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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.

Dialling 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.

Courchevel Hotels

€ £ $

Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and romantic boutique hotels in Courchevel



Getting there

Luxury Ski Chalets & Lodges Courchevel, France

We give you the inside track on how to get to Courchevel including how to land on the mountain itself.

Planes
Chambéry airport is nearest and just under 90 minutes away. Flybe has services in the winter from Southampton, Norwich, Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle (www.flybe.com). It’s about three hours to Lyon and Geneva airports. Helicopter and private plane transfers to the Courchevel Altiport are the most convenient but the landings and take-offs look quite terrifying if you ask us.
Trains
Eurostar operates a convenient overnight Ski Train service. It runs on Fridays and Saturdays stopping at Moûtier 30 minutes from Courchevel (www.eurostar.com).
Automobiles
Follow the E711 and E70 from Lyon, or the E25 and E712 from Geneva to Chambéry. Take the péage to Albertville and then the N90 dual carriageway to Moûtier. Just beyond the town the road to Courchevel climbs the mountainside in a series of tight hairpin bends.
Luxury Ski Chalets & Lodges Courchevel, France

Ski chalets in Courchevel

Courchevel Activities

Early nights aren’t really part of the Courchevel scene but we’ve found a wealth of activities that will have you raring to get back out on the slopes in the morning.

Worth getting out of bed for

Courchevel itinerary
More…

Viewpoint
A cable car can whisk you straight from Courchevel 1850 to the summit of Saulire at just over 2700 metres. Savour the view then steel yourself for the red and black runs that get you back down again. Some of the routes are very challenging so choose wisely.

Arts and culture
Galerie d'Art de l'Alpage apparently had a Picasso sculpture up for grabs a few seasons ago for a cool half a million euros. If you have half a million to spend then go and see what they have on offer this winter; if you don’t have half a million… well just pretend you do. Consider it practice.

Something for nothing
In the evenings the lifts are closed and the pistes between the resorts are opened up to toboggans; there’s a great two-kilometre run between Courchevel 1850 and 1550.

Shopping
What do you mean you didn’t bring your Prada ski suit? Fear not; you can buy it here. There are also Hermès and Christian Dior boutiques, Julian Joailliers jewellers and the Galerie d'Art de l'Alpage if you really want to splash out. Mere mortals may prefer to buy their ski fashions at Quiksilver in Le Forum shopping centre.

Daytripper
For really extreme sports head to La Plagne to shoot the bobsleigh run. Built for the Olympic Games in 1992, it’s possible to reach speeds in excess of 60 miles an hour as you hurtle along the 1500-metre-long course. Pulling over four Gs in the bends is exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.

Children
Courchevel has an excellent ski school and its wide range of beginners’ slopes make it an ideal place to learn. The ski school’s Village des Enfants is just below the Forum Centre and has a Nursery Kindergarten for children as young as 18 months (www.esfcourchevel.com).Off the slopes there’s a popular ice rink and a ten-pin bowling alley in the Forum Centre itself.

Activities
Courchevel is part of the Trois Vallées ski area – the largest in Europe. There are over 200 ski lifts and almost 350 ski runs in the immediate area, offering suitable terrain for both beginners and experienced skiers. The resort’s high altitude usually guarantees excellent snow conditions and serious skiers will love the black Les Suisses run and the off-piste couloirs near The Saulire. You can also try skidooing, hot-air ballooning, parapenting, ice-skating, tobogganing and snow shoeing; contact Whitetracks on +33 (0)686 12 34 17, www.whitetracks.co.uk.

And...
Ever felt like tackling an Olympic ski jump? No, us neither – until now; Whitetracks offer the chance to go snow-rafting in an inflatable dingy down the 70 degree incline of the landing slope.

Diary

7 January You may be a long way from Russia but you can’t help noticing it’s Orthodox Christmas. 20–25 January Columbia Ride Week features the world’s best freeriders and includes film screenings of their daredevil antics as a finale. February The International Fire and Arts Festival lights up Courchevel with pyrotechnics.

Luxury Ski Chalets & Lodges Courchevel, France

Ski chalets in Courchevel

Courchevel
Eating, drinking and dancing

We've tracked down the best mountain hangouts for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails as well as the finest restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Courchevel.

Restaurants

(+33 (0)4 79 00 11 71)

The Bateau Ivre

Courchevel 1850 is the only place in the Alps where you’ll find a pair of two-Michelin-star restaurants right next to each other. This restaurant at the Pomme de Pin hotel has the best views of the slopes.

Le Bateau Ivre, La Pomme de Pin Hotel, Courchevel 1850

(+33 (0)4 79 08 00 55)

Chabichou

Right next to the Bateau Ivre is the gastronomically spectacular Chabichou, also with two Michelin stars. There’s no shortage of wonderful ways to blow your cash at 1850.

Chabichou, Rue des Chenus, 73121 Courchevel 1850

(+33 (0)4 79 08 80 34)

Le Farçon

This restaurant in La Tania has a mere one Michelin star – oh dear. The nine-course tasting menu is excellent.

Le Farçon, La Tania, Courchevel

(+33 (0)4 79 08 10 90)

La Crêperie du Moulin

This informal and friendly restaurant is great for crêpes in the afternoon and fondue in the evening.

La Crêperie du Moulin, Place du Tremplin, Courchevel 1850

(+33 (0)4 79 08 08 63)

Le Genépi

The only thing this restaurant lacks is a terrace. They serve excellent, classic French food so it’s still a firm favourite.

Le Genépi, Rue Park City, Courchevel 1850

(+33 (0)4 79 08 27 44)

La Petit Savoyard

This restaurant in Courchevel 1650 is the perfect place for inexpensive local dishes and wood-fired pizzas.

La Petit Savoyard, Rue du Marquis, Courchevel 1650


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