Location in Les Trois Vallees
The five villages that make up Courchevel are located in the ski area known as Les Trois Vallees (The Three Valleys) in the Savoie region of the French Alps. Les Trois Vallees include the valleys of Saint-Bon, Les Allues and Belleville, and together they form the largest ski area in the world. There are 600 kilometers of slopes connected by 173 lifts and ski slopes. The area has 30 black slopes, 108 red slopes, 129 blue slopes, and 51 green slopes.
How to get to Courchevel 1850
By train
From Paris, the TGV takes 4 hours to reach Moutiers Tarentaise station. From here you can make the transfer by bus or taxi.
More information, tel.: 00 33 (0) 8 92 35 35 35 or visit the SNCF website.
By car Courchevel is 600 kilometers from Paris (5h30), 55 kilometers from Nice (5h00), 187 kilometers (2h00) from Lyon and 149 kilometers (2h15) from Geneva.
By coach
There are bus services to Courchevel.
- De Moutier, tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 08 01 17, website
- De Chambéry, tel.: 00 33 (0) 8 20 22 74 14, website
- From Geneva, tel.: 00 41 22 798 2000, website
- From Lyon, tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 68 32 96, website
By helicopter
Helicopters fly to Altiport Courchevel, just above the main complex. For information, tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 08 01 91, or visit the website. The company also operates heli-ski.
Why choose Courchevel 1850?
For more information on all activities, check with the Courchevel Tourist Office
Ski
Courchevel 1850 offers excitement for all ranges of skiers and is home to some of the best ski competitions in the world. Despite its glamorous image, it is particularly good for beginners with excellent smooth slopes around Altiport.
The ESF (French Ski School in Europe) has a total of 800 qualified instructors in Courchevel 1550, 1650 and 1850. Courchevel 1850 has 500 instructors alone.
There is a ski school for babies, where 18-month-old children receive private lessons. The chairlifts are specially adapted for children with Magnestick Kids and Magnestick Bar that keep children in their seats with magnets and a special jacket, and then automatically release them at the top of the race. There is a special ski area, called Family Park as well.
Other winter sports in Courchevel 1850
Besides excellent skiing, there is a lot to catch your eye in Courchevel. It is great fun and easy to sled in Courchevel. There is a 2 kilometer long race with an average incline of more than 300 meters of 15%. You can do it between 9am and 7.30pm and it is lit up at night. It’s free with a ski pass or chair lift (the chair lift costs 6 euros).
If you fancy seeing shoes , there are 17 kilometers of well-marked trails that will take you slowly down the snow-covered pine trees.
With ice axes and special crampons that keep you glued to the ice, try climbing natural or man-made waterfalls.
Go ice skating at Le Forum in the center of Courchevel.
One of the funniest things to do if you are an adventure fanatic is to hire a snowmobile that takes two people, driver and passenger, on an hour-long excursion. And you can also do it at night.
Winter non-sporting activities
There are 39 hotel spas , of which 27 are accessible to non-residents. Among them there is almost everything you could wish for, from hot tubs and wave pools, to massage rooms and treatments with the best international names.
Le Chabichou hotel offers an excellent weekly cooking class where you can learn all the skills of a top chef, using local ingredients. Contact the hotel for details.
Courchevel
Courchevel consists of five resorts: Courchevel 1850, Courchevel 1650, Courchevel 1500, Courchevel 1300 Le Praz and La Tania. Courchevel was the first place to develop serious winter sports. It began in 1946 when the poverty of the region known only for cheese-making led the government to create a new type of high-altitude resort center centered on Courchevel 1850.
It was the first to provide snow patrols and snow clearing machines. Jean Blanc was one of the first ski shops and still exists in Courchevel 1850. The first hotel, the Hotel de la Loze, was built in 1948. In 1992, Le Forum was built for the Winter Games, providing a great ski slope. skating. Different districts grew, including the beautiful and private ‘Granary District’, where small chalets inspired by the barns of the past were built where farmers kept their grain away from their homes.
Courchevel 1850 is strictly controlled with planning laws that keep the houses and hotels low-rise and very select. The last new hotel, Hotel K2, opened in December 2011 and appears to enhance Courchevel’s reputation as the most glamorous ski resort in France.
Useful information
Courchevel Turismo
The heart of Courchevel
Phone: 00 33 (0) 4 79 0800 29
Web sitio
- Live webcam
- Current weather
- Current snow cover
Why should you go skiing in France?
Where to stay
Courchevel has an extraordinary number of top hotels, including two of Palace’s nine new specialty hotels, a new category developed by the government for the best hotels in France. The others are in Paris, one in Cap Ferrat and one in Biarritz.
Many of the 5-star luxury hotels are among the best in France, with the latest opening, Hotel Le K2, offering real excitement.
Guide to Luxury Hotels in Courchevel
Review of: Hotel Le K2 & Spa
Where to eat
Most hotels offer half board, so you are likely dining at your hotel. However, there are many options in Courchevel for casual lunches and dinners.
- Le Chabotte
The new hotel restaurant Le Chabichou, this modern bistro-style restaurant is particularly popular for lunch. There is a good 2 or 3 course menu (lunch € 19.90 and € 24.90; dinner € 23.90 and 28.90). Other menus are also available in a menu that has traditional dishes with local cheeses, mushrooms and cold cuts. Otherwise, the restaurant has a large terrace where you can ski for lunch outdoors.
Le Chabichou Hotel
Rue Chenus
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 08 00 55
Website
- Le Pilatus In it
High, just above the Altiport, used by private helicopters, Le Pilatus is a large rustic chalet with great views and a warm welcome. There is a long menu of local ingredients with everything from omelettes with green salad and fries (17 euros) to grilled steak (31 euros). It’s on the slopes, so you can ski here.
Pralong Piste
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 08 20 49
Website
- Le Genepi
Beautiful mountain chalet-style décor in this casual, family-friendly restaurant in the center of town. Classic dishes like duck confit with mushrooms and potatoes cooked with duck fat and mousse au chocolat keep the winter winds at bay. Delicatessen dishes and fondues are also recommended. Children’s menu 25 euros; a la carte three courses around 70 euros per person.
Rue Park City
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 08 08 63
Website
- Le Tremplin
This is a great after-ski spot when the lunchtime menus change at the Brasserie and you get some great Brittany-style crepes to fortify yourself. In the evening, dishes such as meuniere, scallops and generous portions of meat are offered. They also operate a sister restaurant called Les Verdons on the slopes for a break from skiing, where the cuisine is hearty but unrefined.
Courchevel 1850 (opposite the Tourist Office)
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 7908 06 19
Website
- Azimuth
I wouldn’t say that this little local restaurant has a Michelin star; that is until you taste the food. Part of Courchevel, but located at Courchevel 1300, Le Praz, a fairly traditional village further down the Courchevel Valley 1850, Azimut, in a former bakery, has made a name for itself for excellent cuisine at reasonable prices with menus starting at 28 euros. Chef and owner Francois Moureaux has modernized and refined classic dishes, producing specialties such as scallops in a port reduction and venison with gnocchi with local Beaufort cheese, all beautifully presented. Top it off with some of their fine selection of Jura wines.
In the summer, Francois and his wife Sandrine head to their other restaurant Auberge de La Poutre in Banlieu in the Jura.
Immeuble l’Or Blanc
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 4 79 06 25 90
