can enjoy 120 km of cross-country routes.

4. Lifts

More than 160 ski lifts operate across Les Trois Vallées and some lifts have even been invented here, like for example the Funitel which technology is exported internationally. The funiculars here are very effective, guaranteeing low waiting times compared to similar ski stations (2 hours from 7 hours’ ski day in comparison to 3-4 standard waiting time in the other resorts).

Photo by 123_456 – via Flickr

5. Food

After a long day of ski, one needs some something warm, right? The food in Savoie is super good! Some of the traditional dishes you should try here are fondue Savoyarde or raclette. And don´t forget to get some French crepes too! There are many good restaurants in the 3 valleys – from traditional regional specialties to modern gastronomy. Did you know that there are 18 Michelin restaurants in Les Trois Vallées?! The majority of them can be found in Courchevel.

Practical Information

The general season is usually from December to April (but try to avoid the period when the French schools have winter holidays).

Daily pass costs 60 Euros (kids 48), 6-days 294 Euros (as per January 2017)

More information on the website of Les 3 Vallées.

Do you go skiing in France sometimes? If so, where? Tell me about it! 

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