 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
Aware that there is a previous thread similarly titled- However, seems to be slightly outdated so would like a 2022 refresh of opinion on our potential trip!
We are travelling in a group of 4 (2 couples, all aged around 30ish) - 2 of us have been to France before (Les 2 Alps, Alpe D'Huez), but we have 2 newcomers.
We have managed to find two good deals to get away to Tignes in the 2nd week of January. The most important thing is the skiing- But we would also like a village which has some form of liveliness on an evening with nice food and drinks. We will be winding down by midnightish so clubbing isn't really a priority.
Is Tignes an attractive choice (particulalry after being to L2a, which we loved - and for the 2 newcomers)? - and as a follow up, are we better suited to Le Lac or Val Claret? Looking to travel Jan 7th.
Thanks in advance!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Le Lac, but all 3 villages around the lake in Tignes - including your 2 choices - are well linked by a free 24hr bus service.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Kenzie wrote: |
| Le Lac, but all 3 villages around the lake in Tignes - including your 2 choices - are well linked by a free 24hr bus service. |
Thanks for the quick response! If we wanted to experience the Folie at Val D'isere and explore the village, how easy is it to get to and from Le Lac?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| JGSKI wrote: |
| Kenzie wrote: |
| Le Lac, but all 3 villages around the lake in Tignes - including your 2 choices - are well linked by a free 24hr bus service. |
Thanks for the quick response! If we wanted to experience the Folie at Val D'isere and explore the village, how easy is it to get to and from Le Lac? |
You cannot ski 'down' to Tignes from the Folie so you will need to be out of the Follie before the lift back to Tignes shuts. That probably means you'll miss the most riotous period (just before kick-out).
If you mean Explore Val Diz whilst based in Tignes - not easy. There isn't really a bus service between Tignes/Val Diz and it's an expensive taxi ride if you get stuck in the wrong valley.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I remember last year there was a bus put on by STGM for people wanting to get back to Tignes from Val after lifts shut - though they haven't published the time table yet for winter, and i don't think it's free.
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| JGSKI wrote: |
| Kenzie wrote: |
| Le Lac, but all 3 villages around the lake in Tignes - including your 2 choices - are well linked by a free 24hr bus service. |
Thanks for the quick response! If we wanted to experience the Folie at Val D'isere and explore the village, how easy is it to get to and from Le Lac? |
It's a 2 minute max ski to the lift, at which point you can ski all the way down to Tignes Le Lac and Val Claret, but it's not an easy ski down, particularly to Le Lac.
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I would go with Val Claret, you have the Cocorico apres ski and you can leave La Folie Douce relatively late in order to ski back to the station.
To me it feels more dynamic than Le Lac, but there is a free bus connecting them as mentioned.
Still it's more fun to end your day by walking back to the flat and not by waiting in the freezing air for a bus.
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@JGSKI, Very little to choose between the two, but be careful with your choice of accommodation in Val Claret and want to sleep from midnight. There are some incredibly noisy areas and equally some tranquil ones.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I would make the decision based on the price, quality, facilities, and location (ie. closeness to Lifts) of the accommodation
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @JGSKI, Very little to choose between the two, but be careful with your choice of accommodation in Val Claret and want to sleep from midnight. There are some incredibly noisy areas and equally some tranquil ones. |
My apt is right above the underpass next to Arobaze and Avant Garde and it can get a bit exciting at times, but generally it's nay bother... even at home in Keswick I live in a quiet part of town and still wear earbuds at night, I can tell you the seagull who lives on the neighbours chimney causes me many more problems than the herberts spilling out of Avant Garde.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We discovered The Moose in Le Lac on our last trip. It has a really nice view across to lake to Val Claret and the apres was reasonable.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| JGSKI wrote: |
| Kenzie wrote: |
| Le Lac, but all 3 villages around the lake in Tignes - including your 2 choices - are well linked by a free 24hr bus service. |
Thanks for the quick response! If we wanted to experience the Folie at Val D'isere and explore the village, how easy is it to get to and from Le Lac? |
From Le Lac to Folie - Toviere gondala up, then blue runs Creux-Edelweiss-Tines then green run Verte, but most people go there at the end of a day's skiing. Take note that the queue for the Tommeuses chairlift can be long at the end of the day. If you've been in the Folie give yourself time to get back to Tignes, even though the chairlift is only a couple of minutes ski behind the Folie.
Can't see why you would want to explore Val D during the day - you should be up the mountain skiing! 
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You know it makes sense.
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Bits of Val D'Isere are more aesthetically pleasing, especially in the Centre where government grants ahead of the 92 JO were plentiful to ensure the approach to the blue riband event was nicely clad in wood But it has its share of brutalist concrete apartment blocks as well. But when it's dark it doesn't matter.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@JGSKI, you say you’ve got a couple of newcomers which I assume means beginners. Getting over to the Folie from Le Lac is pretty easy, gondola up and blues/greens down there. Just take care on the way back at the end of the day, particularly after a few drinks. It would be a much better option for beginners and early intermediates to get the Toviere gondola back down into Le Lac rather than attempt to ski down, it’s not a run for beginners or early intermediates as that time of day.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Dav, that was our experience, that run back down to Le Lac was not pleasant to do at the end of the day.
And we thought the "attractiveness" of Val d'Isere was over-rated. It is just another purpose-built ski resort. It would however be more attractive than Tignes to non-skiing companions who wanted to spend their day wandering around expensive shops and cocktail bars.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@j b, The irony is that possibly the ugliest block in Tignes Le Lac (Bec Rouge) has the best views of the mountains, if you are more than half way up. You can relax in an arm chair and look over the lake to the Fingers and up to the Grande Motte without being able to see a building. Sadly, I am now a bit more hemmed in after a new and aesthetically pleasing apart hotel obscured my view of the roundabout and the bottom 100m of the Palafour run.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@chocksaway, sounds a bit of a pity for you. It seems there is a risk in buying a place for the view (though I suspect you felt Tignes met your needs in many more ways than that).
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@j b, Mr @chocksaway, has an apartment about 100m from the middle of the snowfront in Lac and about 50m from the bus stop that takes him the 2 stops to the Queue de Cochon pub/resto in Lavachet run by his friends.............dont pity him, hes a lucky beggar !!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It's all right @GreenDay, I had every confidence that @chocksaway is someone who would choose a place that suited him very well - from what he writes he is very well organised that way. And makes sure to enjoy it.
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@GreenDay, Nah, just hard work! OK and some luck, but I was due some having made a huge loss on my first house in the 80s.
But now I can see directly into an apart hotel you begin to realise how the French must be quite exhibitionist in nature or don't understand that you can see through windows......
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FAQ
We've ended up booking a place in Le Lac though for Jan, very excited now !