Courchevel
Six villages on one mountainside, with the Saulire above and an altiport at the edge of the pistes
Courchevel spreads across the eastern valley of Les 3 Vallées, above Moûtiers in Savoie. It is made up of six villages, from Saint-Bon at about 1,100 metres through Le Praz, Courchevel Village and Moriond up to Courchevel 1850, with La Tania in the forest alongside. It was here, in 1946, that France planned its first ski resort on virgin mountainside, laid out around the pistes rather than around an existing village. It still shows: in 1850 the runs come down between the chalets. The season runs from early December to mid-April.
In winter Courchevel 1850 is the centre of things, with the slopes, hotels and restaurants, while Le Praz and Moriond are quieter and deeper in the trees. Above the village, small aircraft and helicopters land on the altiport at about 2,000 metres. The Saulire, at 2,738 metres, is the gateway to Méribel and the rest of the Three Valleys. Most chalets are in 1850 and Le Praz, many of them ski-in, ski-out.
Our Courchevel residences
The Courchevel experience
Restaurants
Courchevel: the Alps' most celebrated dining destination.
Activities
Courchevel: where alpine adventure knows no limits.
Wellness
Restore body and mind in the heart of Courchevel
Skiing
600 kilometres of perfection across the Three Valleys
Events
Courchevel's winter calendar dazzles at every turn
From Le Praz to 1850
Courchevel 1850 is built around the Croisette, where the lifts leave and the pistes converge, ringed by hotels, shops and chalets at the edge of the forest. For those not skiing there is skating or bowling at Le Forum, or Aquamotion in Courchevel Village, with indoor and outdoor pools and a spa. From 1850 a toboggan run of about two kilometres winds through the forest down to Courchevel 1550 and is floodlit after dark; the Grangettes gondola brings you back up.
Le Praz, the old village, sits at about 1,300 metres among the spruce, with the 1992 Olympic ski jumps on its edge, and L'Éclipse, the men's course of the 2023 World Championships, finishes here too. Saint-Bon, lower still, is the quietest part of the commune. Free cross-country tracks and snowshoe trails run through the woods between the villages, and there are dog-sled outings too.
The Saulire and its couloirs
According to the ski area, Les 3 Vallées has about 600 kilometres of piste across eight resorts. The Courchevel valley has long, well-groomed north-facing runs and much of its terrain in the trees, which helps when snow is falling and the light is flat. Its high point is the Saulire, at 2,738 metres, reached by cable car. From there you cross the ridge to Méribel; the Col de la Loze offers a second link.
The couloirs drop from the Saulire: steep gullies between the rocks, counted among the hardest runs in the Alps, with the Grand Couloir marked as a black piste. L'Éclipse, more than three kilometres long and finishing at Le Praz, was built for the men's races of the 2023 World Championships; the women raced in Méribel, on the Roc de Fer. The women's World Cup comes regularly to the Stade Émile Allais in 1850 for slalom and giant slalom, usually in December. Off-piste is strictly for those with a mountain guide.
Lunch by the piste, dinner at the table
Halfway down the Verdons run, Le Chalet de Pierres is the place for a long lunch, with Savoyard cooking and a sunny terrace. By the altiport, Le Cap Horn, one of the oldest mountain restaurants in 1850, looks out over the runway. Elsewhere on the slopes the food is what all of Savoie eats: tartiflette, fondue, diots and crozets.
Courchevel is also a place for serious dining, with several Michelin-starred restaurants, among them Le Chabichou and Yannick Alléno's Le 1947 at the Cheval Blanc. After dinner the bars around the Croisette fill up, and night owls end up at Les Caves, the well-known club that keeps going into the small hours.
A week in Courchevel
The cable car to 2,738 metres, for the view across the Three Valleys and down the couloirs.
About two kilometres through the forest, floodlit at night, with the gondola back up.
Across the Saulire or the Col de la Loze into the middle valley, and back for après-ski.
Free tracks through the forest between the villages, with the peaks of the Vanoise in view.
An afternoon on the ice rink or at the bowling alley, for a day off skis.
A run through the snowy forest around the villages of Courchevel.
Did you know
The altiport has no instrument approach and no lighting: in fog or low cloud, landing is not possible.
L'Éclipse was built for the 2023 World Championships and first raced at the World Cup Finals in March 2022.
At the 1992 Olympics the ski jumping and Nordic combined events were held at Le Praz.
The Stade Émile Allais is named after the French skier who won three world titles in 1937.