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Not sure what your perfect resort is like out of winter? Not sure where to find that perfect chalet location? Not sure what you’re looking for? Here’s our rundown on where to go to find what you want, and what you’ll find wherever you go. The Planet Subzero service covers everything from the biggest ski resort to the tiniest Alpine village – below are short descriptions of some of the more popular major resorts, and the smaller spots that surround them.
Chamonix
nearest airport: Geneva, 1hr
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The largest French ski resorts by some considerable distance, if you consider the whole Chamonix valley as one place. Mont Blanc, extreme everything, busier in summer than in winter, and a year round population of around 10,000 – Chamonix is as diverse as it comes, as regards community and culture, and also as regards property. There are thousands of apartments, hundreds of chalets, and everything from spacious and secluded spots not even the locals know about, to tiny studios crammed in over the top of rammed nightclubs. The French community is friendly to those who learn the language, and those who don’t can generally avoid the French community, as there are plenty of English and Swedish ex-pats living in the valley. The valley’s walls also include Les Houches (much more family oriented and chalet-based) and Argentière (at the foot of the Grands Montets, the ski area), any number of little settlements between the main towns – and at only one hour from Geneva it is difficult to fault. Unless you like gentle hill walking and broad motorway-style on-piste skiing…
ask us about: Anywhere in the valley (!), Servoz, Vaudagne, Le Buet, Vallorcine
Mégève
nearest airport: Geneva, 1hr15
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One of the older ski resorts in the French Alps, also architecturally one of the prettiest and one of the most expensive. Beautiful old chalets now blend with upmarket hotels and a few tasteful apartment buildings – buying in Mégève isn’t easy anymore, because most of it has been bought already. The skiing isn’t high, and so the area suffers from a shorter season than most resorts. Though there are generally some chalets for sale in and around Mégève itself, most property available to buy these days is slightly further out towards Demi-Quartier – not necessarily a bad thing, since the Pricess gondola in Demi-Quartier gives perfectly good skiing access, and is also closer to the neighbouring resorts of Combloux and St Gervais (which are covered by the same ski pass).
ask us about: St Gervais, Combloux
Flaine / Les Carroz (Grand Massif)
nearest airport: Geneva, 2hr15
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2 bed apartment:
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ask us about: Morillon, Samoens
Morzine / Avoriaz (Portes du Soleil)
nearest airport: Geneva, 2hr15
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Morzine is a beautiful sprawl of chalets set on a hillside in the heart of the Portes du Soleil. There is a strong English contingent, including a sizeable year-round population, as Morzine is a very popular summer destination for climbing, walking, and particularly mountain biking. The community there is close and friendly, and property available is predominantly chalets. Though there are some apartments in Morzine, there are far more in uphill neighbour Avoriaz. Often misrepresented as being ugly and unpleasant, though it is ‘purpose-built’ Avoriaz is by no means an eyesore, and it is to the Portes du Soleil what Val Thorens is to the 3 Valleys – high, fun, and snow sure. Accommodation is almost exclusively apartments, covering the full spectrum from tiny studios to modern 4 (or more!) bedroom luxury.
ask us about: Les Gets, Chatel
Courchevel (3 Valleys)
nearest aiport: Lyon, 2½hrs
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2 bed apartment:
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The chic and celebrity hub of the French alps is divided into three main resorts, described by altitude. 1550 and 1650 are much the same as smallish resorts elsewhere, comprising some shops and some bars, some apartments and some chalets. 1850 is the Courchevel everyone has heard of, with hugely expensive real estate that is fiercely guarded by the mafia-style governing families who have been in the resort since long before it was a resort, and who own the vast majority of everything in it. They are loathe to loosen their grip, so unless you’ve got a very large balance this may be one that stays on the wishlist.
ask us about: La Tania
Méribel (3 Valleys)
nearest aiport: Lyon, 2½hrs
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2 bed apartment:
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The English heart of the three valleys, in peak winter season Méribel is home to a higher percentage of English per head of population than either Chamonix or Val d’Isère. The 3 Valleys are Meribel & Mottaret, Courchevel & La Tania, and Les Menuires & Val Thorens. Together they are probably France's biggest and most popular linked ski area, with a massive variety on offer both on and off the slopes. From the snowsure steeps of Val Thorens to the gentle tree lined cruising of Courchevel le Praz, via the open groomers and board park in Meribel and Mottaret, you have more than a season's worth of terrain and activities to explore. Meribel is a party town! With loads of seasonaires (mainly English), and a massive choice of bars and restaurants to keep you entertained, the resort is ever popular with holidaymakers from the UK. Meribel has always appealed to a young, lively crowd. The seasonaire community is large, with lots of tour operaters and independents running programmes to the resort, so you definitely won't have a problem meeting people or making friends! From apres ski and live bands at the Rond Point, to parties and DJs in the Pub, followed by dancing in Dicks. Or, for a more sophisticated atmosphere, the food and vibe in Evolution are great. Barometer or the Tav are the best places to sit and chat over a quite beer.
ask us about: St Bon, Brides les Bains
Belleville valley (St Martin, Les Menuires, Val Thorens) (3 Valleys)
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The third of the three valleys is bizarrely the least known and the most complete. St Martin de Belleville, at the lower end, is a totally charming village made up of sweet chalets, tastefully done apartments, and a friendly mix of French and English. It’s not cheap, and you’ll be pushed to fine somewhere for sale, but it’s a perfect resort for families and is the sort of place you might want to own a chalet as you move into retirement.
Les Menuires is at first sight the complete opposite: a sprawling mass of ugly apartments blocks and huge ‘hotels’, this is the place to find a cheap 1970s apartment. Those in the centre of the resort are in the process of being renovated under the guidance of a slightly embarrassed tourist office – a tourist office also not a little frustrated that the pretty part of the resort is almost completely unknown. The southern end of Les Menuires houses a cluster of beautiful chalet buildings and its own mini-community – very mini outside of the winter months – that would be totally at home in either St Martin or Val Thorens.
‘Val Tho’ is Europe’s highest ski resort, at 2300m. It has generally great snow, and the longest winter season in France – and its Europop style winter nightlife is one of the busiest and booziest of any resort. However, once the snow is gone, so are the people. There is very little to recommend Val Thorens as a year-round destination – but if you want to allow yourself as much skiing time as possible from December to May, this could suit you just right.
Les Arcs & Peisey-Vallandry (Paradiski)
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Les Arcs is very, very diverse both in terms of its skiing and its accommodation. Arc 1800, the ‘main’ resort, is a mish-mash of unappealing high-rise apartment blocks, very much in the 1970s mould. It is the social centre, has the most in-resort lifts to get up into the skiing, and it has lots and lots of apartments should you want to buy one. Arc 1600 is the round-the-corner resort that is kind of the opposite of 1800, except that is has a fine nightclub and funicular access to Bourg St Maurice. Arc 2000 is small and not very exciting, but equally it is high (being at 2000m!) and so has good snow, property is still cheap there, and it’s close to new development Arc 1950. Buying in 1950 is like buying in Disneyland – it’s a very new and very slightly kitsch Canadian development (by Intrawest, responsible for Whistler and Mont Tremblant, amongst others). All the buildings are themed, all the commerce is kept on a leash, and all the apartments are new and very well kitted out.
Vallandry and Plan-Peisey, in the trees over towards La Plagne and right by the new Vanoise Express link, are another option altogether. Vallandry used to be a small crop of chalets, then became a modestly-sized resort with some hotels and apartment buildings, and now thanks to the invention of Paradiski is is undergoing another transformation, with new lifts and lots and lots of new building projects. Property prices are rising, but that shouldn’t cross it off your list as a destination – prices will likely continue to rise as development continues and Paradiski receives more and more interest from the media and tourism industries.
ask us about: Peisey, Landry, Bourg St Maurice, La Rosière
La Plagne (Paradiski)
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2 bed apartment:
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La Plagne is the collective name for ten small resorts, four of them low-down villages, and 6 of them purpose-built resorts at high altitude (at the top of one what must be one of the slowest mountain roads anywhere in France). None of the high-altitude resorts can boast much of a year round population, but they do have lots and lots of apartment blocks. Though it is the French resort of choice for the French skier it has a dismal reputation outside France (the skiing is for the most part very gentle), and as a result property prices are significantly lower than in many other areas. The low-level villages are much more appealing, and priced accordingly – Montalbert and Champagny en Vanoise are way off the beaten track, whereas Montchavin & Les Coches are right at the foot of the shiny new Vanoise express (the cable car linking La Plagne to Les Arcs) and as a result are home to a lot of new building development and subject to rapidly rising property prices.
ask us about: Pralognan,
Val d’Isère (Espace Killy)
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2 bed apartment:
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With a renown that extends the length of London’s King Road, ‘Val’ is by reputation a posh and expensive place. As is often the case, however, for those few that live there (the year round population is probably around 400) the story is entirely different, and small or medium-sized apartment accommodation is not as sparse as you might expect. Apart from the annual week-long Monster Truck festival, not a great deal happens in the summer, but there is enough of a community to keep it from feeling too much like a ghost town. Its major downside is accessibility – even in summer with a clear road it will take you most of three hours to get to, and if you’re living there the nearest sensibly-sized town is half an hour away – and that’s assuming you’d call Bourg St Maurice a ‘sensibly-sized’ town.
ask us about: St Foy
Tignes (Espace Killy)
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2 bed apartment:
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Compared to its posh and pricey sister on the other side of the Espace Killy, Tignes has more apartment blocks and fewer chalets, more off-piste skiing and fewer lifts, and is generally cheaper, more French, and less pretentious than its better-known neighbour. There is a small year round community, and summer skiing on the Grande Motte glacier, so if permanent snow is your thing this may be the spot. Tignes suffers from the same distance issues as Val d’Isère, above.
ask us about: Les Brevières
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