Most ski resorts were built to be skied. Serre Chevalier was built around a town that was already there for other reasons. Briançon sits at 1,326 m on a rock at the meeting of five valleys, which makes it the highest town in France, and for centuries its job was to guard the road to Italy. After a fire on 26 January 1692 left only a few houses standing, Vauban drew up its improvements that same year and returned in 1700 to fortify it, and in 2008 UNESCO listed the walls, the Collégiale, the forts and the Pont d'Asfeld among the twelve groups of the Fortifications of Vauban. The skiing came later: the valley only took the name Serre Chevalier after the red cable car opened at Chantemerle in 1941.
That mix is the character of the place. Four ski sectors share one pass and 250 km of runs, most of them in or just above the larches, with a real town at one end, a quiet mountaineering village with thermal baths at the other, and Italy a bus ride away. The honest verdict: it is not a glamorous resort and it does not try to be. It is a big, relaxed, good-value area that rewards intermediates and anyone who wants more from a ski week than lifts. Five days is the right length for three days across the four sectors, one on the Italian side, and one day off the snow for the forts and the baths.
The plan: Monday is Chantemerle and the red cable car, Tuesday Villeneuve and Le Monêtier, Wednesday the Briançon sector and the old town, Thursday a day trip to Montgenèvre and the Via Lattea, and Friday the Vauban forts and the Grands Bains. Start on any Monday outside the French school holidays (11 January 2027 works): a 3-day pass covers Monday to Wednesday and Thursday needs its own ticket. Sleep in Chantemerle or Villeneuve, which are central, and use the bus or a car for Briançon and Montgenèvre. For the country around it, see France.
Every stop from the plan below, colored by day. Pick a day to see its route.
Collect your pass in the village where Serre Chevalier began, ride up to the summit, ski the sector and end with a doughnut and a mulled wine.
A big ski day from Villeneuve to the highest lift of the area, with tree skiing, a hunter's stew at lunch and a wine bar to finish.
Ski the Briançon sector in the morning, come down to the lower town on the Vauban run and spend the afternoon in the fortified old town.
A bus up to the pass, a day on the sunny side of the border and a first taste of Italy on skis.
A morning on the forts above Briançon, an afternoon of crêpes in the upper valley, and the thermal baths at dusk.
Serre Chevalier is the largest ski area in the Southern Alps, and it is built along a valley rather than around a village: four sectors, Briançon, Chantemerle, Villeneuve and Le Monêtier, strung over about 28 km of the Guisane valley. The resort advertises skiing in the larch forests and the numbers back up a big, mid-altitude area: 82 runs between roughly 1,200 and 2,830 m, with 80% of them above 1,800 m. It suits intermediates best (28 red runs against 13 black and 41 blue and green). The trade-off is that nothing here is a single compact village on the snow: you pick a sector for the day. Chantemerle is the busiest, with the most beginner and ski-school traffic; Villeneuve is the central link; Le Monêtier, the highest and quietest, suits trees and off-piste; Briançon is small, mostly red and green, and the first to close. For a higher, more headline-grabbing area, see Alpe d'Huez, which a 6-day pass has linked to a free day (2026/27 terms to be confirmed).
| 3 days, adult 12-64, 19 Dec - 26 Mar | 192.50 EUR |
|---|---|
| 3 days, adult, opening - 18 Dec and from 27 Mar | 154 EUR |
| 6 days, adult, 19 Dec - 26 Mar | 345 EUR |
| 6 days, adult, opening - 18 Dec and from 27 Mar | 276 EUR |
| 3 days, child 6-11, 19 Dec - 26 Mar | 158 EUR |
| 6 days, child 6-11, 19 Dec - 26 Mar | 283 EUR |
| 3 days, senior 65-74, 19 Dec - 26 Mar | 175 EUR |
The official booking site lists 3-day and 6-day prices by week; the operator says all other durations, single days included, go online in November. Passes cover consecutive days. This plan uses the Serre Chevalier lifts Monday to Wednesday, so a 3-day pass fits; Thursday at Montgenèvre needs its own ticket, and a 4-day pass would pay for a day spent elsewhere. The same site gives 4 to 20% off these prices when you book accommodation through it (about 15% for 9-22 January). In 2025/26 a 6-day pass carried a free day at Montgenèvre-Vialattea, Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes, Puy-Saint-Vincent and Sestrières (Grande Galaxie); the resort page still shows those dates, while Montgenèvre's 6-day benefits list the exchange from 19 December 2026. The 6-day pass costs more than a 3-day pass plus a Montgenèvre day ticket. Under 6 and over 75 ski free (online or at the sales points). Season passes: 903 EUR (Ski'llimité) or 1,089 EUR (Addict) for adults.
Source: Area figures (250 km, 410 marked hectares, 58 lifts, 82 runs: 13 black, 28 red, 26 blue, 15 green, 80% above 1,800 m, snow cannons on a third of the area, opening dates) are from the operator's ski area pages, checked 2026-10-21. The operator gives run counts by colour, not kilometres, so the split is those counts: easy is 15 green plus 26 blue (41), intermediate 28 red, advanced 13 black. The top (2,830 m, the Yret chairlift at Le Monêtier) is from the tourist office; the 1,200 m base is the French Wikipedia infobox. Pass prices are from the official booking site and season passes from the season pass page. French school dates are from the education ministry's open data, Serbian ones from the ministry's primary-school calendar, the secondary-school rulebook and the Vojvodina rulebook.
Monday is for finding your feet in the sector that started it all. Everything leaves from Chantemerle, so there is no shuttle to worry about, and you can see the whole ski area from the top. The lifts run from about 9:00 to 16:15, so keep the doughnut and the après-ski for after.
Chantemerle is where Serre Chevalier began. In December 1941 a cable car with a red cabin opened here, one of the longest in Europe at the time, and the village has been the heartbeat of the resort since. Skiers board the gondola or the chairlift, children gather under their ski school sign, and the terraces fill with hot chocolate and mulled wine.
The pass is one card for all four sectors. Order it online and collect it at a sales point, or buy it there. A 3-day adult pass is 192.50 EUR in the main weeks. This plan needs the lifts Monday to Wednesday only, so ask for the 3-day pass.
The valley took its name from a mountain. Sarra Cambéou is the old patois, meaning a rounded, wind-exposed hump grazed by the flocks of Provençal herders called Cambéou. The summit is 2,491 m, and the cable car that goes there is the iconic lift of the area. Today you start with the eight-seat Ratier gondola from Chantemerle, which reaches Serre Ratier in five minutes, then continue by cable car to the top.
The top is also the start of the Giant Zip Line, a 1.1 km descent that the resort sells through the pass shop. On a clear morning the view runs across the valley to the Écrins. Go early, ride once, and turn left or right depending on your level.
The sector is a mix of gentle Ratier runs for beginners and a few proper pitches. The one everyone mentions is the Luc Alphand black run, named after the Briançon-born racer Luc Alphand, who won the World Cup overall in 1997 with points from downhill and super-G only, a feat no one else has managed. It runs close to the Ratier gondola, so expect an audience, and it is a black of the groomed, firm kind rather than a freeride pitch.
If black is not your level, the red Aiguillette and Eduits runs are close by, and the beginner circuits sit near the Ratier station. Do not judge the area by the first morning: the Chantemerle slopes sit on the shady side of the valley, so they hold their snow, and the real range opens up in the other sectors.
Chichi fregi is a Provençal fried dough, from the Occitan for little fried thing. The tourist office sends skiers to La Tanière in Chantemerle for artisanal ones, golden doughnuts made to order, which cost 3.50 to 4.50 EUR. The shop's listing gives daily 3 to 6 pm from 26 December 2026 to 11 April 2027.
They are sugar and oil, and that is the point. Take one to eat while you walk back to the lifts or to your lodging, and have another if the afternoon was cold.
Up to seven spinning mills once worked in the Guisane valley, each with its own speciality. The one at Chantemerle, founded in 1860, made fabrics and blankets. In 1976 it was taken over by the Longo Maï cooperative, a network founded in 1973 whose name is Occitan for may it last, and it is now open to visitors.
The tourist office lists free admission on afternoons, Monday to Saturday, and a demonstration tour on Thursdays at 5 pm (3 EUR). It is a small, unusual stop, and a good break if the weather turned against the slopes.
Chantemerle is the entertainment hub of the valley. The terraces below the lifts fill as skiing stops, and the tourist office describes hot chocolate, mulled wine and colored fireworks.
It is lively rather than wild: families and groups of friends, not a nightclub. A local guide names Les Planches, in the Grand Hôtel, for a splurge dinner. For something cheaper, the village has restaurants and a Sherpa supermarket by the lifts.
Tuesday is the day to use the sectors as one area. You ride up from Villeneuve in the middle of the valley, cross to Le Monêtier in the afternoon and come back down by a different run. La Salle-les-Alpes has a winter market on Tuesdays (the tourist-office list starts on 8 December), a stop for anyone who skips the first lift.
Villeneuve is the heart of the valley. Modern residences stand at the foot of the slopes, UCPA and Club Med both have a base here, and the Aravet gondola climbs out of the village center. Across the river lies the old village of La Salle-les-Alpes, with its shopping street, colorful facades and Sainte-Luce chapel.
The gondola is a good first ride because it puts you in the middle of the valley, with Chantemerle on one side and Le Monêtier on the other, so you can chase the best snow of the day. The live map shows each piste by color.
Casse du Bœuf is a 3 km black run served by its own chairlift, groomed and steep in places, and a good fast warm-up for strong skiers. Locals use it before the crowds, then move on. With only 13 blacks among 82 runs, it and the Luc Alphand are the groomed tests on offer: experts come here for the trees and the off-piste, not the blacks.
If black is not for you, the Pontillas gondola next door serves the Méa plateau, and the live map shows the reds around it.
The Pontillas gondola came in for the 2023/24 season in place of two older lifts and takes you quickly to the Méa plateau at 2,251 m. A fun zone with an EasyBoarder track sits up there, and it is the high point of the Villeneuve sector.
Ride up, look around, and use the plateau as your launch point for the afternoon.
Peyra Juana is a mountain restaurant on the blue run down to Le Monêtier, and a local guide recommends its hunter's stew. It is where you eat well after a long morning on the high lifts, and the point where the day turns toward the trees.
Expect traditional mountain dishes rather than a view-first menu. Lunch rooms in the Alps fill around midday.
Le Monêtier has the highest point of the whole area, the Yret chairlift at 2,830 m, and, by many skiers' accounts, the best tree skiing. A local skier recommends the first Bachas chair of the day, then the Corvaria red between the larches. Reviewers say the trees help in flat light, though the high lifts here can close in wind.
Treat the Yret and the Tabuc black as the expert side, and stay in the trees below when visibility drops. The pistes run down to the Pré Chabert snow front, where a shuttle bus takes you to the village if you are staying in Le Monêtier.
Villeneuve is the lively ski town in the middle of the valley. A local guide points to Le 1420 for wine, La Grotte as the seasonal workers' bar, and Le Chazelay for late-night drinks.
Do not expect a big club scene: this is bars and long dinners. For a quieter drink, walk across the river to La Salle-les-Alpes.
Wednesday is Briançon day, and the tourist office calls the combination of a ski slope and a UNESCO-listed fortress town almost unique in Europe. Ski in the morning, walk in the afternoon, and book a guided visit if you want the story. The tourist-office event list shows Briançon's regular market on Wednesdays and Sundays this autumn; check the winter dates.
The Prorel gondola starts in the lower town, in Sainte-Catherine, and runs up to the Briançon sector. The tourist office stresses that a town of more than 10,000 people is also a ski resort, with the Prorel slope and gondola running down to the lower town.
The sector opens on 12 December and closes on 4 April, two weeks before the others. It is the one with the old town and the forts below you.
The runs here are named after the town: Vauban, Remparts, Grande Gargouille, Cordeliers, Escartons. A local guide calls the Remparts red the route to the forts, with the best views and terrain.
The sector is mostly red and green on the map, so it suits intermediates and families more than experts. The Croix de la Nore and Rocher Blanc chairlifts open up more terrain above the town.
Briançon's old town, the Cité Vauban, sits on a rocky outcrop at 1,326 m. A fire on 26 January 1692 left only a few houses standing, and the walls you see were reworked under Vauban's plans and his successors. You enter through the Porte de Pignerol, the old gate toward Piedmont, protected by a half-moon with a guardhouse called d'Artagnan.
Walk up the Grande Rue, known as the Grande Gargouille after the old town water channel. The heritage service is in the Porte de Pignerol building, and its guide-lecturers run the walking tours. Tours listed on the tourist office site stop at November 2026, so look for January dates.
The Baroque church that dominates the old town was built between 1705 and 1718, after the fire of 1692, and it is one of the elements on the UNESCO list. The tourist office calls it an 18th-century Baroque gem.
Go in for the nave and look for the sundial on the old facade. Sundials are a local passion in this valley, and you will see them on houses all over the Cité.
The Place d'Armes is the old parade square, and it is on the UNESCO list with the church and the two powder magazines. On the corner of the Grande Rue stands the former king's audience hall, bought in 1688 and refitted after the 1692 fire. Two sundials decorate the facades, one with a motto about life fleeing like a shadow.
The people of the Briançonnais ran their own affairs long before Vauban. The charter of the Escartons, granted by the Dauphin on 29 May 1343 in return for a payment, gave the valleys an unusual autonomy, and the so-called republic lasted for centuries.
Gâteau Alpin is a pastry shop in Briançon that makes handcrafted cakes with seasonal and organic ingredients. The tourist office points to its chocolate Mont-Blanc dessert and its macarons.
It stands in the lower town, so pass by on your way back from the Cité.
A Briançon restaurateur has made a fondue base with forest mushrooms, porcini or morels, sold so you can make it at home. In town, look for a fondue Briançonnaise on a menu, the local twist on the Alpine classic, and ask which cheeses are in it.
Cheese, wine and bread are the same everywhere in the Alps, but a mushroom fondue tastes of the forest, and it is a good way to end a day on skis. The old town's restaurants are small, so book your table when you walk past in the afternoon.
Thursday takes you out of Serre Chevalier. Montgenèvre is a 15-minute drive and a short bus ride from Briançon, and it opens onto the Via Lattea, an international area that crosses the Italian border. Remember your ID card or passport, and a helmet. Your Serre Chevalier 3-day pass does not cover this day, so buy a Montgenèvre ticket. Is it better than a fourth Serre Chevalier day? For most intermediates, yes: a south-facing area with snow cannons over 60% of it, another country for lunch, and no repeat of runs you have skied. Experts and tree skiers should swap it for a second day at Le Monêtier.
Intercity line 5 links Briançon with Montgenèvre, and the ZOU 76 also stops here on its way to Oulx. By car it is 12 km and about 15 minutes. The pass is at 1,850 m. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 moved the border to this pass, and the Duke of Savoy taxed the crossing heavily, which pulled trade away from Briançon for good.
Montgenèvre is also where the French army, with the Club alpin français, held an international ski competition in February 1907. It will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Montgenèvre's own area has 95 km of pistes, 78 runs (9 green, 22 blue, 38 red and 9 black), 24 lifts and a top at 2,648 m. It faces south, so it is sunny and the resort says more than 60% is covered by snow cannons. It is open from 28 November 2026 to 17 April 2027.
The village sits at 1,860 m, and with 38 red runs against 9 black the area favors intermediates. A 6-day Serre Chevalier pass carried a free day here in 2025/26 under the Grande Galaxie scheme: check the 2026/27 terms before you count on it.
The Monts de la Lune sector links Montgenèvre to the Italian side. With it, the area grows to 110 km and 87 runs down to Cesana, and it connects to the Via Lattea, which the resort calls the fifth largest ski area in the world, with 400 km and 70 lifts. Claviere is the first Italian village on the way.
Italy has its own rules: a helmet is compulsory, and you must be insured for third-party liability and able to show it. Take your ID.
Take lunch in a restaurant on the Italian side, in Claviere or on the slope. The Via Lattea piste map marks the mountain restaurants, and the point of crossing is to eat something other than the French menu: pasta, an espresso, a long lunch.
Montgenèvre has its own Centre Balnéo & Spa Durancia, the alternative to the Monêtier baths if you want a soak before the bus down to Briançon. Leave time for the last bus.
Friday is the day off the snow: Briançon until early afternoon, then Le Monêtier (about 20 minutes away) for crêpes and the baths. The forts open by guided visit only, and January dates were not published, so phone the heritage service before you fix the day. Book the Grands Bains in advance, because entry is not guaranteed without a reservation, and wear a proper swimsuit.
The Pont d'Asfeld crosses the Durance gorge from the old town to the Trois Têtes plateau, a single arch with a span of more than 38 m and almost 55 m above the river. Vauban proposed a stone bridge here in 1700. The Marquis d'Asfeld built the single arch from 1729 to 1731, and it was inaugurated in 1731. In the middle stands an iron cross topped by a stone pyramid, with a plaque dated 1734 that seems to mark when Asfeld became Marshal of France.
The tourist office says it was completely restored in 1987 and has not been altered otherwise, apart from some work on the access road in the 19th century. It is on the UNESCO list, and the rock walls below it make it one of the great views over the fortified town.
The Fort des Têtes, also called the Fort des Trois Têtes, stands at 1,440 m on the plateau above Briançon. It was built from 1721 and linked to the town by the Pont d'Asfeld and to the Fort du Randouillet by the Communication Y, a covered gallery of 200 m, 4.5 m wide, with a 55 m3 water tank hidden inside. The name comes from a military atlas that labeled works with letters, not from the shape.
The fort has a modern story too. The army has left it, and for the 2030 Winter Olympics the plan is to turn it into an athletes' village for freestyle and snowboard athletes. On 9 June 2026 the Olympic works agency Solideo picked a Linkcity-led group for the job. Press reports give 940 athletes, works by April 2027, delivery in autumn 2029 and about 100 homes afterward. The mayor says the fort can only be saved through the Games; critics object to the cost and to altering a protected site.
The Fort du Château stands on the site of the old castle of Briançon, which was razed in 1841 when the army modernized the defenses under King Louis-Philippe. The city's heritage service lists the fort among its visits.
Nearby, in the old prisons of the Palais de Justice, is the Centre d'Art Contemporain. It is a small place and a quiet one, an unexpected modern gallery in the middle of the Vauban town.
The Chapelle Saint-Pierre in Le Monêtier-les-Bains has housed the village's sacred art museum since 1997, with statues, tapestries and silverware from the commune's 31 chapels and churches. The village is a mountaineering village at the edge of the Écrins, and the tourist office calls Saint-Pierre a monument not to be missed.
It is the first stop in the upper valley, about 20 minutes by road from Briançon. Its museum is free but open only on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, so on a Friday you see the outside and the village.
Le Casset is the hamlet at the end of the Nordic ski area, and Chez Finette is its legendary café-restaurant, a family crêperie at 1,600 m beside the Écrins National Park. The tourist office promises a devilish blueberry tart. A listing from September 2025 puts crêpes at 3 to 9.80 EUR and the dish of the day at 13.80 EUR.
Order a crêpe and the tart, then walk across to the Écrins National Park visitor center if it is open. This is the quiet, authentic side of the valley that the lifts miss.
The Grands Bains are a thermo-ludic center of 4,500 m2, built in 2008, with indoor and outdoor pools of naturally warm spring water, a Roman trilogy of three pools between 17 and 40 degrees Celsius, a hammam, a sauna and a musical grotto. The Spa La Rotonde, for adults from 16, has an immersive pool, a sparkling-water pool, terrace jacuzzis and a sauna.
A day on skis ends well here. Entry is for 2 or 3 hours: 25 or 35 EUR for an adult, 15 or 20 EUR for a child of 3 to 13. Only pool swimwear is allowed, so no board shorts, and you should book online, because entry is not guaranteed without it. Your Serre Chevalier pass gives 10% off a 2-hour entry outside school holidays and weekends.
Places that did not fit, by distance from Briançon.
The cross-country area runs the length of the valley along the Guisane river, from Pontillas to Boussardes, with alternating and skating trails. At Chantemerle the Colombiers site is free and good for beginners. The Nordic chalet at Le Monêtier sells the pass, and a pulka for children rents for 10 EUR a session.
Getting there: 14 km from Briançon, about 20 minutes by car or skibus line 6
Official website
Névache is a mountain commune on the Italian border at the end of the Clarée valley, between about 1,430 and 3,222 m. Cross-country skiing is the popular winter activity. It is the quiet alternative to the lifts, and the bus makes a car unnecessary.
Getting there: 21 km north, about 30 minutes by car or intercity bus line 7 from Briançon station (up to five round trips a day in winter)
The pass at 2,057 m leads from the Guisane valley toward La Grave and Grenoble, and the Galibier above it closes for the season with the first snow. Road conditions are on the resort's 24-hour information line and on inforoute05, so check before you drive.
Getting there: 28 km west, about 30 minutes by car on the RD 1091
Another Vauban fortress town, built in the second half of the 17th century above the confluence of the Durance and the Guil. It is on the UNESCO list from 2008 and is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France. A second chapter for anyone who wants more Vauban.
Getting there: 33 km south, about 40 minutes by car on the RN 94
A small, serious freeride area dominated by La Meije (3,982 m). The slopes are not groomed, there is no formal avalanche control and the upper part crosses a glacier, so go with a guide. A Serre Chevalier pass gives 25% off the adult day pass at the La Grave ticket office.
Getting there: 38 km west, about 40 minutes by car over the Col du Lautaret
A full day trip into Italy: the arcades of the center, the Museo del Cinema in the Mole Antonelliana, the Egyptian Museum, and a bicerin, the local hot drink of chocolate, coffee and cream. Carry your ID card or passport to cross the border.
Getting there: About 110 km, 1.5 to 2 hours by car via the Col de Montgenèvre, or the train from Oulx (about 1 hour 15 minutes, around 14 trains a day)
Mountain food in the Hautes-Alpes is a mix of Alpine classics and a few real local specialties.
A fried pastry stuffed with mashed potato and cheese, or sweet with apples or prunes, a specialty of the Hautes-Alpes. It started in the Champsaur valley, where each family kept its recipe secret and served the tourton at Christmas.
Where to try it: Mountain restaurants and the weekly markets; ask at the stall for the local version.
Blueberry tart, the dessert that the Monêtier tourist office promises at Chez Finette in Le Casset, with a family crêperie atmosphere.
Where to try it: Chez Finette in Le Casset; confirm hours in winter.
A fried dough, from the Provençal for little fried thing, served golden and sugared. The tourist office points to La Tanière in Chantemerle.
Where to try it: La Tanière in Chantemerle, 3.50 to 4.50 EUR, daily 3 to 6 pm from 26 December to 11 April.
Savoie classics rather than Hautes-Alpes ones, but served all over the valley because skiers expect them. The local twist is a Briançon fondue base with porcini or morels.
Where to try it: Restaurants in the Cité Vauban and in Chantemerle.
A liqueur made from alpine mugwort, the plant that grows high in the mountains. Picking wild génépi is regulated in the Hautes-Alpes, and one species is fully protected in the French Alps.
Where to try it: Distillerie des 4 Frères in La Salle-les-Alpes, which distills in a still from 1921.
Tome de montagne is the cheese behind the gratins and dumplings of the Hautes-Alpes. The valley has farm cheeses and a good cheese counter in Briançon: buy a wedge for the room.
Where to try it: La Fromagerie de Briançon and the weekly markets.
Brittany's thin pancakes turn up in French ski villages, sweet or savory, and a crêperie is the easy lunch near the Nordic trails.
Where to try it: Chez Finette in Le Casset, where crêpes cost 3 to 9.80 EUR.
Two Champsaur and Valgaudemar dishes that sit beside the tourton. Oreilles d'âne (donkey ears) are a gratin of wild spinach and pasta with béchamel and mountain tome; the raviole du Champsaur is a potato and fresh-tome dumpling, fried or baked with cream.
Where to try it: Ask for them by name in restaurants and at markets: few ski-village menus list them.
Mulled wine on the Chantemerle terraces, the drink of the end of the ski day.
Where to try it: The terraces in Chantemerle.
The vineyards are in Savoie and the Isère, not in the Hautes-Alpes, but its crisp white wines are what you drink with cheese.
Where to try it: Any restaurant with a regional wine list.
The valley has its own craft breweries and distilleries, with tastings and tours. Look for local labels in the grocery stores.
Where to try it: Grocery stores and bars; ask which breweries are open.
The breakfast of the resort is a croissant from the boulangerie, a baguette for the picnic, and a coffee. The high-altitude picnic areas have tables and planchas, so a baguette and a local cheese make a lunch.
Where to try it: Any bakery in Briançon, Chantemerle or Le Monêtier.
Four bases along one valley: pick by how much you want a town, a snow front, nightlife or quiet.
Best for: Anyone who wants a real town, the old walls and train access
The only base that is a town: the highest in France, with a medieval and Vauban center and a ski gondola at the edge. The catch is that the Briançon sector is the smallest, and the other three are 7 to 15 km up the valley.
The Highest and Beautiful Old Town in the French Mountains: Briançon -Alps | WALKING RELAXING TOUR · Imagine World Tour · 33 min · YouTube
Best for: First-timers and groups who want the lifts, the bars and a ski school at the door
The heart of the resort and the most convenient base for the whole plan. The catch: it is the busiest in the holidays and the least authentic village.
Serre Chevalier - Chantemerle and Villeneuve | part 1 | 4k | Ski slopes for season opening · Dragan Nikolic · 24 min · YouTube
Best for: A central base, with La Salle's old village and plenty of bars
The middle of the valley, close to every sector. The catch: the village is modern and spread out, and the nicest old houses are in La Salle and Le Bez across the river.
Serre Chevalier drive(4K France): Villeneuve, La Salle les Alpes, Le Monêtier les Bains, Chantemerle · Ski Resorts Video · 14 min · YouTube
Best for: Quiet stays, freeriders and anyone who wants the thermal baths on the doorstep
The village is the farthest from Briançon and the closest to the Écrins. It has the best tree skiing and freeride terrain and the baths. The catch: you ski from a snow front, not the doorstep, and the Montgenèvre day is a 35-minute trip.
In Map Drop the countries of Europe fall one at a time and you drop each into its place - France is one of the pieces.
The practical stuff that makes the first day in Serre Chevalier easier.
France uses the euro. Cards work in lift offices, shops and restaurants; carry a little cash for markets and small crêperies. Menu prices include service, and a few euros extra is a gesture.
Skibus line 6 runs the length of the valley; timetables and fares are on monaltigo.fr. Line 5 goes to Montgenèvre and line 7 to Névache. In Briançon, central car parks charge Monday to Saturday during the day and are free on Sundays and public holidays.
From 1 November, the Mountain Law requires snow chains for two drive wheels or four winter tires in designated areas. Carry chains in the trunk, check inforoute05 and the 24-hour road line, and note that the Galibier is closed in winter.
From Oulx, the ZOU 76 shuttle serves Montgenèvre, Briançon, Saint-Chaffrey, Villeneuve and Le Monêtier. A ticket is 7.50 EUR (3.80 for children) and must be bought online at least 48 hours ahead. Check the Paris-Briançon night train on SNCF Connect for your dates: recent winters had works that replaced some runs by buses.
The ski area runs about 9:00 to 16:15; the live map shows what is open. Helmets are compulsory on the Italian side of the Via Lattea, and you must be insured for third-party liability.
The Briançon heritage service runs the guided tours of the Cité Vauban and the forts, and the reception at the Porte de Pignerol is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons outside French school holidays. Tours are guaranteed for two or more people and should be booked online.
French is the language; English is understood in lift offices and hotels but less in small cafés, so a few words help. EU roaming covers EU SIMs; the plugs are the two-pin European type at 230 V.
At the Grands Bains, bring a close-fitting pool swimsuit (no board shorts or underwear), a towel (rentable) and your booking. Children under 9 months are not admitted, and 9 to 35 month olds only on mornings.
Yes, if you plan four days on skis and one off. Three days cover the four sectors, one more the Italian side, and the last day gives the forts and the baths. Skiers who want a week can use a 6-day pass, which carried the Grande Galaxie free days in 2025/26.
Yes. The resort has discovery areas, protected family zones and 15 green and 26 blue runs. Chantemerle and the Ratier area are the easiest to start from.
Reasonably, because much of the area runs through larch forest, which the resort stresses. Reviewers say the trees help in flat light, but the high Monêtier lifts can close in wind, so keep the lower sectors as plan B. This is a tendency from reviews, not an official figure.
Chantemerle or Villeneuve for a central, convenient week. Briançon if you care more about the old town and train access. Le Monêtier-les-Bains for quiet and the thermal baths.
Not on the Serre Chevalier lifts. The nearest link is Montgenèvre, 12 km from Briançon by bus or car, which connects to the Via Lattea on the Italian side. A 6-day Serre Chevalier pass carried a free day there under the Grande Galaxie scheme in 2025/26; check the 2026/27 terms.
Turin Caselle is the closest airport, about 1.5 hours away. Take the airport bus to Torino Porta Nuova, the train to Oulx and then the ZOU 76 bus to Briançon, or arrange a transfer. Grenoble is 2 hours by bus and Lyon or Marseille 3.
A 6-day adult pass costs 345 EUR in the main weeks and 276 EUR in the early and late season (about 57 EUR and 46 EUR a day), and booking with accommodation through the official site takes 4 to 20% off. Lodging, food and lessons come on top.
Walk the Cité Vauban in Briançon and soak at the Grands Bains du Monêtier. The old town and its forts are UNESCO World Heritage, and the baths are 25 EUR for two hours.
Find Serre Chevalier on the map, learn the flag and check how much you really know about France.
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France