France. Despite the long history of trouble and strife between Britain and France, the Brits have a love affair with visiting – and skiing in – in France. Prior to COVID, 13 million trips were made across the channel each year, and, according to latest data supplied by the Ski Club of Great Britain, 60% of British skiers skied in France during the 2023/24 season totalling over 1 million people.
For many, France means skiing and skiing means France. School trips and family holidays in chalets dominate the memory of many skier’s childhoods, as does the “French Side” of Geneva Airport and tartiflette. French resorts boast some of the longest piste totals anywhere in the world and the French Alps are home to, arguably, some of the best off piste skiing anywhere in the World.
So, if you are looking to plan a French ski holiday, or are already familiar with the best bits of French skiing and want to explore more of the best France has to offer, here is Skiing Unlocked’s guide to the best places to ski in France, and why you should ski them!
1. The 3 Vallees – The Best On Piste Skiing
The Three Vallees consist of the major resorts of Val Thorens, Meribel and Courchevel, as well as their neighbours of La Tania, Saint Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires, and Orelle, the fourth of the three valleys!
The 3 Vallees showcase the best 600km of piste skiing in France, each valley a different character to explore. Val Thorens is high and snowsure, offering skiing early and late into the season and excellent off piste along the way. Courchevel is full of beautiful rolling relaxing blues and reds, a well-heeled resort perfect for cruising and relaxing. And in the middle, Meribel, a collection of villages that combine the best of them all, pistes you can shred, cruise and enjoy, and some serious off piste capped off by some heart-stopping couloirs at the very top of the valley.
There is something for everyone in The 3 Vallees, regardless of ability or ambition. If you want adrenaline fuelled skiing full of risk or reward, there is the Grand Couloir in Meribel or the multiple World Cup and World Championship calibre pistes littered about the place. If you are just getting into skiing, the sheltered beginner slopes in Meribel Mottaret or the snowsure, open magic carpet-fed village in Val Thorens are the perfect playground to learn to ski.
The 3 Vallees and its myriad of resorts are the best place in France to find perfect pisted skiing!
2. Les Arcs – The Best for Sustainability
Les Arcs could well be one of the best places to ski in France for its piste skiing, serving 200km of pistes on its own slopes and over 400km shared with Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne. Ideal for intermediates and plenty of room for beginners to grow, why is Les Arcs not the best place to ski in France on piste?
Well, it is one of the leading resorts when it comes to sustainability. It is a recipient of a two-star Flocon Vert award that recognises resorts that have taken extra steps to support environmental, social and environmental sustainability. In Les Arcs’ case, it has been recognised for its measures to reduce waste and energy use, drawing in more renewable energy and shifting commercial vehicles to sustainable fuel.
Furthermore, you can reach Les Arcs from the UK entirely on public transport! Bourg Saint Maurice is served by direct TGV services from Paris, Lille and Brussels, all of which serve Eurostar trains to London. And from Bourg, it is as simple as changing platforms and hopping on the funicular railway to take you from the valley floor direct to the resort!
3. St Gervais – The Best to Avoid the Crowds
Skiing in France is really popular, but that means that the best places to ski in France can also be really busy, especially during peak weeks such as school half term. So how do you avoid the crowds whilst still finding the best places to ski in France?
Head to St Gervais. For many, St Gervais (or St Gervais les Bains to give it its full name) will just be a name on a road sign on the long transfer to Chamonix, or maybe a place to change trains if travelling responsibly. But there is so much to St Gervais and the Evasion Mont Blanc ski area that it stands as one of the best places to ski in France on its own merits! Over 400km of pistes link several key resort bases, with St Gervais being the stand-out.
Lying in the shadow of Mont Blanc, St Gervais is France’s only Alpine spa town, a collection of around a dozen towns and villages that are highly and historically regarded for their thermal waters; where better to relax after a long day on the pistes than in naturally heated thermal baths?! Unknown to British skiers and barely known to the French, this resort is one of the best places to ski in France as well as being ideal to avoid the crowds.
4. La Clusaz – The Best Food
La Clusaz is the world’s oldest purpose-built ski resort (by some counts), opening its first lift in 1906. The resort fits neatly into an authentic Savoyard village, with picturesque church and town square, and lies within the Aravis region close to Annecy. On another list, it might be the best "French" ski resort in France!
The Aravis is known, alongside its skiing, for its food. It is home to Reblochon, a staple of any French cheese board, known for its smooth texture and nutty flavour, and a key ingredient in tartiflette. Alongside this, Persillé des Aravis provides more of a kick for serious cheese enthusiasts (unlike me), and Chevrotin offers a goats cheese alternative. Mix in a huge range of meat products including cured sausage, and foodies are in for a really good time.
Oh, and there are 130km of pistes rising up to 2,500m, and this straight away becomes one of the best places to ski in France. There’s a reason why the UK ski industry base their annual ski test here, and why Candide Thovex calls this his home resort – maybe you can enjoy a nice long lunch enjoying the local cuisine watching him tear up the slopes!
5. Tignes – Val d’Isere – The Best Off Piste Skiing
Many lists will keep these two resorts separate; they are, after all, two very different villages, Val d’Isere managing to retain an original charm (despite it being entirely purposely built in the 1950s) and Tignes representing a more brutalist utilitarian shrine to skiing. They are two sides to the same coin, and having skied them relentlessly for much of the last few years I still struggle to tell them apart, so I have bundled them together here.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Tignes – Val d’Isere’s on piste offering. Even though it offers an leg-burning 300km of pistes, I’ve always felt I’m skiing to get somewhere here, rather than skiing for skiing’s sakes.
But it’s the “somewhere” you’re skiing to that makes it most worthwhile. Tignes – Val d’Isere is home to some of the best off piste skiing not only in France but perhaps in the World. For the beginners, Familial and Genepe, both well known in-bounds (yes that is a thing here) routes, provide a fantastic introduction to powder skiing, before Cugnaï and Col Pers strike out into the unknown, depositing you miles from the crowds and skiing untouched powder from top to bottom.
High and snowsure, Tignes – Val d’Isere is guaranteed to give you a good time and clearly sets it apart as one of the best places to ski in France
Final Thoughts
France is the most popular destinations for skiers from the UK; around 60% head to France, far more than any other skiing nation. With the collection of resorts above, its easy to see why, and hard to see why anyone would want to go anywhere else! Vive la ski Français!
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