There is nothing like ski holidays to chill out and have a good time in family or with friends. Thanks to the Alps and the Pyrenees, France possesses the largest ski area in the world (1180kilometers which represent 30% of the world’s ski area) and attracts every year more than 58.5million skiers. Tourist comes from all around Europe to have fun on one of the 347 French ski resorts.

The diversity of the ski resorts proves to be one of the main attractive arguments; however, there are less and less small charming resorts because they are grouped with others to create massive ski area.

The 10 main ski domains

Here are ski main ski areas in the French Alps region:

-          Les 3 Vallées

-          La Porte du Soleil

-          La Vallée du Mont Blanc

-          Evasion Mont Blanc

-          Espace Paridiski

-          La Voie lactée

-          Les Sybelles

-          Espace Killy

-          L’espace lumiere

-          Le Grand Massif

Les 3 Vallées are actually the largest ski domain in the area (600km of ski slopes) and comprises some international ski resorts such as Courchevel, Meribel, Menuires and Val-Thorens (the highest European ski resort).

If you wish to spend some holidays, it could be wise to have a close look at some ski resorts as some are more recommended for beginners and others for good skiers.

If you are good alpine skiers the Espace killy area might be suitable as Tignes and Val d’Isere are popular among expert skiers but if you are searching a ski resort for your children, Avoriaz in Les Portes du Soleil is more recommended for youngsters with ski slopes adapted to beginners level.

Actually French alpine ski resorts are very different between each other; here is a short description of the main ski areas where the best ski resorts are: La Porte du Soleil, Vallée du Mont Blanc, Espace killy and les 3 Vallées.

La Porte du Soleil:

The area comprises 12 ski resorts (8 French and 4 Swiss) such as the famous Avoriaz, Morzine, Les Gets and Abondance. With 650 kilometres of ski slopes divided in 283 slopes it is the largest ski areas in terms of kilometres of ski slopes just ahead of les 3 Vallees. The ski resort is quite high as it can reach the height of 2400 meters above sea level which permits to have quality snow from November until late April.

Vallée du Mont Blanc:

The ski area is indeed located around the highest European peak the Mont Blanc (4808 meters above sea level) and comprises very beautiful and traditional ski resorts such as Combloux, Argentiere, and Chamonix alongside the very reputed Megeve. Chamonix particularly impresses by its natural beauty and its privileged location (just under the Mont Blanc Mountain) is a definite plus for the ski resort.

L’Espace Killy:

Jean Claude Killy is a ski legend, having won the world champion title 6 times and 3 gold medals in the Olympic of 1968 in Grenoble France. This great champion reconverted into professional race cars pilot is particularly appreciated in France and therefore gave his name to the ski area between Tignes and Val d’Isere. The ski area despite possessing only 2 ski resorts is quite huge and is reputed among ski lovers for the snow quality (the ski resort starts at 2000meters above sea level and terminates at 3200 meters!) and the global high level of the skiers and snowboarders.

3 Vallées:

The ski domain is located in the department of Tarantaise in the Savoie region and comprises one of the most prestigious ski resort in Europe with Val Thorens, the Menuires, Meribel and of course Courchevel. Reputed for 600kilometres of slopes, the area is also famous for its beautiful landscapes over the Alps Mountains.  Les 3 Vallées will not only delight ski lovers as the villages all over the domain are full of charm and tradition and for those who seek some entertaining evenings Courchevel or Val Thorens will no doubt satisfy their expectancies.

Other activities:

If alpine ski and snowboarding are too much tiring, why not chilling out and fancy a little swim in some exceptional lakes located all over the Alps region? For example, the Lac du Bourget (the largest one in France) and the lake d’Annecy are particularly appreciated due to its water purity. It is said that the water is more pure than in any swimming pool as the water is filtrated naturally.

This example illustrates the main asset of the Alps variety of activities available, as a matter of fact you will never get bored. Because in addition to all the traditional winter sports available, most of the ski resorts remain open in the summer as new activities emerges such as:

-          Biking

-          Hiking

-          All water sports thanks to the lakes

-          Golf

-          Horse ridding

-          Tennis

The example of Tignes is particularly relevant as the ski resort consent putting enormous efforts to develop sports in the area with a lot of success as it is now considered as the sportiest town in French Alps.

Transport in the Alps?

Ski resorts are globally well deserved in terms of transport as there is an international airport near Grenoble and Lyon. Moreover, some cities in the Alps are deserved by TGV (high speed train) or some regular trains.  However, if you decide to go by car, it could be wise to avoid the period of French school holidays as traffic jam are frequent when reaching ski resorts.