Three Valleys

What are the Three Valleys like?

The Three Valleys, or Les 3 Vallées as the resorts write it, is one lift system above Moûtiers in Savoie. It links seven resorts across the valleys of Courchevel, Les Allues and Belleville, with Orelle joining over the ridge from the Maurienne. Les 3 Vallées counts 600 km of pistes and 169 lifts, and sells it as the world's largest ski area. Most of it is high: 85% lies above 1,800 m, and the crossings between valleys are on ridges above 2,000 m.

The famous names are Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens. Courchevel dates from the end of the 1940s and spreads over six villages, the highest at 1,850 m. Méribel fills the middle valley, Les Allues, with its centre at 1,450 m and Méribel-Mottaret higher up at 1,750 m. Val Thorens sits at 2,300 m at the top of the Belleville valley, and the official site calls it Europe's highest resort. Around them are smaller places on the same lifts: La Tania, Les Menuires, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, the spa town of Brides-les-Bains and Orelle.

Where should you stay?

One pass covers every resort, so you don't need a famous address to ski the whole area. Choose the place you want to come back to, and the valleys you'll ski most.

La Tania is one of Courchevel's six villages, a small resort in a forest clearing at 1,400 m. Les Menuires was built in 1964 in the Belleville valley, in seventies-style modernist buildings spread over five districts, between Méribel and Val Thorens. Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is the old village lower down the same valley, at 1,450 m: twenty-two hamlets, a Baroque church and two lifts up to the ridge.

At the edges, Brides-les-Bains is a spa town at 600 m below Méribel, which the official site calls the most affordable resort in the area. Orelle is ten hamlets in the Maurienne, beyond Val Thorens. Both are linked to the slopes by gondola only: no piste runs down to either, so you ride the lift home.

• La Tania

  A quiet, car-free village on Courchevel's lift network, with tree-lined runs home and the Col de la Loze to Méribel two lifts away.

• Les Menuires

  Apartments on the piste, childcare from three months and a local pass cheaper than the full area, with Méribel and Val Thorens a lift or two away.

• Saint-Martin-de-Belleville

  A real village with its own lifts into Les 3 Vallées: two rides to the Col de Tougnète, then Méribel or Les Menuires, and back by blue runs.

How the villages link

Courchevel and Méribel meet at the Saulire, at 2,740 m, and the Col de la Loze, at 2,304 m. Méribel and the Belleville valley meet at the Tougnète (2,437 m), the Col de la Chambre (2,850 m) and other points on the same ridge.

From La Tania, the La Tania gondola and the Dou des Lanches chairlift reach the Col de la Loze, and the Boulevard de la Loze run takes you down to Méribel. From Courchevel 1850, the Arolles and Folyères runs bring you back to La Tania through the forest.

From Saint-Martin, the St Martin 1 gondola and the St Martin Express chairlift climb to the Tougnète ridge, for Méribel on one side and the Gros Tougne run to Les Menuires on the other. You come home on the Jérusalem from Méribel, or on the Grand Lac, Pelozet and Biolley runs from Les Menuires.

From Les Menuires, the Bruyères gondolas climb to the Col de la Chambre, the junction with Méribel-Mottaret and Val Thorens. Val Thorens is a ski down the Pluviomètre, and the Cairn run and Boulevard Cumin bring you back.

The Orelle gondola leaves from Francoz and reaches the slopes in 13 minutes, and seven more take you to the Cime Caron at 3,200 m. Every Orelle run is above 2,000 m, so the gondola is also the way down. Last winter the last return from Val Thorens was the Grand Fond funitel at 16:00, or 16:30 from 7 February: check this season's time on the piste map.

The Olympe gondola climbs from Brides-les-Bains through Les Allues to Méribel. The lowest run ends at Les Allues, and the gondola takes you down from there.

Skiing the Three Valleys

By the official count, the 337 runs are 15% green, 41% blue, 33% red and 11% black. They climb from 1,100 m to 3,230 m at the Sommet des 3 Vallées, above Orelle.

You don't need to be an expert to cross the area. Les 3 Vallées publishes easy routes on greens and blues, such as a day from Courchevel through La Tania and over the Col de la Loze to Méribel and Saint-Martin. Its route from Courchevel to Val Thorens is harder, and it suggests skiing that one outside the school holidays.

Black runs aren't groomed every night, which leaves the moguls and fresh snow in place. The official list of signature runs includes the Roc de Fer in Méribel, the Jérusalem down to Saint-Martin and the Jean-Blanc in Courchevel. Off the marked runs, Les 3 Vallées advises going with a mountain guide.

Three Valleys lift passes

The 3 Vallées pass covers all seven resorts. For 2026/27 a one-day adult pass costs €84.20 and six days €421, less in early December and April, and a Saturday day pass is €67.30. Children's prices run from 5 to 17, adults' from 18 to 74, and from 75 a day costs €21. Under-5s ski free. The Family Flex pass charges a family the child rate for five to 21 days.

Each sector also sells its own pass for less ground. Courchevel's covers 150 km, La Tania included. Les Menuires and Saint-Martin share one for 160 km, and Orelle and Val Thorens one for 150 km. If you're staying in La Tania, Les Menuires or Saint-Martin, count the days you want in the other valleys before you pay for the whole area.

Online sales open in October, and passes bought online can be cancelled free until your first day if you haven't used a lift. Prices change every season, so check the official price list before you book.

Getting to the Three Valleys

Moûtiers is the gateway, by road and by rail. Les 3 Vallées lists four airports: Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry and Grenoble. For the drive to Moûtiers it reckons on about 55 minutes from Chambéry, 1 hr 10 from Grenoble and about two hours from Geneva or Lyon. From 1 November to 31 March, cars must have winter tyres or carry chains.

From London, the Eurostar Snow train runs on Saturdays from 19 December 2026 to 20 February 2027, changing at Lille Europe, and stops at Moûtiers. From the station, regional buses and Altibus coaches run up to the resorts, and taxis wait outside.

Orelle is the exception: you reach it from the Maurienne side. Its station is Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, where a seasonal shuttle ran to the gondola last winter, and Francoz, the gondola base, has 743 covered parking spaces.

When to go

For 2026/27 the whole area is open from 5 December 2026 to 18 April 2027. Val Thorens and Orelle open first and close last, from 21 November to 2 May. Courchevel opens on 4 December, Méribel and Les Menuires on 5 December and Saint-Martin on 12 December, and all close on 18 April, except La Tania and Moriond in Courchevel, which run from 5 December to 11 April. Brides-les-Bains runs from 5 December to 9 April.

Height and snowmaking across 55% of the area keep the season long. In late November and early May, only Val Thorens and Orelle are open.