Top French Family Ski Resorts
The French Alps are famed for their skiing. From charming alpine villages, to skiing the huge Alps, France is an amazing place to plan a family ski holiday. Here are our Top Ski Resorts for Family Holiday in France.
Les Trois Vallées is amazing, the largest ski resort in the world with 600 kilometers of trails (over 370 miles) served by 160 interconnected lifts. Courchevel is the most famous of Les Trois Vallées ski towns, and we think its the most charming with the best hotels at 1850, restaurants and you’re closest to the higher elevation snow. The chalet architecture is lovely, the sparkling trees make a snow globe atmosphere. You can ski to Méribel ski resort- the heart of the Les Trois Vallées, another delightful alpine ski resort village. Val Thorens is the largest of the 3 Valleys, with a modern base village and sophisticated lifts in all directions, a huge ski school, fun zones for the kids, and a lot of freeride skiing.
Val D’Isère Tignes
, also called L’Espace Killy for the famous French ski racer Jean Claude Killy, is huge, with over 300 kilometers of skiing – all interconnected by 76 lifts. Val d’Isère is an authentic alpine village – dating to medieval times. Meanwhile, neighboring Tignes is more modern, lacking the alpine charm in the base villages, but it makes up for that on the mountain terrain parks for the kids, super scenic skiing high up on a glacier. A family ski holiday at Val d’Isère Tignes will keep your family well amused with so much skiing and scenery.
Serre Chevalier is the biggest best French ski resort you have never heard of. This southern French Alps resort is huge, over 250 kilometer of skiing, 60 lifts, high elevation (2800 meters) with great long runs, and unbelievable off-piste freeriding, near the famous medieval town of Briancon.
Val Cenis
in the beautiful Haute Maurianne valley is a gem, big mountain skiing, with a small, pleasant village of Lanslebourg, plus two other bases. High elevation, nice lifts, long runs, great off-piste snow bowls, wonderful on-mountain huts, great scenery – in a quiet scenic valley – that’s Val Cenis, and its more affordable, less-hurried! From here you can ski further up the valley at rustic but real Bonneval sur Arc, and you are also near France’s more popular 2 Alpes and Alpe D’Huez.
La Plagne and Les Arcs make up Paradiski – the second biggest linked ski resort in the world, behind Les Trois Vallées, includes skiing on two glaciers, 425 kilometers of skiing, and a highest elevation at Aiguille Rouge of 10,583′. While it’s not as historic or authentic alpine (frankly ugly architecture) as French resorts like Megeve, Courchevel, and Méribel, its more affordable with tons of family-friendly ski terrain.
Chamonix
is home to the highest mountain peak in The Alps of Europe- the famous 15,632′ Mont Blanc. We like the charm of skiing Megeve next door, with its delightful village, impressive ski terrain on various aspects, and great on-mountain restaurants, plus amazing views of Mont Blanc, although Megeve is not super high elevation. While Chamonix offers vast skiing and an historic ski village, its expensive and busy, quickly skied out on powder days. Chamonix’s 145 prepared ski trails include the most famous Vallée-Blanche off-piste run from the legendary Aiguille du Midi.
Portes Du Soleil is a huge ski region, connecting 6 French and Swiss ski villages. The French side includes big family-friendly ski resorts like Avoriaz and Chatel, Morgins and Les Gets. See our review of skiing Les Portes Du Soleil – the “gateway to the sun” (and snow and incredible skiing and scenery).
See the Ski Videos of The French Alps, and our guide to the best French family ski resorts.
See our European Ski Reviews:
Top European Ski Resorts for Family Ski Vacation
Top Swiss Ski Resorts for Families
Top Austrian Family Ski Resorts
Top Family Ski Resorts in the World
