Val Thorens – is the highest ski resort village in Europe.
Located at an altitude of 2300 meters above sea level, in the three valleys ski area, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort village in Europe.
Thanks to its 600 Kilometers of connected Ski Runs, the Three Valleys ski area is considered the best in the world. Couple that with the outstanding nightlife and après ski scene, and Val Thorens is probably the best ski resort in the world for young singles.
Val Thorens from Plan du Sud run
In this review,
We will show you the essential things you need to know before booking a vacation in Val Thorens, when to ski there, what to do in case of bad weather etc’,
And if you read it to the end, we will give you some great tips that will help you make better decisions and save money.
Val Thorens. Best ski resorts for singles?
How to get to Val Thorens?
The closest airports to Val Thorens are Chambery, Lyon And Geneva, with transfer times of 2 hours, 2 hours and 45 minutes, and 3 hours and 15 minutes, respectively.
But do be aware, the French Holiday season kicks in on the Saturday of the 2nd week of February and the 2nd week of March, and massive traffic jams may cause transfer times to extend to as long as eight hours, so planning is vital!
Here’s a link to the best online flight engine.
Here’s a link to the best online car rental website.
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If you’re coming on the train, the nearest train stop is in the town of Moutier, from where you’ll need to take a 1-hour bus journey to Val Thorens.
Which dates to book a holiday in Val Thorens?
One of the tips We can give you is not to book during the vacance because of the above and mainly, because the accommodation prices are much higher, the ski schools groups are usually full to their limits, and It is hard to find private instructors, definitely in the first days of the week and first parts of the days.
If you must go during vacance, book in advance all the above before the winter.
For night owls, the best nightlife is before the vacance as the young crowd usually avoids the top prices of the vacance.
Vacance bookings are mainly French families. Other dates bookings are international young crowd.
Val Thorens has one of the most extended ski seasons around, beginning in mid-November, and lasting until early May, after the famous Dutch week Festival.
Val Thorens is the most international ski resort in France as 70% of its visitors are not French and mainly British, Scandinavian and Dutch.
70% of the bookings are international crowd. Mainly Brits, Dutch and Scandinavians
The ski area
Val Thorens itself has 150 kilometres of ski runs which spread over the upper Belleville valley and the town of Orelle, which actually makes it a 4th valley.
The runs over Orelle are south facing, and the runs in the Belleville valley face a north-north-west direction, providing it good snow conditions.
Combes de Thorens run. Moraine gondola and 360 bar in the BKGD.
Overall, there are nine black runs, 30 red runs, 35 blue runs, and 11 green runs in the ski area of Val Thorens.
We recommend buying the 3 Valley ski pass for intermediate to advanced skiers, which cost 300 euros for six days and worth every penny.
Take note that the 3 Valleys ski area has a shorter ski season than Val Thorens, which spread from around December 10th to April 20th.
Usually, you will begin your skiing day by taking one of the small runs inside the village. Most of them will eventually lead you to the green “Roc” run, which has beginners’ facilities and the ski school meeting points.
“Roc” run is situated south of the village in the main “Artery” of Val Thorens, and from here you can take ski lifts to almost everywhere in the resort.
Roc run(green). In the BKGD you can see the carpet tube to/from village center.
On the west edge of the village, it joins the blue run “cairn”. After the cairn lift, it called “Cumin” run.
“Cumin” run extends beyond Val Thorens borders and continues all the way to Doron lift in Les Menuires.
If you enter the Cumin run and don’t have the three valleys ski pass, don’t miss the Plan de L’eau chairlift on your left; otherwise, you’ll have to buy Les Menuires daily ski pass.
Cumin run(blue). Take the left in this fork if you don’t have the three valleys skipass
Important ski lifts
Peclet gondola will take you to Peclet Glacier, the beginning of the longest toboggan course in France, and several good red ski runs.
Peclet gondola and Cascades chairlifts from Roc run.
Plein sud lift will take you to the Folley Douce apres-ski bar.
Plein sud chairlift and Cairn gondola from Cairn run(blue)
Three Valleys lift is the only connection to Meribel directly from Val Thorens.
Moutier lift is the short way to Val Thorens snow park,
Val Thorens snowpark
and Caron gondola that will take you to Cime Caron cable car, one of the largest ski lifts in the world, which can carry more than 150 passengers.
Cime Caron will lift you to Cime de Caron peak at an altitude of 3200 meters above sea level,” the most beautiful view in the alps”, according to Michelin green guide.
Cime de Caron cable car from Combe de Caron run(black)
Pay note that in bad weather, some of the cable cars and gondolas can be closed.
In that case we recommend to ski down to Les Menuires or St Martin de Belleville in order to cross to Meribel and Courchevel., and generally, ski in the lower areas of the three valleys.
Apres-ski in Val Thorens
good vibrations. Folie Douce (black run Goitschel in bkgd)
After your day of skiing, we recommend you to go to one of the best apres-ski bars in the world, the Folie Douce, to realize that you can’t get higher, higher.
can’t get any higher, higher. Folie Douce Val Thorens
You can continue the apres-ski binge after skiing back to the village on Plein Sud run.
To ski back after a couple of beers with another 500 drunks like you when the party ends is quite a thrill.
You can continue the party in the village at the dutch apres-ski bar Le Monde, or the Danish bar Snezko, which has a great cover band show every day, or just sit in O’Connells Irish bar or Frogs and watch some football game.
café Snezko. Great cover band. Saloon and O’Connells bars in BKGD.
After ten pm, it’s time to go to the Dutch club Snow Cafe, and if you still have the energy after 1 am, it’s an excellent time to go either to the Summit or either to Malaysia, the largest club in any ski resort in the world.
Malaysia. All the clubs in Val Thorens are underground. Dive into the rabbit hole!
Val Thorens has a lot to offer other than apres-ski parties and great nightlife.
The longest toboggan course in France, 5 kilometres, is recommended and cost around 10 euros. You also have the highest ice racing track in Europe and the ice driving school of Alan Frost, one of the best Formula 1 drivers in history. You can have an Omega ride of almost 2 minutes between two peaks. In addition, you can dive under ice, paraglide and many other extreme activities.
In the village, you have a bowling centre which also shows many live sports events like champions league games and others, and the sports centre which has a semi-Olympic pool, hydrotherapy pool, spa centre, tennis and squash courts, basketball court, many ping pong courts and Trampolines, and a colossal jamboree.
sports centre entrance in the big Gallery in the heart of Val Thorens.
The sports centre cost around 12 euros per admission or 70 euros for a week admission and can be a good solution for families with kids.
Where to stay in Val Thorens
Val Thorens built on a south-facing slope and planned with a system of lifts, covered bridges, and indoor shopping centres to avoid the cold weather, which can plummet to -25 degrees in January.
Val Thorens built on a south facing slopes and planned well as a ski resort.
The town centre is the main shopping centre with the vast sports centre under its roof.
Indoor shopping in the main gallery
Above the main shopping centre, there is a ski run that crosses the village and above it, along the main street, Rue the Gabroulaz, sits the Val Thorens strip, which is the area Where you’ll find most of the good apres-ski bars and nightlife places.
Le Monde Dutch apres ski bar in Val Thorens strip.
Val Thorens offers all the accommodation styles from basic apartments up to luxurious five stars hotels.
Because Val Thorens located on a slope, most of the hotels and apartments are ski in ski out, or almost ski in ski out.
mostly ski-in/ski-out accommodation.
Conclusion
To conclude, these are our numbers for Val Thorens:
for snowboarders: 9 (Together with the three valleys, there are endless possibilities for Snowboarders. The fact that there is a drag lift along with the Snow park damage the otherwise impressive ten score.)
beginners: 9
intermediates: 9
advanced skiers: 9
freestylers: 9
free-riders: 10 (Together with the three valleys, there is indeed the largest off-piste area than any other ski area in the world.)
nightlive: 10 (Many packed bars for every taste, and you can party here in a good vibes high energy parties from 4 pm to 4 am)
apres-ski: 9 ( This Foley Douce is among the best apres-ski bars in the world today. )
Resort Charm: 7.5 (The absence of trees makes it a little bit boring, but the many chairlifts and little ski slopes crossing the village give it a unique charm all of its own)
Total score Val Thorens is 9
Insiders’ tips for Val Thorens:3
Better come with a car to Flachau. There are free parking lots next to the Spacejet and Achterjet lifts, And the a-10 highway will lead you easily from Salzburg airport, to Flachau.
Our first tip is for people who come by trains:
make sure you arrive at Moutier before 4 pm as later there are no buses to Val Thorens.
Our 2nd tip:
Because Val Thorens is so high, it takes time for the body to acclimate, and you are likely to feel exhausted in the first two days.
Our recommendation is not to party hard on these nights, if at all, because you will have little energy, and if you drink, like your typical weekend, you will probably suffer quite a harsh hangover.
The last tip is not to come to Val Thorens by car, as there are only 3 designated parking garages that cost 70 euros per week. Everything you need is within easy walking distance, and on-street parking will land you a ticket, so it’s unlikely you’ll need the car for the duration of your visit anyway.
