Val Thorens sits at 2,300 metres at the head of the Belleville valley: the highest ski resort in Europe and the top of Les 3 Vallées, which bills itself as the world's largest linked ski area with around 600 kilometres of pistes. It was purpose-built for one thing — you click into your skis at the door and slide down to a lift.
The centre is compact, steep and nearly car-free, with big residences that swallow a whole group of friends. Add snow that holds from late November to early May, a glacier above the rooftops and a famous on-piste party, and you get a resort that lives entirely for the mountain.
Warm up on the wide blue runs above the resort, then ride the lifts up to Cime Caron at 3,200 metres for the 360-degree panorama over Mont Blanc and the Écrins. Lunch at an altitude restaurant, ski the long reds back down and finish the afternoon at La Folie Douce before a fondue in the apartment.
With the full pass, point your skis towards Méribel and Courchevel and link lifts and pistes across all three valleys; the confident skiers push on while beginners stay on the greens by the centre. Agree a meeting point for lunch and make sure everyone is back on the Val Thorens side before the last lifts close.
Ski across to the Orelle sector on the Maurienne side for quieter pistes, then come back for lunch at Chez Pépé Nicolas, the old farm-restaurant between Val Thorens and Les Menuires. Save some legs for the Cosmojet toboggan run from the Péclet funitel, about six kilometres of bends that stay open into the evening.
At 3,200 metres, the summit of the Val Thorens ski area and one of the great balconies of the Alps, with a 360-degree panorama over hundreds of peaks from Mont Blanc to the Écrins and, on clear days, the Matterhorn. Ride the cable car up from the resort or the lift from Orelle, and ski the long red run back down.
Val Thorens is the top of a linked area of around 600 kilometres of pistes stretching across Les Menuires, Méribel and Courchevel, with the Orelle sector dropping into a fourth valley. Blues and reds dominate, so intermediates can cruise all day; the keen set off for Courchevel in the morning and are back for the last lift.
The on-piste cabaret-club that turned après-ski into an afternoon event: DJs, dancers and singers on the terrace while the sun is still on the snow. Arrive mid-afternoon in your ski boots, then ski back down to the resort before dark.
About six kilometres of banked bends from the top of the Péclet funitel back to the resort, one of the longest sledge runs in France. It opens in the afternoon and runs into the evening, so it slots in neatly after the last ski run.
The glacier hanging above the resort's rooftops, reached by the Péclet funitel, with high pistes that stay in good shape when the lower slopes soften. From the top the view runs the length of the Belleville valley; in summer the same slopes turn into hiking and biking country.
A traditional stone-and-slate village lower down the Belleville valley, the calm counterpoint to the purpose-built resorts above it. A lift connects it to the whole 3 Vallées, and La Bouitte, a three-Michelin-star restaurant, makes it a serious dinner destination.
The heart of the resort around the central square and the main lifts, where everything is ski-in/ski-out and the bars are a short walk from bed. The liveliest base, and the easiest if your group wants zero logistics.
Big apartment blocks on the slopes above the centre, quieter at night and a short ski down to the lifts in the morning. Ideal for a group of friends who want one large flat with the whole resort below them.
Ten minutes down the valley, a bigger, more functional resort with large apartments at lower prices, linked to Val Thorens by piste and lift. A good call for mixed-level groups: gentle slopes nearby, and the whole 3 Vallées still on your pass.
A traditional stone village further down the valley, calm, pretty and surprisingly gastronomic, with a lift that connects it to the whole area. For groups who prefer a quiet chalet evening and a long dinner to a loud bar.
The hard cheese of the Savoie Alps, aged in cellars and nutty with a hint of flowers from the high summer pastures. Eat it in slices with bread, or melted into the local fondue savoyarde.
Potatoes, lardons, onions and a whole reblochon baked until the cheese collapses into the dish. The après-ski classic, heavy enough to justify every run you did that day.
Crozets are tiny square pasta from the Savoie, often buckwheat, baked with cheese and bacon in a croziflette; diots are pork sausages simmered in white wine. Order both at lunch in a mountain hut.
A pale herbal liqueur made from alpine wormwood, served ice-cold as a digestif. The traditional way to end a fondue night in a Savoyard chalet, one small glass at a time.
Val Thorens has one of the longest seasons in France: lifts typically run from late November to early May, and at 2,300 metres with the Péclet glacier above, snow holds from opening to closing. The most expensive and crowded weeks are Christmas–New Year, the French school holidays (zones A, B and C, early February to early March), UK half-term in mid-February and the Dutch and Belgian crocus and carnival holidays; book your apartment months ahead for these. Early December, January after Epiphany, late March and April are noticeably cheaper and quieter, with sunny spring skiing to close the season. January can be very cold and windy up here, so pack face protection. In summer the lifts open for mountain biking and hiking and the resort is far quieter.
The nearest station is Moûtiers, with TGVs from Paris and direct Eurostar Snow trains from London on winter Saturdays, then about an hour by bus up the valley. Chambéry airport is around two hours away, Lyon and Geneva about two and a half to three hours, all with shared transfers to the resort. Val Thorens itself is walkable and ski-in/ski-out, with free shuttles around the resort and buses linking it to Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, so a car is more of a burden than a help.
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