Tignes sits at 2,100 metres in the Tarentaise, a purpose-built resort around a lake that freezes solid in winter. Linked with Val d'Isère into about 300 kilometres of pistes, with the Grande Motte glacier topping out at 3,456 metres, it has some of the most reliable snow in the Alps from late November to early May.
The landscape is treeless and exposed and midwinter bites, but the trade-off is skiing from your door. Cheaper and more laid-back than its chic neighbour, Tignes is a natural base for a group: one ski-in/ski-out apartment, mixed abilities on the slopes and Val Claret for the evenings.
Sort passes and rental gear in the morning, then split up: beginners on the gentle slopes above Le Lac with the ski school, confident skiers up the funicular to the Grande Motte. Regroup for lunch at the panoramic restaurant at 3,456 metres, ski down together to Val Claret and kick off the evening at the après-ski bars.
Ski across to Val d'Isère: the strong skiers tick off the Face de Bellevarde while the rest explore the Solaise and Le Fornet sectors, then everyone meets at La Folie Douce above La Daille mid-afternoon. Ski back before the lifts close, or stay for dinner in the old village around the baroque church and catch the shuttle back later.
Take a slower morning down the tree-lined runs to Les Brévières, past the Chevril dam and its giant faded mural, and stop for diots and crozets in a mountain hut. In the afternoon, whoever's up for it books an ice dive under the frozen lake while the others hit the snowpark; finish with fondue and génépi back at the apartment.
An underground funicular from Val Claret, then a cable car, carry you to 3,456 metres on the Grande Motte glacier, the roof of the whole ski area. Step onto the terrace of the panoramic restaurant for a sweep of the Vanoise peaks, then ski the glacier from its autumn opening right through to spring.
The black run down the Face de Bellevarde hosted the men's downhill at the Albertville 1992 Olympics and still drops almost straight into Val d'Isère. Steep, often icy and relentless, it's the piste the strong skiers in your group will want to tick off — ideally early, before the moguls build up.
Every winter the lake at Tignes le Lac freezes over, and local dive schools cut an opening in the ice to take you beneath it in a drysuit, roped to a guide, for a short dive in a silent blue world. It's a Tignes speciality and usually open to first-timers as well as certified divers.
Across the pass, Val d'Isère keeps an old stone village around a baroque church with a bell tower, its lanes lined with chic boutiques, bars and restaurants. Come over for a slower evening and a wander through the snowy streets, and check the time of the last shuttle back to Tignes.
The original Folie Douce, above La Daille: from early afternoon a DJ, singers and dancers turn the terrace into an open-air club in ski boots. Give it a couple of hours with the whole group, then ski down to La Daille before the light goes — the last run home gets messy.
Below the resort, the Chevril dam holds back the lake that drowned the original village of Tignes and carries a huge mural of a giant, now badly faded. Ski the tree-lined runs down to Les Brévières at its foot, the old village with the valley's slower pace and proper mountain-hut lunches.
The centre of the resort, wrapped around the lake at 2,100 metres with the lifts, ski school, bars and shops a few minutes' walk apart. The gentle slopes just above it suit beginners, which makes it the easiest base for a group of mixed levels.
The highest village, at the foot of the funicular to the Grande Motte glacier and home to the resort's liveliest après-ski. Pick it if your group skis hard and goes out hard — the ski-in/ski-out residences mean nobody waits for a morning shuttle.
Quieter, newer and generally cheaper, a short way down the road with its own lift up into the ski area. Good value for a group that mostly wants to ski all day and cook in, and doesn't mind a lift ride or shuttle to reach the action.
The old village at 1,550 metres below the Chevril dam, with stone houses, a calmer pace and tree-lined runs coming down to its door. Suits a group that prefers quiet evenings and mountain huts to clubs, with the free shuttle for the days you want the lake.
Beaufort, Comté and Emmental melted with white wine in a shared pot, eaten by spearing cubes of bread — or its cousin raclette, scraped from a half-wheel onto potatoes. The classic group dinner after a cold day; tradition says whoever loses their bread buys the next round.
Potatoes, lardons and onions baked under a whole Reblochon until the cheese collapses into the dish. Heavy, filling and perfect at a mountain hut for lunch — one between two is plenty if you still plan to ski.
Savoyard pork sausages simmered in white wine with onions, served with crozets, the tiny square buckwheat pasta of the region, or polenta. The dish to look for in the huts on the Les Brévières side.
A pale herbal liqueur made from a wormwood that grows on the high slopes, served ice-cold as a digestif. Many restaurants bring a bottle to the table at the end of the meal — pace yourself, it's stronger than it tastes.
Lifts run from late November to early May, one of the longest seasons in the Alps, and the Grande Motte glacier adds a few weeks of autumn skiing before that. The most expensive and crowded weeks are Christmas–New Year, the French school holidays from early February to early March (zones A, B and C take turns) and the UK half-term in mid-February, when lift queues grow and the apartments sell out months ahead. Early December, January after Epiphany, late March and April are noticeably cheaper and quieter, with spring skiing on the glacier when lower resorts have turned green. Snow is about as reliable as the Alps get thanks to the altitude and the glacier, though the treeless terrain is exposed and midwinter can be bitterly cold. In summer the glacier opens some mornings for skiing, and the lake becomes the hub for hiking and mountain biking.
The nearest station is Bourg-Saint-Maurice, with TGVs from Paris and direct Eurostar Snow trains from London on winter Saturdays, then about 45 minutes by bus up to the resort. Geneva (about 3 hours), Lyon (about 2 h 30) and Chambéry (about 2 hours) airports all have shared transfers; if you drive, carry chains for the final climb. Once there you won't need a car: free shuttles link Le Lac, Val Claret, Tignes 1800 and Les Brévières, and run across to Val d'Isère.
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Note: Tignes is an expensive alpine resort, with high costs for lodging, meals, and ski passes, especially in peak season.
