Skiing Courchevel: pick your village, your runs and your weeks

Ride the Praz gondola out of Le Praz at 1,300 m and the stone chalets drop away below the pines. Step off at Courchevel 1850 and the pistes are already corduroy, groomed overnight by a fleet of snowcats. Above you, the Saulire cable car climbs to 2,738 m, where the shady Combe de la Saulire holds the best snow of the day. Courchevel is famous for its five-star hotels, but the reason to go is the skiing: long, beautifully prepared runs, a forest for the grey days, and a lift link into the biggest ski area in the world.

Courchevel's own ski area has 150 km of marked slopes, spread over six villages that are all linked by lifts and pistes, so nobody needs a shuttle during the day. La Saulire, reached by cable car, tops out at 2,738 m, and much of the resort sits above 1,800 m, where a snowmaking system covering more than half of the slopes backs up the natural snowfall. Courchevel is also a gateway to Les 3 Vallées, which the Courchevel Tourist Office calls the largest ski area in the world: 600 km and 347 marked runs, served by 155 lifts between 1,100 m and 3,230 m, with 85% of the terrain above 1,800 m. From Courchevel, Méribel is two lifts away and Val Thorens four, all on skis. The mix suits a group of different levels, with more than 180 green or blue runs, the two easiest grades, and more than 140 red or black ones across the whole area.

The tourist office's guide to Les 3 Vallées from Courchevel has the piste map and the links between valleys. On the snow, the Col de la Loze lift takes you over to Méribel, while the Praz gondola and the Vizelle chairlift carry you into the heart of the Courchevel side. For higher, steeper off-piste in the French Alps, read our guide to Chamonix ski holidays.

Pick the village by how you ski and how you like your evenings. The higher you sleep, the closer you are to the big terrain; the lower you go, the quieter and more village-like it gets. All six are linked on skis, and Les 3 Vallées' Courchevel page notes free buses between them, so a group can sleep in one and ski from another.

Courchevel 1850 (1,850 m) is the highest village and the one with direct access to the highest peaks. It has 17 five-star hotels and 3 palaces, Michelin-starred restaurants and the bars and clubs that come alive at nightfall. For skiing, it sits just below several long, wide and exceptionally easy green runs. It suits a mixed group that wants the shortest walk to the lifts and a late night out.

Courchevel Moriond (1,650 m) is the sunny one, on a high plateau with wide slopes and a family feel. Its ski area sits slightly out on a limb, still linked to 1850, with long gentle cruises above the village that are excellent for novices. On a rest day, the 4.5 km Lac de la Rosière trail climbs gently towards views of the Dent du Villard. It suits families and improving skiers who want sun and space.

Courchevel Village (1,550 m) is calm and family friendly, with lifts close at hand and quick access to La Saulire. The Grangettes gondola links it to 1850. It suits families who want the big mountain without the bustle.

Courchevel Le Praz (1,300 m) keeps its farmhouses and stone chalets at the foot of the Olympic ski jumps. The Jean-Blanc and Jockeys runs come down to it through the trees, and cross-country trails run all around it. It suits confident skiers who like a quiet village at the end of the day.

Courchevel La Tania (1,400 m) keeps cars out of the village and sits in the forest. With the most trees of any area, it is the place to ski in poor visibility. It suits families and anyone who wants shelter on flat-light days, when cloud wipes out the contours of the snow.

Saint-Bon (1,100 m) is where Courchevel began in 1908, with a Baroque church and narrow streets. It suits skiers who want a lived-in village to walk around after the lifts close.

For a hotel, the two that theKlub rates for skiers in Courchevel are LYS MARTAGON, five stars with a guest rating of 10.0 out of 10, and White 1921 Courchevel, four stars and rated 9.8 by 20 guests. Our ski in Courchevel page has more stays for a ski week.

Beginners should start in the Easy Rider zones, which the tourist office describes as secure, wide, gently sloping areas built for learning and reachable from every village. The gentlest green and blue slopes are around Pralong, Ariondaz and Bellecôte. A 1-day Minipass, one price for children and adults, covers only the Easy Rider zones, so first days on skis cost less than a full lift pass.

One thing to know before you book: the nursery slope nearest the centre of 1850 is reserved for the École du Ski Français (ESF), the French national ski school. Once you can link your turns, the long, wide green runs above 1850 make the best next step, and 1650 is just as good for novices. Families can add the Family Park at 1850 and the Children's Village, a fenced, 3 hectare play area on snow.

Courchevel's ski schools work in every village, among them the ESF, the ESI and Oxygène, with group and private lessons for adults and children. The ESF Courchevel 1850 alone counts 500 instructors, and children can start lessons from age 3.

Intermediates have the whole of Les 3 Vallées to play with, and experts should head up to La Saulire. Timid intermediates will enjoy the runs off the Pralong and Biollay chairs and the long gentle cruises above 1650. Bolder ones get testing reds and easy blacks in every area, then a day out to Méribel, Les Menuires or Val Thorens. Even the links between valleys are within an intermediate's reach.

For experts, the Combe de la Saulire comes first: it stays in the shade and often holds the best snow in Courchevel. At the top of the Saulire cable car, the Grand Couloir, a steep gully, ranks among the steepest pistes in the Alps; it is never groomed, but it is avalanche-controlled. When cloud sits on the summits, drop down the Jean-Blanc and Jockeys, long black runs that plunge through the trees to Le Praz.

The off-piste around Saulire, Vizelle and Creux is the other draw. Ski it with a guide: the tourist office lists Courchevel Mountain Guide and ESA Black Ski among the teams that take skiers off-piste and ski touring, and the resort also runs supervised freeride areas.

Then there is L'Éclipse, the black run that hosted the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and holds women's World Cup slalom races in December. It is the home hill of Alexis Pinturault, France's most decorated alpine skier, who grew up here and trained at the Club des Sports Courchevel.

Ski Courchevel between December and April, and pick January or early February for good snow with fewer people. In the 2026 to 2027 season, Courchevel opens on 4 December and the Les 3 Vallées links on 5 December, and both close on 18 April. December brings the women's World Cup slalom on L'Éclipse and a buzz in the villages; late season brings longer, sunnier days, with softer snow on the lower slopes in the afternoon. Lift passes cost less from 5 to 18 December and from 10 to 18 April, and Les 3 Vallées' pass page names Saturday as the quietest day on the slopes.

The table below is theKlub's month-by-month climate for Courchevel, averaged over 2016 to 2025 from Open-Meteo. It is measured at the resort's centre point, so read it as village weather, not the summits: the wet-day column counts days with 1 mm or more of rain or snow, not the snow on the pistes.

Fly to Chambéry for the shortest transfer, about 1 hour 30 minutes, with direct flights from many European cities in winter. Geneva and Lyon Saint Exupéry are the bigger alternatives, about 2 hours 15 minutes away by road. By train, Moûtiers is the closest station, with direct trains from Paris, and shuttle buses and taxis run up to the resort from there.

Once you arrive, leave the car: the villages are linked on skis and by free buses. Passes are sold online, in the Les 3 Vallées app and at sales points in 1850, Moriond, Village, Le Praz and La Tania. Val Thorens, at the top of the same lift area, has its own guide: ski holidays in Val Thorens.

Courchevel rewards a little planning, because the right village puts the right slopes outside your door. Start with the Easy Rider zones or the Saulire, keep La Tania for the grey days, and save one bluebird day for the long ride over to Val Thorens. For more mountains worth the trip, browse our ski holidays with theKlub. Then choose your village by the level of the least confident skier, and book their lessons before you book the lifts. La Plagne, further along the Tarentaise valley, has its own guide: La Plagne ski holidays.