Best places without needing a car or bus

Hi,

I was thinking of going to one of the main areas in France (Portes du Soleil, 3Vallees, Espàce Killy, or ParadiSki) and was wondering which one was best if I didn't want to use a car or a bus each day while there. I don't need to stay slopeside, and don't mind having to walk or skate-ski 50m or so to get to a lift. I mainly don't want to be dependent on a bus schedule, both in terms of getting around within the resort that I stay in (skiing and apres), as well as connecting to other resorts in the area. Or, if not using a bus is unrealistic, which one at least has the best bus service?

I've seen some good things said about Avoriaz in PdS, Les Arcs in ParadiSki, Mirabel in 3Vallees, but I'm not sure what is actually true. I heard conflicting things on going between Val d'Isere and Tignes (that if you stay in Tignes, you are trapped with nowhere to eat at night because everything is in Vd'I).

I was also wondering which one would be the least crowded--I'm likely going early-to-mid March, hoping to avoid school holiday crowds. However, I heard someone say that Portes du Soleil gets crowded by day trippers from Geneva. Is this true, or are all the places mostly the same in March?

Thanks,

michael

Welcome to J2ski :D For your needs Avoriaz seems the most obvious choice as it's a car free resort. No private vehicles are allowed in resort, there are horse drawn sleighs for guests and skidoos to haul commercial stuff.
As far as not needing to be slopeside, but being prepared to skate or walk 50 metres to the slope, you may find that harder to achieve in Europe, unless you take accommodation directly on the slopes.

Pretty well everywhere is busy in March, and day trippers from Geneva and Lyon (for example) can easily reach the Tarentaise as well as PdS.

Tignes runs a pretty good bus service between the ski stations, and AFAIR it runs past midnight. Nightlife is as loud as you can stand it :twisted:

Val D'Isere runs an equally good resort shuttle serving the valley uplift points.

Hi Michael, welcome to J2Ski (and Europe!).

All the areas you mention have masses of accommodation within an easy walk of a lift. They are all vast and comprise many individual villages / resorts, however, so you will need to do a bit more research and decide what suits you best.

All are pretty well interlinked in terms of lifts; Espace Killy less so perhaps but the two main areas of Tignes and Val d'Isere are each pretty big. Of course - be careful about being on the right side of the mountain when the lifts close! 8)

if you stay in Tignes, you are trapped with nowhere to eat at night because everything is in Vd'I

No - there's loads of eateries and drinking venues in Tignes (more so in Tignes le Lac, but still enough for most people in Val Claret - 15 minute bus ride between the two at night).

Early to mid-March will be perfect timing and you'd be very unlucky to encounter any serious crowds at all. PdS is popular for day trippers but you'll not notice that except maybe on Sundays; Saturday is the most common changeover day for tourists, and some French schools have lessons on a Saturday morning - so the families tend to come out on Sundays.

Most importantly, how long is your trip, what level of skier are you, and how important is nightlife?

You're not going to go far wrong with any of your options but if a European "Big Mountain" experience is what you're after then Les Arcs and Tignes would be my choice - you could easily do both as they're close enough for day-trips either way.

Hi Michael,
We have skied twice at Val Thorens in the Three Valleys, and you certainly don't need to use the ski bus there, although I believe there is one. You can ski down to the lifts from pretty much anywhere in the resort, and they have drag lifts to get you back up to your chalet/apartment/hotel, or you can choose the run that ends up at the back of the resort and ski back.

The whole place is basically ski in and ski out as long as you aren't a beginner. But it's not particularly pretty, because it is all purpose built, and there are no trees, so it depends on what you want. Courchevel in the 3V's is much prettier with trees but more expensive.

I don't know how busy it is at the beginning of March, but I don't suppose it will be busier than during Feb half-term when we were there, and the resort seemed to cope fine with the vast number of skiers because there is an excellent lift system, so although the queues look very long in the morning they also move very fast.

Ally

Val Thoren wasn't that busy the last week in March this year and is a s described above...but how about Samoens on the Grand Massif ...nice little village and a free local bus (5mins) round to the lift station

I was going to suggest La Plagne or Val Thorens

Nightlife in Tignes Le Lac is fine but buses would almost certainly come into the equation at some point during your holiday.
I'd go to Les Arcs, buses not required :thumbup: and not madly busy even when we were there at new year.

Tony_H wrote:I was going to suggest La Plagne or Val Thorens

You will need to use the bus in La Plagne if you wanna get around at night.