5 Days in Les 3 Vallées

The Saulire summit (2,738 m) is the link between Courchevel and Méribel, and the cable car that serves it is one of the lifts the operator calls essential. The Saint-Bon valley opens below you, and on a clear day Mont Blanc stands on the horizon.

Ride up first thing, before the combe is tracked, and take five minutes at the top. Courchevel's villages are strung along the valley below, and the sheer length of the view explains why people call this a resort of six villages, not one.

The Combe de la Saulire is the run Courchevel's tourist office calls legendary, and Jean Blanc is named alongside it among the red and black runs for strong skiers. The Marmottes run is the choice of Courchevel's own champion Alexis Pinturault, for its drop, its walls and the views.

This is also the place to test your legs honestly. Courchevel has gentle Easy Rider areas, but the runs above 1,850 m are firm and steep. If a black looks wrong, the red alternatives run beside it. Grooming drivers work through the night, so the first tracks are the best.

At the top of the Saulire, Les Pierres Plates serves traditional and inventive mountain cooking, and the operator points out the warm blankets for anyone lunching outside facing the summits. It is a lunch at the highest point of the day, with nothing between you and the peaks.

For a cheaper table, the Ferme-Auberge de l'Ariondaz near Moriond serves fondue, raclette and a serac tiramisu at 12-30 EUR a la carte, or a 33 EUR menu.

The Eclipse, formerly the Jockeys run, is the longest black run in the area at 3.3 km, with a vertical drop of 970 m and an average gradient of 30%. It was rebuilt for the speed events of the 2023 World Championships, held jointly in Courchevel and Méribel, and the races finished in Le Praz.

You reach it from the Col de la Loze via the Plantrey or Bouc Blanc chairlifts or the Chenus gondola. The run is demanding and fast, so take it in the afternoon only if the snow is still firm. Intermediate skiers should take the Praz gondola down and look at the run from the side.

Le Praz is the village of Courchevel at the foot of the ski jumps that were used for the 1992 Winter Olympics (ski jumping and Nordic combined). The Courchevel tourist office lists the jumps among the resort's heritage sites, along with the Forum.

Walk up to the jumps and look at the scale of them against the forest. A funicular serves them, and the gondola from Le Praz brings you back up to the ski area. If the sun is out, Le Praz is a calm place to end the lifts for the day.

Courchevel 1850 was the first French resort built from scratch, planned by the town planner Laurent Chappis rather than grown from a village. It still looks like it: a planned resort with the Jardin Alpin quarter at its core, where the luxury hotels and boutiques sit.

Be honest about the prices. The lift pass costs the same everywhere in the area, but a coffee in 1850 costs more than it does in Moriond or Le Praz, and the best-known restaurants carry Michelin stars (Le 1947 has three). A walk through the Jardin Alpin at dusk costs nothing and shows you what the fuss is about.

In Moriond, Le Petit Savoyard cooks Savoyard specialties and pizzas in a big open wood fire, and it is recommended by the French Guide du Routard. Prices are listed at 19-30 EUR for a main course, which is fair for Courchevel and a long way from the starred tables up the hill.

Order fondue or raclette to share, and a Savoie white to go with it. Moriond is reached by the free resort shuttle, so there is no need for a car.

The Mont Vallon gondola rises from Mottaret to 2,952 m, with a view over the Gébroulaz glacier and the edge of the Vanoise National Park. The Combe du Vallon below it is a red run with a drop of about 1,000 m, and one of the area's ambassadors picks it for its length and view over the glaciers.

Ski it early, when the snow is firm, then take the gondola again. The sides of the piste have small off-piste lines, but go with a guide if you want to leave the marked run.

The Plan de Tuéda reserve runs from Lake Tuéda to the Gébroulaz glacier and joins the Vanoise National Park. In winter it is a flat white basin of stone pines, with two Nordic ski trails and routes for snowshoes, reached by a free shuttle from Méribel Centre. The stop is called Chatelet.

This is the calm half-hour of the week. You may spot chamois, ibex or birds of prey if you are patient. Skip it if you have only skis on your mind, but a short walk here balances the day.

Le Monchu is a high chalet on the Rhodos trail, with a bistro for lunch (and two evenings a week), a lounge at 1,750 m and a food truck for quick smash burgers. It is open from 5 December 2026 to 18 April 2027.

Ski in, order hearty bistro food, and sit on the terrace. It is a good simple lunch in the middle of the ski area, without the bill of a palace restaurant.

Roc de Fer is a blue run from the top of the Olympic chairlift at 2,294 m, and the operator calls it a legend of the area. It was remodelled for the 2023 World Championships with a tunnel, and Méribel hosted the downhill World Cups of 1990 and 1991 on the steep slopes of the same mountain, ahead of the 1992 Olympics.

The operator counts the Roc de Fer among the ski-in, ski-out links between Méribel and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, and it is a blue, so intermediate skiers get a race mountain without the risk.

La Folie Douce sits at 2,100 m at the Saulire midway station and is open daily from 9 am to 4:45 pm in winter. Lunch starts at noon, with a performance called Rock The Top Show, three dining options and a snack bar on the terrace.

Méribel's après-ski culture runs from 3 pm, with DJs and live bands, and you don't have to change out of your boots. This is the loudest place in the area, and the most honest advice is to go once, on a sunny afternoon, and leave when the dancing starts if it isn't your thing.

Méribel was planned in 1935 by the municipal council of Les Allues, with a Parisian architect and an engineer, and in the late 1930s British investors, including Peter Lindsay, joined. The name comes from a hamlet, and to English ears it sounds like Merry Bell. The first building, Chalet Doron, went up in 1938 and had a snow sledge that lifted 19 skiers, the first cable car of the resort.

After the war Lindsay resumed, working with architects Christian Durupt and André Detour, who set the rules: stone and wood, gabled slate roofs, low height. The result is why Méribel looks like a mountain village. In 1992, the Olympics gave it 52 events in 16 days (46 ice hockey games and six women's alpine races). Walk the village at dusk and notice how consistent it still is.

Le Clos Bernard is a restaurant in the forest near Méribel that works with local producers and cooks grilled meats over an open fire, regional dishes and homemade creations. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, with a grill menu on Mondays, so Tuesday evening is a good fit.

Book ahead and ask for a table by the fire. It is a calm evening after a day on the slopes.

Val Thorens sits at 2,300 m and the operator calls it the highest ski resort in Europe, meaning the village itself, since Zermatt's lifts climb higher. The first drag lifts went up in 1971 and the first ski school opened in 1972, so it is young. The Funitel de Péclet, the first funitel ever built (in 1990), is the signature ride, and Tête Ronde is the easy classic the operator names for the resort.

The resort faces south while its slopes face north, which keeps the snow cold. Architecture is functional, not pretty, but the location is the argument: you step out of the front door onto lifts.

The Cime Caron cable car takes you to 3,200 m, one of the highest points in the area, and the operator names it among the lifts you can't miss. From the top you look over the Maurienne and Belleville valleys, and Mont Blanc is on the horizon.

Go on a clear morning. If it is cloudy, wait: the view is the reason to come, and the weather changes fast at 3,200 m. The cable car is also open to pedestrians, which makes it a good day for a non-skier friend.

Orelle is the fourth valley, in the Maurienne, and the only black run on its side is the Combe de Rosaël: 500 m of vertical in 2 km, steep, technical and facing south, which makes it best early in the season or early in the morning. It starts at the Cime Caron, turns left into the Maurienne, and shows the Meije and the Écrins.

You reach it by the Orelle-Caron gondola or the Cime Caron cable car. The Orelle-Caron gondola brings you back up, so check the closing time before you drop into the Maurienne.

Chez Pépé Nicolas is a mountain restaurant at 2,000 m between Les Menuires and Val Thorens, on an old alpine farm, open in winter and summer. The cooking uses the cheeses made on site, plants and vegetables from the garden and local produce, and lunch runs from 11:45 to 14:30.

It is reachable on skis, on foot or by car, so it works for non-skiers too. Ask for the cheese, because the farm and the dairy are the point.

Timothée Théaux, one of the area's ambassadors, links Boismint and Plan de l'Eau into one long varied run in Val Thorens, and Adrien Théaux likes the former Cime Caron red piste for carving. The Plan de l'Eau gets firm snow early in the morning and wide, rolling terrain.

If you have energy left, Val Thorens also has a 70,000 m² snow park, VT Park, and a skicross piste. Both are for confident skiers; the skicross arena is also a stop of the FIS Skier X World Cup.

Les Explorateurs at Hôtel Pashmina holds a Michelin star and cooks inventive food that treats mountain produce with boldness. The three chefs, Camille Vallet, Sébastien Deléglise and Romuald Fassenet, are the ones the operator names.

This is the splurge of the week, and a good one: it is a Michelin-starred table at 2,300 m. If your budget is tighter, Chalet de la Marine has a dessert buffet by the fireplace.

The Jérusalem is a blue run of 3.59 km from the Tougnète summit at 2,400 m, reached by the Saint-Martin Express chairlift. It crosses the ridge between Méribel and Saint-Martin and runs through rolling meadows, in a part of the area that is quiet.

This is the run that lets you feel alone in the world, as the operator puts it, and that is no exaggeration on a weekday. It is also the gentlest way to move from the Méribel valley into the Belleville valley.

The Pointe de la Masse gondola rises from Les Menuires, and at the intermediate level there is a free lift museum. The red Fred Covili run, 2.47 km long, was named after the local champion who won a giant slalom bronze in 2001, and winds through the Combe de la Masse.

It is a pleasant run for a lighter day, not a challenge. The morning sun falls on the Masse side, so ski it before lunch, then the Mont de la Chambre slopes get the afternoon light.

La Bouitte in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is a family chalet run by René Meilleur and his son Maxime, with two Michelin stars for the gourmet table. They cook Savoyard heritage with finesse, and it is among the best-known restaurants in the French Alps.

For lunch, try the Bistrot Simple & Meilleur, open every day except Wednesday, rather than the gourmet table, which is closed on Tuesdays and open Wednesday evenings only. Winter 2026/27 runs from 5 December to 18 April.

Saint-Martin is the historic capital of the valley, at 1,450 m, and the one place in the area that still feels like a village. The resort itself was planned from 1983 with few lifts and traditional buildings, so it didn't become another concrete block.

The valley tourist office calls the village a baroque gem. Walk to the Notre-Dame-de-la-Vie sanctuary, which draws a large pilgrimage each 15 August, and look at the stone and wood houses. This is the non-ski part of the day, and it costs nothing.

Les Menuires was founded in 1964 and hosted the men's slalom at the 1992 Olympics. Its center, La Croisette, ties restaurants, shops and bars together in one internal gallery that fronts the piste.

It is not pretty, and it is a fair base if you want skiing at the door at a lower price: the valley pass here is 70 EUR a day against 84.20 for the full area. The Fromagerie des Belleville in the Galerie de l'Adret is the place to buy local cheese for the trip home.

The Col de la Loze, at 2,304 m, is one of the 11 ski-in, ski-out links between valleys and joins Courchevel and Méribel. The Courchevel tourist office says Méribel is two lifts away from Courchevel and Val Thorens four.

Start in Méribel, ride up to the pass and ski into Courchevel. It is a morning of smooth runs, and a good test of the day's snow before you commit to the rest.

In Courchevel Moriond, the Chapelets red run climbs to 2,250 m on the edge of the Vallée des Avals, with a view of the Dent du Villard, the resort's landmark. The Piste des Indiens runs through wild natural canyons nearby.

These are quiet runs away from the main crowd, which is the right way to spend the east end of the traverse. Take the Chapelets chairlift to reach them, then ski back toward Méribel.

Maya Altitude sits at 2,300 m at the top of the Tougnète and Saint-Martin Express chairlifts, between Méribel and Saint-Martin, and opened in December 2021. It has a Tibet-inspired dining room, a charcoal grill, a tandoor oven and a resident DJ, with Savoyard dishes on the menu.

It is noisy and fun, and handy because it sits exactly on the route. Eat quickly: the traverse has the afternoon ahead of it.

The Col de la Chambre, at the Mont de la Chambre station above Les Menuires, is at 2,850 m by the operator's figure, and one of the places where Mont Blanc shows on the horizon. It is also a lift link, reached from Les Menuires or Val Thorens.

Stop for ten minutes. You have just crossed the whole area, from Moriond to the Belleville valley, and the view makes the effort concrete. Do not push on to Val Thorens unless you have time to come back.

The Plattières gondola links Mottaret with the neighboring resorts of Les Menuires and Val Thorens, so it is the way home. Ski down toward Mottaret and finish the day on the Méribel side.

If your legs are gone, ride the lift down as a pedestrian would. A traverse that ends with a taxi is still a traverse.

Le Rambler is the pub for après-ski in Mottaret, with local beers or draft Guinness and homemade cocktails. It is where a long day across the area ends, and the best place to compare runs.

Méribel's other après-ski spots, such as Jacks at the foot of the slopes in the Centre, are lively until late. This is your last evening, so make it easy.