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6 Responses to 'Any recommendation for ski resorts in France?'

1. richard l - September 6th, 2010 at 3:53 am

   Try Italy – they’re not as rude and the fod is better.

2. adqueen - September 6th, 2010 at 10:48 pm

   Meribel is fab for all levels. I learnt to ski there as an adult and the ski schools were very good and the terrain very suited to new comers to the sport. it is also a very very pretty village and area – exactly how you expect a ski area to look like. Night life/apres ski also very good. Not the cheapest resort but to be honest skiing is not a cheap activity so you should decide that before you start…. its addictive!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

3. Xerces - September 8th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

   There’s a very nice ski resort called Valloire in the French Alps. Slopes are good, not too crazy for beginners. I’ve been there & would highly recommend it to anyone.

4. Mr Tripod - September 9th, 2010 at 11:39 am

   Flaine or Avoriaz/Morzine…great for beginners. The ’3 valleys’, Courcheval, Meribel and Val thorens are good too but a lot more expensive. Do you have to go to France? Reason being it’s horifically expensive wherever you go..If you’re a beginner why not try Livigno in Italy? It’s high (guaranteed snow) and tax free so it’s cheap and has more than enough easy blues and greens for you to learn on without breaking the bank. Bulgaria is up and coming too and good for beginners. Austria is good but go high.

   France is great for skiing if you’re really passionate about the sport as it’s very ideosyncratic…lots of queues, bad manners, ridiculous prices etc but that is more than outweighed by the quality of the skiing which, when the snow is good, is world class. If you have a little money and 10 days to spare to learn to ski then go to Whistler in Canada….it’s massive, snow sure, relatively cheap (compared to most of Europe), very well organised and well mannered….everyone loves the English! which is more than can be said about the residents of lots of european resorts.

   look around a little bit on the web..don’t just go for the big french resorts because there’s so much more and so much better out there.

   You’ll love it….it’s fantastic.

5. Ron Berue - September 11th, 2010 at 7:13 am

   I’m sorry, I don’t.

   I haven’t seen enough of the United States, yet.

   The only ones I can think of are Grenoble and the one where they had the Olympics a few years ago. I THINK it was Albertville?

   You aren’t that far from Switzerland. I have friends who went skiing there. I can’t remember the names of the places where they went to ski. I KNOW they had a wonderful time. They talked about it for weeks.

   Thanks for thinking I might have an answer.

   VTY,
   Ron

6. drblonde - September 11th, 2010 at 8:27 pm

   I’ve not been a beginner for a long time but I do know a lot of the French resorts pretty well. As a beginner you don’t need somewhere with a huge range of intermediate / expert runs which is what the most well-known resorts are famous for. You want somewhere with a good ski school, extensive nursery slopes and good apres-ski as when you first take up ski-ing you develop pain in muscles you never knew existed! It takes a while to build up stamina, so you want somewhere with gorgeous scenery where you can sit and chill out with a vin chaud.

   Having said that, it isn’t hard to find gorgeous scenery in the French Alps. If you have kids, you also want a good ski school. Personally I love the Three Valleys region – Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens – as it is beautiful and the fact that they are big resorts does mean they have good beginner facilities. Out of the 3, I would say Courchevel is the best for beginners by a long way. If you can afford it, stay in 1850, otherwise 1650. Meribel tends to get more shade and can get icy and slushy around the lower slopes, whereas Val Thorens is great for better skiers. La Plagne isn’t such a pretty resort as Courchevel but has a decent ski school and beginner slopes. Wherever you choose, I think you’ll have a great time, I would concentrate more on getting a good deal and nice hotel or chalet as choosing between resorts only really becomes more important when you’re confident enough to explore the whole terrain, and that is unlikely with your first trip. I recommend ifyouski.co.uk and igluski.co.uk for good websites, and Where To Ski 2007/2008 is a brilliant book which will give you ratings on all the different resorts.

   Just one word of warning – beware, ski-ing is totally addictive! Have a great time!

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