Not only for the Aristocrats
3 Valleys pedestrian lifts map 2023
Courchevel winter hiking trails map 2023
Courchevel Cross Country ski map
Courchevel ski resort is part of the beautiful Les Trois Vallees, aka the Three Valleys, which is the largest linked ski area in the world and located in the Savoie region in the French Alps.
Courchevel resort consists of five distinctly separate ski resort villages: Courchevel La Tania, Courchevel Le Praz aka Courchevel 1300, Courchevel Village aka Courchevel 1550, Courchevel Moriond, aka Courchevel 1650, and Courchevel, aka Courchevel 1850, most named for their altitudes in meters, approximately.
In this article we will show you the essential things you need to know before booking a vacation in Courchevel.
How to get to Courchevel?
The closest airports to Courchevel are Chambéry, Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva with a transfer time of 1 and a half hours, 2 hours, 2 hours and two and a half hours accordingly.
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If you are coming by train, the nearest train stop is in the town of Moutiers where you need to take a 30 to 60 minutes bus drive to Courchevel, depending on which part of the resort you’re staying.
A taxi will cost you 40-70 euros, accordingly
Which Courchevel village to stay?
If driving, The first village you will encounter is Courchevel Le Praz .
Courchevel 1300 / Courchevel Le Praz. Look from the west
Courchevel Le Praz is filled with beautiful traditional wooden chalets. The prominent landmark of this village is the ski jumping hill, built in 1992 for Winter Olympics and still in use today.
Courchevel Le Praz. The ski jump is on the right. Look from the north
In Le Praz, you can turn right towards La Tania La Tania is the newest village. It was built for the 1992 Winter Olympics.
It is a good value, friendly base from which you can explore the slops of its higher Three Valley neighbours.
Built on 1400m, it has a wood-clad building that sits comfortably in a pretty woodland, quite a different view of many higher altitude ski resorts.
La tania
La Tania and Le Praz are the only villages that have free parking. Expect to pay around 100 euros for weekly parking in the other resorts.
Courchevel Le Praz viewed from the east
If you continue with the road from La Praz, you will arrive in Courchevel 1550.
Courchevel village centre
1550, AKA Courchevel village, is a quiet backwater with a mixture of individual chalets and block-like buildings.
Courchevel 1550 from slopes
After leaving 1550 towards 1650, you will see to your left a new indoor water park named Aquamotion; this will tell you that you arrived at Courchevel 1650.
Aquamotion
1650, aka Courchevel Moriond, set on the main road that passes through town at the centre. There you can find varied shops, restaurants and bars.
Courchevel Moriond/ Courchevel 1650
It has a huge new watersport centre called aquamotion.
Courchevel 1650 from Ariondaz gondola
Courchevel 1650 also have an excellent toboggan run, named “Moriond Racing”.
Moriond racing”. From ariondaz gondola top station to buttom.
The last village is the jewel of the crown of ski resorts, maybe to all of them.
Courchevel 1850, AKA Courchevel, is the most prestigious ski resort in the world. Known as the rich and famous ski resort, Courchevel has luxury chalets and expensive hotels, plus it is a home for a few Michelin restaurants.
Courchevel 1850 viewed from north east. FIS world championship tour run is between the red fences
This ski resort has its own airline company and Airport. Built on an upward-sloping, it is available for landing only by private small jet aircraft or helicopters. The only ski resort in Europe with a jet’s airport runway.
Courchevel airport .
Courchevel ski has a long season beginning in December and last to the end of April.
While Courchevel 1850 has the most high-end hotels and shops, its prices are a bit high.
Fans of the traditional French feel should head to Courchevel 1650-Moriond or Courchevel 1550, Le Praz and La Tania, which are more affordable.
Courchevel 1650 centre
How are Courchevel villages connected?
Courchevel resort villages are linked by lifts, pistes, and a road with efficient and frequent free bus service connecting Courchevel 1300 to 1550, 1650 and 1850 every 30 minutes from 07:00 until 02:00 the following day.
After that, a taxi ride from 1850 will cost euros you from 10-12 euros to Mariond, 15 euros to Courchevel village and 20-25 euros to Le Praz or vice versa.
The ski area
Saulire peak. Courchevel valley to the right. Meribel valley to the left. To ski to Meribel, Val Thorens or Les Menuires you’ll need 3 valleys skipass
Courchevel has many north-facing slopes, making the snow in the Courchevel valley the best in the whole ski area.
Courchevel 1850 lies in the middle of ski runs and ski lifts web.
The resort’s northerly orientation, height and abundance of snowmaking means reliable snow down to 1650 or 1550, so ski-in/ski-out accommodations are often possible
Courchevel 1850. 1650 in the bkgd. 1550 in the left edge. Ski in ski out mostly.
The ski area of Courchevel itself has 150 kilometres of ski runs, and with Meribel, Val Thorens, and Les Menuires ski areas combined to 600km of ski runs, in the largest and best ski area in the world, Les Trois Vallees!
Overall there are ten black runs, 32 red runs, 35 blue runs and 23 green runs in the ski area of Courchevel.
The ski area of Courchevel spans from 2738 meters above sea level to 1100 meter above sea level in the village of Saint Bon, the lowest altitude the three valleys get.
Saulire peak at 2738m is the highest point in Courchevel ski pass area.
The ski area offers well-groomed runs with pretty wooded skiing and a great view from the upper slopes to Mont Blanc.
Mont Blanc as seen from Comb Saulire run
The ski area has a good selection of nursery slopes for beginners near every village, with Moriond as a more low-key area and always quieter.
Western park nursery area, close to Courchevel 1650.
ski school meeting points:
The first, in Courchevel 1850: next to the top of the Tovets chair lift. It is below the Croisette building near Chez Gaston restaurant. If you’re on skis, ski under the bridge near the bottom of the piste.
Courchevel 1850 ski school meeting point, next to Gaston restaurant
in Courchevel 1650: next to the Ariondaz bubble. After you come up the centre’s escalators, leave the lift pass building, head to the right, underneath the gondola.
1650 ski school meeting point is on the other side of Ariondaz gondola
In Courchevel 1550, the ski school meeting point is next to the tovets chairlift
1550 ski school meeting point next to Tovets chairlift
Courchevel offers a considerable amount of off-piste terrain. If you want to explore the off-piste, the excellent idea is to hire a guide. The Bureau des Guides runs daily off-piste excursions.
off-piste above and beneath the tree-line.
The ski resort has state of the art lift infrastructure means queues are minimal, plus there’s a fair distribution of gondolas for those that enjoy taking their skis off.
Apres ski
Regarding apres ski, we recommend you visit Les Verdons on your way skiing back to the village. This restaurant has live music, dancing and is a short slide from Courchevel, 1850.
Les Verdons is located at the bottom of Saulire cable car and Vitzelle gondola, and top of Les Verdons gondola, above the snow-park.
We also recommend you give a visit to La Folie Douce Meribel Courchevel if you have the three valleys ski pass. It is located in the Meribel Valley, just under the Saulire express lift mid-station. Don’t miss the last lift to Saulire peak; otherwise, a three digits taxi fare will hit you hard
Courchevel 1850 has no less than 6 Michelin stars restaurants, more than 90% of the countries worldwide. Although their price range is not for everyone, it is a superb culinary experience.
six Micheline star restaurants
And if you still have the energy for the after-hours, visit the Funky Fox at 1650 or Les Cave club at 1850, where you can party until the morning!
Funky fox bar at Courchevel 1650.
Les Cave club in Courchevel 1850
Courchevel offers many other attractions like “western park”, great tobogganing courses, and for more daredevil’s looking for an adrenaline rush, you can go heli-skiing. Although banned in France, a short flight will take you to some fantastic Italian and Swiss mountains peaks.
Courchevel 1850 centre at night. Magical
Conclusions
Before we wrap up,
Here are our numbers for Courchevel, based on staying in 1850, with a three valleys ski pass:
- For snowboarders: 9
- Beginners:9
- Intermediates: 9
- Advanced skiers: 9
- Free riders: 10
- Free stylers: 8.5
- Apres-ski: 8
- Nightlife: 7.5
- Charm: 10
And our total score for Courchevel is 9.2
Courchevel 1850
For couples and families, Courchevel 1850 is probably the best ski resort in the world today, although the prices are not for everyone.
Our tips for Courchevel:
- If you come on the high season in a car, book parking in advance if your hotel doesn’t have free parking.
- Since the 2020 season, a new four-seater chairlift connects the new hotel Ecrin Blanc, opposite the Aquamotion, to 1850.
- You can save a lot of money if you book your vacation in the low season.
You’ll be surprised to find it affordable. The hotel rates between high and low season are more significant than any other ski resort.
Courchevel 1850 ice rink, in the in-door shopping centre.
