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Val Cenis Vs Serre Chevalier this Christmas

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I am looking for a pretty French ski village. Me and my older girl are intermediate skiers but my younger one is beginning to learn, we don't want to go to crowded resort. My other half doesn't ski but likes toboganning
I have been to Saas Fee on the learning slopes, alpbach, Dolomites val gardenia, so like something similar.

Given i am planing to go during Christmas i have to rely on the snow making how good are they in these resorts. How good r these resorts in early season I mean snow making and number of runs open, do they do toboganning couldn't find much about it.

I have narrowed down to two Val Cenis vs Serre Chevalier, happy to take suggestions.

I have looked at Megeve but discounted as it was too expensive.

BTW, I am driving from Calais to the resort, I hope both are accessible by car.[/code]
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@pressi, I have been to both but neither at Xmas.
Both have pretty reasonable snow making I think Serre Chevaliers is a bit more extensive..
I can't tell you about tobogganing I'm afraid.though I seem to remember they both have it.

Serre Chevalier is a fair bit more extrensive as an area and encompasses several resorts in the valley which share the same area. If your other half doesnt ski there is probably a bit more going on in the valley including thermal baths at Monetier and an attractive old town in Briancon .

Val Cenis is a couple of different villages with a shared area above them that also links to Termignon and is very pleasant for beginners and plenty of skiing for intermediates though not as extensive as Serre Che. My guess from my visits is that it would be quite a bit quieter than Serre Che though as I have said I have not visited at that time of the year and it is probably 2 hours or so closer to Calais and not a bad drive. Autoroute as far as Modane and only a bit of uphill thereafter. Serre Che is a bit further and you have to approach either over Col du Lautaret or Col du Montgenevre,(passing close to Val Cenis en route). Not a tough drive but definitely a bit further.
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@pressi,

What do you define as too expensive? Stanford Ski in Megeve still has places going over xmas.

http://www.stanfordskiing.co.uk/megeve-ski/chalet-apartment-prices/
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St Gervais would be worth considering as the poor relation to Megeve. Uses the same ski area, and closer to Calais than your other choices.
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I have been to val cenis twice. Stayed in termignon actually but it's linked really easily. We loved it there. Like you we always go to the smaller French resorts now. So few que's for lifts and cheaper. A really good variety of reds and blues. Can't remember if there is taboggoning or not though. The resort is so easy to drive to. Literally 20 mins off the main motorway. It's mainly north facing which can be cold but at least it holds the snow better. We have taken a punt and booked for new year seeing as the snow looks encouraging at the moment.
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If it is the first time you are driving you might be better off going somewhere nearer than Serre Chevalier.

Val Cenis is a couple of hours on from the nearest resorts but is a very straightforward drive and not too far from the motorway exit. It is very good value all round. The skiing is also suited to beginners and intermediates. I think there might be a toboggan run but we never got round to investigating as we stayed at les chalets de flambeau which had its own pool and spent our apres ski time there. It definitely has bowling and there is a resort leisure centre. There are two villages Lanslebourg and Lanslevillard and I'd say Lanslevillard is the prettier of the two.

I would also suggest looking at Les Saisies which is a shorter drive, pretty and good for beginners and intermediates. You will probably find it is more expensive than Val Cenis but cheaper than Megeve.
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I went to Serre Chevalier last Jan. with a couple of beginners, staying in Villenueve. I can't comment on the drive as we flew to Turin. I would say though that it's not a great resort for beginners as there aren't that many decent green slopes. There's an area at the bottom of the lifts which is ok and one piste quite high up near Frejus. This requires a tiny gondola and a very long and tedious drag lift to get to it from memory. The only other Green I went on was a track through the woods which also doubles as a sledging run for part of it. It's awful!

Having said that it's a decent resort, Pretty in parts and not too pricey to eat etc. The snow wasn't great and there wasn't much artificial being made as i recall. I also thought the infrastructure was lacking a bit. Ski buses were hard to find and infrequent so we ended up walking a lot, and the lifts were a bit hit-and-miss.

Have you looked at Avoriaz or Flaine? I think they're quite an easy drive.
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@Seanyb74, The op said she wanted a pretty, inexpensive and uncrowded resort. Flaine and Avoriaz would not be the first places I'd think of for those criteria!
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No, having re-read the post I take those back. Not been to Flaine, but Avoriaz is no looker! The horses were nice though. Very Happy

La Clusaz is meant to be pretty?
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Quote:

I would say though that it's not a great resort for beginners as there aren't that many decent green slopes.

Don't really agree with this my kids both learned to ski there as did several friends children , admittedly a number of years ago there are plenty of easy green and gentle blues to learn on, there were probably a few to many drags at one time to be ideal though I believe this has improved considerably.
A pretty good snowmaking set up as well.
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Seanyb74 wrote:
No, having re-read the post I take those back. Not been to Flaine, but Avoriaz is no looker! The horses were nice though. Very Happy

La Clusaz is meant to be pretty?

Flaine make Avoriaz look lovely , some of the lower resorts in the area are not to unattractive though for my taste they are a bit low for booking ahead at Xmas. (As would be Megeve)
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My time at Val Cenis was too long ago for meaningful advice, but one advantage, if you're so inclined, is if staying there to drive 35 km down the valley to Orelle and catch the gondola to treat yourself to a day's skiing in Val Thorens. Just make sure you're heading back in plenty of time to catch the gondola back down as it'd be a long trip otherwise to return to Val Cenis.
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Good to her your experiences, checking the google driving time from calais Val Cenis(Termignon ) is 8 hr 30min approx Vs Serre Chevalier between 9hr 6 min to 9 hr 25 min (BRIANÇON /MONÊTIER LES BAINS) as I have to drive into Italy and back again into France.

I have driven all the way to Annecy and Provence before, but given the winter driving hoping it would be manageable.

Checking the skiing across and moving between villages do I have to use buses or can you use lifts and ski across the entire region. Not sure about Val Cenis I might have to use a bus, but in Serre Che from the ski map I see it is linked better, I could be wrong here.

http://www.piste-maps.co.uk/Piste-Maps/France/ValCenis-PisteMap2014.pdf

http://www.serre-chevalier.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/plan-hiv2016-nnnnn.pdf

price wise ski pass rates differ by 50 for a 5/6 day pass (Serre Che being dearer given the area of coverage)


Serre Che has a 4k toboggan run but over 12 yrs, not sure where I my 6 yrs one can tag along, can 't find in the websites.

Though me any my older one (10yr old) can do Red (by Dolmities rating) my daughter always gets excited to try black but I keep stopping her (being over protective) .

As anyone tried the ski schools and any suggestions.
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@pressi,
In both areas you can get between bases by lift and shuttle bus.
We have used ski schools in both resorts but to long ago to be particularly useful. Some of the ESF classes in Serre Che used to be very large and I would tend to avoid.
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I grew up skiing in Val Cenis, though this was a while ago (haven't been for over 15 years now I'd guess). You could definitely ski the whole region without buses back then. The link to Termignon didn't exist, but it looks like you can get there on skis too from the piste map, so no concerns. It's changed a fair bit, a few lifts and slopes have disappeared or been shortened, though there's obviously some new stuff too.

Anyway, as to the resort itself, it's a nice place to ski, and pretty nice villages too. For intermediates I think it's a decent choice, there are plenty of nice blues and reds to cruise down, with some of my personal favourites being L'Arcelle (lovely long red), la Met (red run down from the top, you must get there, the views across to the lake and Italy are beautiful), and I also used to like Vers La Berche for some reason. For more advanced skiers it's a bit limited, I notice the run l'Ouillon has been shortened and downgraded (used to be a proper black, and was in fact an itinerary when they still had such things), so Michel Jacot de la Met is probably the only really tough run left (caveat being that Moraine didn't exist when I last skied there, MJ de la Berche is a good black run too, but short). Also, since you might be somewhat reluctant to ski black runs, it's worth bearing in mind that Vers le Mont Cenis isn't really a black at all, more that it's quite a narrow path-type run with a very steep (and open - no trees to stop you) drop off. I say this because it's a useful way to get to the Mont Cenis area, which also has some nice skiing, so don't be put off by the black grading.

As I said, the link to Termignon didn't exist back then, and I've never skied that side, so can't comment, though it looks smaller. Maybe just take a day to ski across there to see if you like it.

For the beginners, as I said I grew up learning to ski there, and the ski schools were pretty decent. There's plenty of easier stuff for the beginners, and you can ski down from the top using only blues, although the bit of the Familiale run right off the TC du Vieux Moulin was quite steep IIRC (no idea on the Nunda run from the top, never skied it, it only existed for the last year or two I skied Val Cenis).

We used to stay in Lans le Villard, which was quite central, though there could be queues at the TC du Vieux Moulin at peak times. Things might have changed, with the possibility of getting Colomba (didn't exist when I skied there), Arcelle and Plan Cardinal, so getting up high without it. With the new link to Termignon, and other changes, Lans le Bourg looks like it could be a good base too. Wouldn't recommend the between bit of Les Champs though, that bit of green from the top of Pre Novel to Lans le Villard is really flat (requires quite a bit of poling) IIRC.
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 Poster: A snowHead
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@pressi, The drawback of doing the extra drive to Serre Chevalier would be the extra cost of the Frejus tunnel (return around 40 euros I think) and that you would have to drive over the col de Montgenevre to get to Serre Chevalier which if it were snowing would probably be harder than driving the short distance from Modane to Val Cenis. I have only done the bit as far as Montgenevre which is ok but it looks a bit wiggly on the map between there and Briancon.

If you are willing to drive that far have you considered Montgenevre as that would be excellent for your kids in terms of ski terrain and has its own roller coaster. There is also some really nice self catering accommodation there.

I still think Val cenis would be a good option. You do not need to use a ski bus there as there is a good choice of accommodation at the foot of the slopes.

In terms of ski school I have not been to Serre Chevalier so can't comment. Ski school is excellent in Montgenevre. We have used the ESF in Val Cenis and it was fine...not quite as good as montgenevre though.

Going back to the driving - if you are happy to pay out for an en route hotel each way any of the drives would be ok.
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The road down to Briancon is pretty steep with lots of hairpin bends. Exciting or scary depending on your POV. My friends used ESF, they weren't terribly complimentary about them. There's other companies though. The resort is easy to get around on the slopes.
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Val Cenis is getting lots of thumbs up, nice, and it is closer too, easy.
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We drive to the french alpes every xmas, Usually stay overnight either at Dole or Lyon est depending if we want to ski next day.
Termignon and Val Cenis is very nice, we are going again Termignon this year. The road up does get a fair bit of snow but is kept fairly clear. You won't waste much time in ski queues.
Flaine is the ugliest place I have ever been, massive queues and completely bland.
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Which website would you use use for resort accommodation, ideally like to stay in Lans le Villard village but most of the accommodation seems to be around Lans le Bourg which means I have to drive around everyday and find a parking spaces close to the lifts, wondering how the local resort bus facilities are, done any one have an idea.

I see the prices around 1K euros /week is this the reasonable price in France, elsewhere in Austria/Italy the prices last year weren't so much dearer, I am guessing this could be because of Christmas and New Year holidays are falling within a week this year.
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@pressi, Local ski bus service is very good betweeen the villages, probably every 10mins.
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pressi wrote:
Which website would you use use for resort accommodation, ideally like to stay in Lans le Villard village but most of the accommodation seems to be around Lans le Bourg which means I have to drive around everyday and find a parking spaces close to the lifts, wondering how the local resort bus facilities are, done any one have an idea.

I see the prices around 1K euros /week is this the reasonable price in France, elsewhere in Austria/Italy the prices last year weren't so much dearer, I am guessing this could be because of Christmas and New Year holidays are falling within a week this year.

I've used this in the past .
http://www.maurienne-tourisme.com/
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@pressi, We booked through Peak Retreats whose prices include a flexi plus Eurotunnel crossing which could be handy as you say above that you are planning to drive. They have lots of options in Val Cenis on their website and several of the places are at the foot of the slopes so you would not need the car. Chalets de Flambeau where we stayed is lovely but probably the most expensive. You could look at Les Balcons de Val Cenis, le criterium or Hotel St Charles apartments which are all well located. I would also suggest looking at the apartments they offer in Termignon as from memory they are cheaper. You would have access to the same ski area from Termignon.

You will definitely find there are options available for 1000 euros for Christmas week in the French alps but they will be quite basic and possibly 1 bed apts. The lift pass in Val Cenis is good value compared to other places so whilst you might find a cheaper apartment in another resort the overall holiday might not be cheaper if the lift pass and other costs in resort are more. We also tend to book accommodation with a pool which makes the accommodation cost higher but means that there is always something to do after skiing and you don't have to pay out for further activities eg. bowling.
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I'd also recommend Val Cenis (not visited Ser Che, yet, so can't offer comparison) as we've been there the last two years but in march. As you'd already got to, Lansvillard is the more traditional small village (I like lansellborg too but it's a little more town like and layer out along a main through street) with a village square, church tower etc and quite pretty with old traditional buildings.
All parts of Val Cenis are effectively walk out onto the snow within reason so you'll not be far away whichever you choose. Val Cenis Haute is a newer section built at the far end of Lansvillard and is closest to the small bubble lift that takes you to a central point on the lower slopes where you are at the top of the dedicated toboggan run and the beginners area plus the chair going further up into the ski area.
The toboggan goes back down to the bubble base station so very convenient. The beginner ski area is a very gentle, broad piste along the front of the village and entirely served by a very comfortable and very safe 8 man chair, in short it's one of the very best areas a beginner could want and I'd rate it as excellent. It's broadly all one piste but with varied routes it offers different gradients as they progress, also a small ski/boarder cross course alongside the main teaching piste that my kids just loved going down.
The link to Termingnon is via a sixpack chair from Lansellborg, it goes over a nature reserve so after skiing Termingnon you ride the chair back over.
Termingnon has quite a flat exposed peak but was running a speed trap there whish my two wanted to do ageing and again. Also some lovely runs down through the trees to village with some very good gradient on them. Very good restaurant / cafe over there too right at the top of tree line in the sun, well worth a visit to this area.
As the others have said, it's one of the easiest drives to get to with nothing like the tortuous final bits of some places. Just be mindful that if you go via Chambrey on a Saturday it's local traffic can give you significant jams and delays. You'll just get caught up in lots of shopping stuff.
We as a family think it's a great area, particularly because it is more French. Eating out is very good and my kids rate the beefburgers we got from local butcher in Lansvillard as the pinnacle of beefburger experience against which every other one is now rated Wink. There are many local owned businesses as well which we like to buy from.
Allowing for snow conditions (there's fairly extensive snow making kit there, along with it being north facing, it gives a good combination) I don't think you'd regret making the choice.
I I can give you any more specifics, please ask.
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Not been to Val Cenis but have had several visits to Serre Che and would certainly go again. The villages are pleasant, Monetier especially has the feel of an old village (and the baths are wonderful). Briancon has the old city if you want a non skiing day. If you want lessons contact Gavin Crosby at New Gen, they are great. There is a big ski area, I am a nervous early intermediate and had no problems. Ski buses run frequently along the valley from Briancon to Monetier which is handy as you don't have to worry about skiing back if you venture across the resort, you can just head down to the villages and get the bus back if the legs have had enough.

I might be put off by the extra distance, depends how happy you are with driving.

Also have a look at Montgenevre, smaller skiing area but links with Italy and plenty for a week. The upper bowl has a few lovely runs for beginners that are wide and open. Great ski school there too, A-peak which I can recommend
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Not been to Val Cenis but have had several visits to Serre Che and would certainly go again. The villages are pleasant, Monetier especially has the feel of an old village (and the baths are wonderful). Briancon has the old city if you want a non skiing day. If you want lessons contact Gavin Crosby at New Gen, they are great. There is a big ski area, I am a nervous early intermediate and had no problems. Ski buses run frequently along the valley from Briancon to Monetier which is handy as you don't have to worry about skiing back if you venture across the resort, you can just head down to the villages and get the bus back if the legs have had enough.

I might be put off by the extra distance, depends how happy you are with driving.

Also have a look at Montgenevre, smaller skiing area but links with Italy and plenty for a week. The upper bowl has a few lovely runs for beginners that are wide and open. Great ski school there too, A-peak which I can recommend
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Any idea about the nearest Christmas markets town I can visit, just a touristy stuff after skiing to keep family happy Happy
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