Four weeks in Europe - January 2024

A snowHead

Now that Christmas is over I'm starting to think about options for the France leg of our trip. We would love to go to Briancon/Serre Chevalier area if conditions are good but we're open to other suggestions.

1. We would prefer not to go to one of the mega complexes in the Tarantaise or Chamonix again. We'd prefer somewhere where French is the primary language and English is not so common.
2. A real town is good. We don't mind driving up to an hour each way to ski each day but would like to have some local skiing accessible from the town. (I understand the driving bit is not everyone's cup of tea but we're fine with it. Probably due to our first taste of real skiing being in Canada and USA where accommodation is often not at the resort).
3. Some time skiing off piste would be great but we'll be happy if we have to stick to the groomers.
4. I am told snow conditions generally speaking are decent over 2000 metres but rain affected below that elevation so access to relatively high terrain would be ideal.

Which is the nicest town/village in the Maurienne Valley? Best town which is accessible to both Les Duex Alps and Alpe d'Huez? Valmeinier/Valloire an option?
Thanks in advance.

A snowHead

Landeck is a perfectly sensible spot if you want to experience the various areas in the western Tirol. Serfaus / Fiss is nearby, there are regular buses from the train station, easy for access.

St Anton is an easy train ride, the station is in the centre of the village about a 5 minute walk (not ideal in ski boots, there are lockers in the station or in the ski hire spots next to the lift) to the main lift also regular bus connections to Zürs & Lech. Perfectly possible to have a decent day out including a beer at the Moose or KK and get back to Landeck. Only thing to note is that the train only runs every two hours (the other "hour" trains stop in Langen on the other side of the Arlberg pass with bus connections to Zürs & Lech) but there are buses too which are roughly hourly. If you want to do some travelling on skis you could take a morning train to Langen then bus onto Zürs, ski Zürsertäli (great run with wonderful scenery) and Madloch and onto Lech, have early lunch on the terraces at Oberlech before skiing to St Anton for the train back to Landeck

There are buses to Ischgl but they are pretty slow and Ischgl is a fair way down the Paznauntal, about 40 minutes in a car. You might be better off hiring a car for the day. There are a couple of smaller places in the Paznauntal, See & Kappl which are a bit closer to Landeck, same bus as Ischgl.

If you have a hire car easy to get to Samnaun ("other" side of Ischgl, linguistically & geographically part of the Tirol but in Switzerland) or Nauders at the Reschen Pass. The Kaunertal & Pitztal glacier areas are too small and too far to be worth the effort.

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@munich_irish, good info. Thanks.

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@rjs, sorry. All seperate questions. I’m hoping to find a good base to ski several hills if possible.

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After all it is free

@sbooker,
Espace Diamant, Megeve/St-Gervais, Grand Massif, Vaujany for Les Deux Alpes.

@luigi, great info. Thanks. Briancon is at the top of the list. Just need the snow to do it’s thing.
@Kenzie, if the snow is better in the north St Gervais looks good.

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The Cervinia websites suggests the ‘Alpne Crossing’ into Zermatt is shut for maintenance until March 31. Is that the main crossing to Zermatt? Or only crossing? Or just one of them?

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@luigi, thanks. Great info. Just need to get a fine day with little wind. I’m sure there will be a suitable day within the 5 days we are in Aosta.

You know it makes sense.

Oh. And what is the time frame for getting all the lifts from Cervinia to the top. I would guess about an hour?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

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@luigi, thanks!

A snowHead

This time next week we’ll have to be honing in on a likely location for our France leg. We arrive on the 26th and first ski day will be 27th. Seems most mountains have adequate snow over about 2000 metres but the chance of rain to high elevation over the next week or so.
As previously mentioned we want to go somewhere a little less touristy and a little bit more French. First choice would be Briancon with Maurienne valley second and Saint Gervais third.
Any other suggestions?

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@luigi, @sbooker wasn't asking for "rustic" but just more French and less touristy. I fear he will hear English-speaking voices in most places, and restaurants know that they need to be able to respond in English to get trade.

Briancon's historic old town will certainly seem special and different from most ski resorts, and @sbooker may find it more authentically French for that reason although to be fair similar hilltop fortified towns are found in other countries (Italy, Spain). But the old town is about a mile from the gondola station, and skiers are likely to be staying in that somewhat characterless area. It gives access to one end of the Serre Chevalier ski area which has a lot to enjoy, and with plenty of Snowheads able to answer specific queries.

St Gervais (where we have an apartment) did indeed have a life as a spa town before becoming a ski resort, and as a result the centre has an architectural style different from most resorts; what is known in France as "Belle Epoque", the style around the turn of the twentieth century. The centre is close enough to the gondola for it to be a realistic area to stay. The skiing is probably mostly more mellow than Serre Chevalier, but there is a lot of mileage if you include Les Contamines and Combloux (same lift pass but needing bus connections or a drive). Again plenty of advice.

The Maurienne is rather different, a region where there are multiple small resorts and I am not sure where the best base would be and how attractive a place to stay. However as a general rule it is those smaller resorts that feel most French, even if each only justifies a day visit by car. But I admit I don't know the area, all I have ever done is ski down to Orelle from the Three Valleys and ski to St Francois-Longchamps when based in Valmorel.

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@luigi, @j b, interesting comments. Thanks.
It’d be easier to make a call without the roller coast type weather that has been common this season.

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Hmm. Difficult, especially in view of the fairly grim weather forecast. Personally I'm very fond of St Gervais as a town and have visited several times (most recently in May 2023) but never skied there. I know the Les Contamines skiing well, but not the village (which I suspect is moderately dull) having always approached from the Belleville side.

There are places where you are unlikely to hear much English spoken, if that's important - Les Saisies is one, but the OP might not find the skiing particularly exciting. Lots of the smaller Maurienne resorts are very "French" but in the same way as Worthing is "very English". It's not a Mecca for "tourists" but that doesn't necessarily make it worth visiting. Lots of places which are "not touristy" are just plain dull.

La Clusaz is very French and a proper town. Has a reputation amongst (French) locals as being very up itself, but to those of us who aren't French, perhaps French toffs are more agreeable than English ones?

To go to a really "off the beaten track" place, could try Areches-Beaufort, especially if you fancy some touring and doing an "introduction to touring" day with a local guide. I did that, actually some way from A-B, far from any lifts, but much enjoyed the change of pace and scene, even if I was not a huge success at the actual skiing. I acquitted myself well on the uphill - being properly dressed for it, unlike the two young French people on the trip (who were far better skiers, and much younger, but stupidly attired in downhill gear). But fairly hopeless on the ski down. But really "away from it all". But that was a stunningly beautiful day, cold but windless, and in glorious surroundings, all very snowy.

I'd suggest the later you can leave decisions about where to go the end of next week, the better, given the widespread rain forecast Wednesday-Thursday. The best bet might be somewhere high altitude and touristy such as Tignes. Provided you're OK skiing in the snow!

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There’s nothing at all stark about the picturesque village of Valloire and the views from 3,000 meters at Bonneval sur Arc are pretty good…yes you have to travel around The Maurienne Valley but that’s what makes it a pretty good base as you can pick and choose from where to ski depending on that’s days weather and even nip into Italy if you fancy it at Bardonnechia or Sauze…and you will struggle to hear English voices and very few of the locals speak English at all.

Good luck with your decision and I hope you have a cracking trip wherever you decide to end up.

After all it is free

@pam w, I’ve got nothing against the big resorts and will be at both Tignes and Val Thorens in April. Just chasing something different this time.

@andmelffion, thanks. Maurienne valley does sound appealing.

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@sbooker, My introduction to really French resorts has been through racing. Have done a mix of driving from the Espace Diamant on the day and staying in a cheap hotel in the valley. Smaller places seem more interested in organizing races than the big resorts.

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I don't know the Maurienne Valley resorts well (except one week in Valmeinier/valloire some years ago) but have driven along it several times to get to Italy and back through the Frejus tunnel and taken son and grandson to Modane for train. It is a bit harsh to describe it as "bleak" but it is not one of the most obviously appealing alpine valleys (compared, for example, to the Arly Valley where Megeve and Praz sur Arly are situated) and I can only agree with the very well-informed @luigi that Modane is not a charming place. It struck me as a miserable dump when I was there. Very French, and certainly not touristy, but it felt, superficially, like a fairly tough place, where life has been hard for centuries. We were early for the train they had to catch, and had coffee and a very basic croissant in one of those little cafés frequented by old French guys. In the sleety rain. But if "not touristy" is a criterion, it certainly ticks that box. As does, for example, Bradford.

If you want French skiing in a place where FOREIGN tourists don't go, and which has not been comprehensively made twee in the form of new developments described as "Savoyarde" and which have induced some deluded observers to describe Val d'Isere as an "attractive traditional village" then you could do a lot worse than the Espace Diamant, especially the Arly Valley runs (Praz sur Arly and Flumet) including some slow chairs and fiendish drag lifts. They are authentically French! And some delightful, not too expensive, places to eat on the slopes. You could spend days there and hear little or no English. BUT to be enjoyed those slopes need good snow down to the valley. And that's looking elusive at present. Skiing on the "wrong" side of Megeve (next town down the valley) up to Le Jaillet also highly recommended if the snow is good - with stunning views of Mont Blanc. And Combloux, though not having much claim to be "authentic" is a very attractive and well equipped village, not as ridiculously over the top as Megeve, though we did find several wines prices at over 100 euros a bottle in the local supermarket when we were there last May for a few days. Didn't see anywhere you could rent a silly little dog for the week, though.

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You know it makes sense.

@pam w, Modane scratched off the list. Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@pam w, There are places with even fewer English visitors than the Espace Diamant, I ended up on the same chair as an English couple on the Legette yesterday. I really don't think you will hear any English spoken at Collet d'Allevard or Les Aillons. A visit to somewhere with brutalist architecture like Le Corbier or Isola 2000 should maybe be part of the full French ski experience too.

A snowHead

A snowHead

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That bit past the huge factory, where there's a magnetic anomaly signposted on the road, is kind of interesting. And that extraordinary series of hairpin bends, on the left as you drive towards the tunnel, looks interesting too. But it's quite a harsh landscape compared to many Alpine Valleys (even the Arve Valley, which isn't particularly lovely for the most part).

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If you’re into trains I’m sure Modane (usually, prior to landslide and none in the town) is heaven to you

But if you prefer mountains then the views aren’t at all bad…happy holiday

https://app.webcam-hd.com/valcenis/la-met

Or above Modane

https://www.valfrejus.com/en/webcam/

https://www.la-norma.fr/en/webcam/

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@andmelffion, the best ski resort in the valley for ease of access and egress? As in shortest drive from the highway?

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@pam w,
You won't hear much English spoken in Bradford, unless it is Japanese Bronte fans heading to Haworth & Top Withens.

After all it is free

I was rather unkind about Modane, but it's certainly more authentic than Val d'Isere.

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Four weeks in Europe - January 2024

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