Ski Val d'Isère, France
Val d'Isère is probably the most famous and prestigious ski resort Europe, if not the world. This village has got everything for those who want to do it all - ski, shop and party - it's all here.
The beautiful old village of Val d'Isère, with it's baroque eleventh century church, comprises of a collection of small hamlets, each having their own chapel. The lovely old chalets, together
with many superb new chalets, designed in very traditional styles, create a magnificent alpine ski resort.
The village centre becomes vehicle-free on one night each week, when firework displays, music, ice sculpture and many other entertainments are provided. Every Monday near the tourist
office, the market comes to town, selling local cheeses and cured meats, sweets and clothes, giving the village a real French feel. The main street contains fashionable boutiques, restaurants,
cafés, a cinema, and bars. Try the infamous Dick's tea bar for late night shenanigans or the ever popular Morris Pub for aprés-ski live music. Your Val d'Isère lift pass includes one free entry to
the new sports centre.
Val d'Isère was originally a small farming village. It has gradually changed into a modern alpine village although it still retains a sense of tradition. The prettiest part of Val d’Isere is the Old
Village. Quaint, old, stone properties line little snow-filled streets. Embedded into the traditional stone and wood houses is the old Savoyarde way of life.
Val d'Isère, popular with both the British and French, offers some of the best skiing and boarding in the world. Set against the peaks of the Italian border, Val d'Isere's record of snowfall is
exceptional. Receiving snow from Atlantic depressions that benefit other French Ski resorts, it also receives heavy falls from Mediterranean depressions, dumping their snow on the Italian
Alps. Snow coverage, which is some of the best in Europe, ensures with rare exceptions good skiing right to the end of the season.
The first hamlet you drive through just before reaching Val d'Isere village is le Daille, with a bubble-lift and funicular railway. The centre of Val d’Isere has high-speed chair-lifts and huge
cable cars with the capacity to move quantities of skiers quickly to the best ski areas.
Le Laisinant is a small hamlet situated at the top end of Val d'Isere before the village of le Fornet. The relatively new Laisiant Express chairlift takes skiers to the top of the Solaise and le
Fornet skiing areas.
Le Fornet, three miles out of town at the end of the valley, is a quiet little hamlet, with a cable car traveling up towards the Col d’Iseran, the highest road pass in Europe. The road is closed
in winter with part of it forming a blue run back down to le Fornet. Le Fornet contains some of the Espace Killy's best off-piste skiing. The accessibility, numerous gullies and bowls available
here make it a firm favourite with off-piste skiers and boarders alike.
The ski area of Val d'Isère and Tignes, also known as the Espace Killy, is one of the most extensive ski areas in Europe.
For your Val d'Isère ski holiday, the resort has everything, with terrain to suit all standards of skiers and boarders, no matter how basic or extreme their abilities. There are 97 lifts, 300 kms
of groomed runs, two snowboard parks and two glaciers, as well as a vast expanse of off-piste. The well linked, groomed and varied pistes deserve their world class reputation.
Beginners or experts alike will clock up more skiing time here in a week than anywhere else on the continent. For novices and intermediates, there are huge open bowls, gently winding
trails and high altitude motorways to cruise. For the more experienced, there are vast off-piste playgrounds, littered with steeps, shoots, gullies, cliffs and trees.
With glacier skiing at up to 3,455 metres, snow is always guaranteed. For snowboarders this area is heaven. It's no wonder that the World Championships were held here for the 2008 /
2009 season!
44 (0)1765 677787
High altitude ski area with 100s of miles of snowsure piste
