Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Skiing holidays to France: Choose the lesser known resort

When thinking of skiing in France you can easily be distracted by the super resorts such as Tignes, Les Arcs, and Alpe d'Huez, who attract the masses year in year out.

How about choosing a lesser known resort, one with easy access to the more popular resort but that allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds and at a lower cost!

Here are a few of the neighboring resorts to choose from:

Tignes Les Brévières

You can stay in picturesque Les Brévières and ski the Espace Killy shared by Tignes and neighbouring, lift-linked, Val d'Isère. Parts of the village date back to the13th century, but it is still at a snowsure altitude of 1550m.

Unspoilt by large-scale modern development, this is still very much a corner of the real France, most of the village restaurants and bars are family run.

It is also considerably cheaper to stay in than its better known neighbors, each 15 minutes away by road and voted on eof the top ski resorts for experts !

Why Tignes Les Brévières?

·          Direct ski access to the massive Espace Killy area
·          A quiet alternative to the other bustling resorts in Tignes
·          Excellent beginners area

Accommodation in Les Brévières:


Santa Terra  - Self catered apartments

Santa Terra - Les Brevieres 


Bourg St Maurice (Les Arcs)

With the mainline train station at Bourg Saintt Maurice, you can take the funicular railway to Arc 1600 which is a convenient and easy route into the resort. It takes 7 minutes and runs every 20 minutes, starting at 07h30 and running until 20h00 (07h30-21h00 on Fridays and Saturdays). Free with a valid lift pass.

Why Bourg St Maurice – Les Arcs?

·          Easy access to Arcs 1600 from Bourg St Maurice
·          Wide variety of pistes to suit every skier/snowboarder
·          Easy rail link from the UK


Accommodation in Bourg St Maurice:

Le Coeur d'Or - Self catered apartments

Le Coeur d'Or - Bourg St Maurice 


Vaujany (Alpe d'Huez)

Linked to the superb resort of Alpe d'Huez and the Grand Domaine ski domain (250 km of pistes), Vaujany's high capacity cable car departs from the village centre and reaches the top of Pic Blanc (3330 m) in less time than from Alpe d'Huez itself - and there is less queuing too.

Vaujany is easily accessed from Grenoble (50 km) by main trunk road.

The Ski Club of Great Britain recently named Vaujany in France as Europe's most family friendly resort (October 2008).

Why Vaujany?

·          Vaujany is a charming mountain village
·          First class skiing for all with good snow conditions
·          One of the best resorts for children with new sports centre
·          Southern Alps climate with above average sunshine


Accommodation in Vaujany:

Le Crystal Balnc - Self catered apartments

Le Crystal Blanc - Vaujany


Le Grenier - Self catered apartments

Le Grenier - Vaujany

Thursday, 13 February 2014

French Alps Ski Resort Webcams

If you are looking to book your French Alps ski holiday and want to have a nosy at some of the resorts or have already booked your winter ski holiday, you may wish to view the relevant web cam for French Alps resorts. Here is a list of links to many of the French Alps resort webcams.

Les Deux Alpes Glacier Webcam, French Alps Webcam, Oisans webcams
View from Les Deux Alpes glacier webcam on 29/11/13


Grand Massif Webcams


Samoens Webcam

http://m.webcam-hd.com/grand-massif/grand-massif_samoens-1600
http://www.samoens.com/en/winter-more/toutes-les-webcams.html

Morillon Webcam

http://www.ot-morillon.fr/jy-suis/webcams
http://hiver.grand-massif.com/webcams/station/morillon

Flaine Webcam

http://www.flaine.com/en/winter/webcam-en-winter-7.htm

Portes du Soleil Webcams

Les Gets Webcam

http://en.lesgets.com/tools/webcams.html

Chatel Webcam

http://en.portesdusoleil.com/webcam-chatel-en.html
http://live.chatel.com

Morzine Webcam

http://winter.morzine-avoriaz.com/webcams-view.html
http://www.morznet.com/morzine/webcams.html

Avoriaz Webcam

http://www.avoriaz.com/en/discovering/interactive-tour/pictures-videos-and-webcam

Aravis - Lake Annecy Webcams


Le Grand Bornand Webcam

http://www.legrandbornand.com/webcams.html

La Clusaz Webcam

http://en.laclusaz.com/winter/webcams.html

Annecy Webcam

http://en.lac-annecy.com/webcams-108.htm

Mont Blanc Webcams and Val d'Arly Webcams


Chamonix Webcam

http://www.chamonix.com/webcam,12,en.html

Megeve Webcam

http://www.megeve.com/hiver/webcam-ski-montagne.html

Oisans Webcams


Les Deux Alpes Webcam

http://winter.les2alpes.com/webcams-2-alps.html

Montgenevre Webcam

http://www.montgenevre.com/le-domaine/webcams

Vaujany Webcam

http://m.webcam-hd.com/vaujany/front-de-neige

Oz-en-Oisans Webcam

http://www.oz-en-oisans.com/en/live/webcam

3 Valleys & Tarentaise Webcams


La Rosiere Webcam

http://www.larosiere.net/webcams.html

Peisey-Vallandry Webcam

http://en.peisey-vallandry.com/hiver/webcams-1.html

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Webcam

http://www.saintefoy-tarentaise.com/english

Tignes les Brevieres Webcam

http://www.tignes.net/en/skiing-in-tignes/webcams-290.html

Tignes les Boisses 1800 Webcam

http://www.tignes.net/en/skiing-in-tignes/webcams-290.html

Valmorel Webcam

http://www.valmorel.com/en/summer/valmo-live/webcam.html

Maurienne Valley Webcams


Val Cenis Webcam

http://m.webcam-hd.com/valcenis

Aussois Webcam

http://www.aussois.com/ete/site-hiver/menu-haut/webcams/139531-4898,webcams.html

Valloire Webcam

http://www.valloire.net/uk/il4-winter,pictures_p159-webcams.aspx

Saint-Francois Longchamp Webcam

http://stfrancois.labellemontagne.com/en/winter-2/webcam

Grand Domaine Webcams


Alpe d'Huez Webcam

http://www.alpedhuez.com/fr/hiver/menu-header/webcams.html

Paradiski Webcams


Les Arcs Webcam

http://www.lesarcs.com/en/ski/skiing-area.html#webcam

La Plagne Webcam

http://www.la-plagne.com/en/winter/news/webcams.html

3 Vallees Webcams


Courchevel Webcam

http://www.courchevel.com/winter/en/webcams-lc72.html

Les Menuires Webcam

http://en.lesmenuires.com/webcams

Meribel Webcam

http://www.les3vallees.com/en/webcam-meribel.331.s4.li5

Val Thorens Webcam

http://www.valthorens.com/winter-en/val-thorens/live/livecams--webcams.61.html

Espace Killy Webcams


Val d'Isere Webcam

http://www.valdisere.com/valdisere/gb/val_d_isere/webcams/webcams

Southern Alps Webcams

Isola 2000 Webcam

http://winter.isola2000.com/webcam

Vars Webcam

http://www.vars.com/hiver/fr/vars-bulletin-neige-meteo-webcam.asp




Thursday, 6 February 2014

Ski France

Skiing in France is an excellent and viable holiday option for Brits looking for outdoor adventure, not too far away from home. Ski resorts France are largely based in the French Alps although there is also a significant ski season in the French Pyrenees.

With so many French ski resorts offering different character and charm, there really is something for everyone when skiing in France. 

Skiing in Morillon, Morillon ski holidays
Skiing in Morillon

Popular French ski resorts include:



Benefits of skiing in France:

  • Easily accessible and extensive travel options - whether self drive, train or flying to the French Alps, it has never been easier to ski in France
  • Holiday types to suit everyone - whether it be family skiing, budget skiing, group ski holidays, luxury ski apartments, self catered ski chalets or ski and spa, there really is something for everyone when skiing France
  • Abundance of snowsure ski resorts due to factors such as high altitude locations, micro-climates and snow cannons
  • Plethora of ski resorts, each with its own character and style
  • Variety of runs to suite all skiing abilities - green runs, blue runs, red runs, black runs as well as excellent off-piste opportunities
  • Lively and varied apres-ski
  • Plenty of options for non-skiers and mixed-ability groups