Luxury and boutique hotel destinations
Become a member
Luxury Ski Chalets & Lodges Courchevel, France

Ski chalets in Courchevel

Courchevel Overview

France

Countryside
Endless Trois Vallées
Country life
High altitude, high life

Courchevel has built a reputation as a high altitude, high living resort where the beautiful people come to see and be seen, yet every winter it’s the vastness of the Trois Vallées that steals the show.

The largest ski area in the world has over 350 separate runs to point your Chanel skis down and there’s challenging off-piste skiing, too. Even if you eschew the glamorous piste-side restaurants – and we recommend you don’t – you’ll never tackle the Trois Vallées in a single visit. Conserve your energy; you’re going to need it for some of the most glamourous nightlife in the French Alps.

Local knowledge

Taxis
Call +33 (0)4 7901 10 10 to pre-order a taxi.

Tipping culture
A service charge is normally added to your bill (service compris) in restaurants and cafés but it’s still customary to leave a small tip. For taxi drivers, add 10 percent to the metered charge.

Siesta and Fiesta
There are some great bars and clubs in the resort, mainly up at 1850: high rollers tend to head for Les Caves on Rue des Tovets; Moroccan-themed La Grange on Rue Park-City is similarly glitzy. For a place with live music and no-nonsense partying and which doesn’t involve sweet-talking the doorman to get into try popular Le Kalico in the Forum Centre.

Cuisine
Raclette, tartiflette and fondue are deliciously filling meals that will replace all the energy you’ve expended on the slopes. Wild mushrooms are particularly good in fondues while the local smoked pork and cured ham are full of flavour. Epogne is baked dough filled with cheese and vegetables and makes for a great snack. Forest berries and orchard fruits are often made into irresistible desserts.

Regional specialities
Savoyard specialities include the region’s strong Beaufort and Reblochon cheeses. Pike, perch and trout come from the Alpine rivers and from Lake Annecy; Fera fish paté is a regional delicacy. You should also try the herb-laden pormoniers sausages and the regional terrines; both are excellent with some local Mondeuse red wine.

Currency
Euro.

Time zone
GMT +1.

Dialing codes
Country code for France: +33. Courchevel: (0)4.

Do go/don't go
The ski season lasts from early December until April with Christmas the busiest time. The resort is popular with Russians so Orthodox Christmas on the 7th January is lively too. Courchevel needs the rest of the year to recover so it’s very quite out of season.