Skiing in France
France is the most popular ski destination for Brits, attracting two out of every five skiers and boarders, and it’s easy to see why.
Over the past 40 years our southern neighbour has developed the world’s biggest ski areas, with many of the world’s biggest lift-served verticals too, and all easy to reach via fast empty motorways, high speed rail or of course plane connections. Most of these giant ski areas start high and go very high, so are more snow sure than most others.
Ski Resorts in France
Alpe d'Huez
FranceWith one of the biggest resorts and largest ski areas in Europe, Alpe d'Huez also has a huge vertical and some wonderful long runs down from its snow sure glacier.
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Argentière
FranceIf you're after the most exciting skiing in the Chamonix Valley it's not Cham you want but Argentière where it's on your doorstep, although you're 8km from where most of the night time action is.
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Avoriaz
FranceAvoriaz is a family friendly, super convenient and car-free purpose-built resort. Just 1hr and 30 mins from Geneva airport, it sits at the heart of one of the world's biggest ski areas.
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Bourg-Saint-Maurice
FranceAn authentic mountain town, Bourg offers excellent facilities and services all just a short funicular ride from Arc 1600.
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Brides-les-Bains
FranceThe old spa town has a great new spa and a long gondola link up to the Three Valleys, built when it played athletes village for the Albertville winter Olympics. So, small town, huge ski area.
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Chamonix
FranceThe iconic ski resort is a small town filling a narrow, shady valley dominated by Western Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc. It’s noisy and inconveniently designed, but every skier must visit, and most return.
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Champagny
FranceChampagny is one of those rare French resorts that combines a traditional village bursting with character with fast access in to one of the world’s biggest and best ski areas.
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Chatel
FranceChâtel is a good choice for anyone looking for a traditional resort that has stuck to its roots, but also provides access to one of the world’s biggest ski regions, with pistes over the border in to Switzerland, and families welcome.
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Courchevel
FranceFrance's most exclusive resort actually comes in five parts, known by their altitudes. The highest, 1850 is biggest, poshest and most expensive; the lower levels are more regular resorts.
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Flaine
FranceA purpose-built resort that’s designed with convenience in mind, Flaine sits in a vast and wonderful giant snow bowl that’s just an hour from Geneva.
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Isola 2000
FranceOne of Europe's most southerly ski areas, only 90 minutes from the Med, Isola still has a good snow record thanks to its altitude and uglier older buildings are being supplanted by the new.
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La Clusaz
FranceStill very French after a century of skiing, and just as convenient for Geneva as it always has been, La Clusaz oozes Gallic ambience in the village and on the slopes.
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La Plagne
FranceAmong the world's most successful ski resorts, La Plagne hedges its bets with 10 different bases designed to cater for every taste and a vast snow-sure ski area that's bigger still with the Les Arcs link.
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La Rosière
FranceA mid-sized, purpose-built, family-friendly ski area across the valley from Les Arcs that's also has the novelty of being lift-linked to La Thuile in the Italian Aosta Valley.
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La Tania
FranceThe newest and smallest resort in the world's biggest ski region, Courchevel's neighbour provides a cosy base if limited facilities due to its small size.
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La Toussuire
FranceLa Toussuire is a compact, traditional resort with a lot of new development and a comparatively recently inter-connected giant ski region surrounding it.
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Le Grand Bornand Chinaillon
FranceThe real France, in all its cheesy glory, with great skiing – downhill and cross-country - to boot.
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Les Arcs
FranceThe coolest French resort of the past 40 years is still cutting edge for snow sports, it’s just much bigger now with four base villages and a lift link to La Plagne creating one of the world’s three biggest ski areas.
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Les Carroz
FranceOffering the best of both worlds, Les Carroz provides a small traditional village environment, linked in to the giant Grand Massif ski area. Handy for Geneva too.
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Les Coches - Montchavin
FranceWell-placed in Paradiski, the world's third biggest area, Les Coches - Montchavin has the convenience of a purpose built resort and the ambience of a traditional French mountain village.
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Les Deux Alpes
FranceA big ski area and a huge glacier for snow-sure skiing. Les Deux Alpes is large, modern and lively and has a lift-link to a traditional village.
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Les Gets
FranceLes Gets is strong on family values, and strong on big ski areas too, with 650km of piste on your door step plus a chocolate workshop.
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Les Houches
FranceThe biggest and most family friendly ski area in the Chamonix Valley sits above this old hamlet which has seen recent development and also provide access to all of Chamonix's delights.
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Les Menuires
FranceLes Menuires in the Three Valleys has seen a lot of investment in beatifying its old '60s centres, with far better new areas and ever improving facilities too.
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Les Saisies
FranceSki in the tracks of Olympic champions at les Saises, well so long as you cross country ski. Saying that, the French downhill champion from the ’88 and ’92 games, Franck Piccard, calls les Saisies home.
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Megeve
FranceMegeve has matured in to the country’s gourmet capital for skiers. The resort has a lovely old centre and a big ski area surrounding it.
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Meribel
FranceMeribel is a British designed resort of pretty chalets and is superbly located in the heart of the world’s biggest ski area. With more gondola lifts than any other resort on the planet, it’s still a British favourite.
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Montgenèvre
FranceOn the French side of the huge Milky Way ski area, most of which is in the 2006 Italian Olympic resorts, Montgenèvre celebrated its centenary with a multi-million Euro makeover and now looks great.
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Morzine
FranceThis lovely old village has a great location between Avoriaz, above, and Les Gets next door, in the giant Portes du Soleil region which links a dozen French and Swiss resorts together by piste.
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Oz en Oisans
FranceA pretty, purpose-built village ideal for families and mixed-ability groups, with easy access to the enormous Alpe d'Huez ski area.
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Peisey - Vallandry
FranceSandwiched between the giants of La Plagne and Les Arcs, Peisey Vallandry's five base villages offer some traditional charm at the heart of the world's third biggest ski area.
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Sainte Foy
FranceSainte Foy has grown in recent years with high quality facilities but it remains a hidden gem with its own great ski area and low-cost access to big-name resorts surrounding it.
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Samoens
FranceA pretty village with an unspoilt, historic, heart; a new gondola now links Samoëns direct in to Grand Massif, one of France's biggest, snowiest ski areas and handy for Geneva airport too.
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Serre Chevalier
FranceMore of a valley than a resort, Serre Chevaliers huge ski area stretches for miles above a dozen villages, three of them big enough for international guests, plus there’s Europe’s highest medieval town to explore.
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St Gervais
FranceOften overlooked by brochure browsers, St Gervais is a lovely old spa town with great facilities and a superb ski area, that's large, varied and has wonderful views of Mont Blanc.
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Tignes
FranceTignes is among Europe’s largest and highest ski areas, linked to Val d’Isere, has a glacier for snow-sure skiing and a variety of bases. Choose from rather bleak high-altitude convenience or cosier, lower altitude villages.
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Val Cenis
FranceMade up of three villages, the Val Cenis ski area stretches for miles above the valley running parallel to the Italian border.
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Val Thorens
FranceEurope's highest resort is fast becoming one of the biggest, which means ever better facilities at the top of the world's biggest ski region.
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Val d'Isère
FranceThe world famous classic is a beautiful old snow-sure village with a spectacular ski area which, with neighbouring Tignes, is amongst the biggest in the Alps.
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Valfrejus
FranceAlthough one of the newest resorts in the Alps, Valfréjus has been built in a traditional style so you might not know it. The small ski area is great for newer skiers too.
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Valloire
FranceValloire is one of France's original ski resorts and has lots of character and ambience as well as a nice big ski area linked to neighbouring Valmeinier.
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Vallorcine
FranceVallorcine ski area is Chamonix unplugged, a small village with delightfully limited facilities, its own ski area on its door step and access to the rest of the Chamonix Valley’s famed attractions only minutes away.
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Valmeinier
FranceValmeinier is a resort of two halves - the lower part a traditional resort, the upper section a convenient purpose built centre. Both are connected to Valloire to create a large ski area.
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Valmorel
FrancePurpose built but in a style that's pleasing on the eye, in the post-concrete block era of the 1970s, Valmorel prides itself on its family-friendliness and has a good-sized ski area too.
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Vars
FranceVery French Vars has four village bases so be careful to pick one of the ones with ski lifts and runs to it, then you can access a giant area linked to Risoul in the Southern Alps.
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Vaujany
FranceThe little village of Vaujany is punching above its weight with excellent facilities and a huge ski area stretching for thousands of metres above.
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