I’m going to be honest and admit that this ski trip to Val Thorens ruined all future ski trips for me. Taking mid afternoon breaks at cozy mountain huts. Freshly made French pastries. $100 lift tickets. Riding a ski lift over one of the best apes parties on planet Earth. I’m not sure that I can ski in the U.S. again.
So, if all of this sounds good to you and you would like to plan a trip of your own, here is how we planned a ski trip to Val Thorens:
Getting to Val Thorens, France
Val Thorens is a small town in the French Alps, so there isn’t exactly an airstrip in town. However, there are a few airports close by (and by close I mean ranging from 1.5-3 hours away) .
- Chambéry (CMF, ~1.5–2 hours)
- Geneva (GVA, ~2.5–3 hours)
- Lyon (LYS, ~2.5–3 hours)
- Grenoble (GNB, ~2.5 hours)
We started our ski trip to Val Thorens by flying into Geneva because that was the best option flight wise for us. From Geneva, you can either rent a car or use a shuttle service to get to Val Thorens. Since I didn’t feel like driving in the snow and I knew that Val Thorens was a walkable town, we opted for shuttle. We used Alpine Fleet.
Where to Stay on a Ski Trip to Val Thorens
There are a lot of hotels and airbnbs to choose from on your ski trip to Val Thorens. A lot of the accommodation is ski in/ski out (or at least close to it) since the town is right on the mountain. We decided to stay at Fahreinheit 7 which is a boutique hotel right on the mountain with several restaurants and a spa. They also have a breakfast buffet (with mimosas!) in the morning.
Check out their wood hot tub!
Skiing in Val Thorens
There are a lot of places to rent skis or snowboards in Val Thorens. Our hotel, Fahrenheit , actually had a ski shop on the ground floor so it was easiest to rent from there. They also have ski lockers to store your skis when you are done for the day. 🙂
For ski tickets, you can reserve them online ahead of time and then pick up your physical card on the mountain (where the gondola is).
Val Thorens is the largest and the highest skiing resort in the world, which means you have endless runs to go down. It’s also part of the Three Valleys, so you can pay a little more to be able to ski Maribel and Courchevel as well. The mountain is open from 9-4. so just make sure to make it back to Val Thorens by the end of the day.
Food on the Mountain
There are so many cute restaurants and bars on the mountain but my favorites were Folie Deuce for acres (of course) and Chalet de la Marine. See both below:
