Champagny-en-Vanoise:Ski resort and village guide

What is Champagny-en-Vanoise like?

Champagny-en-Vanoise is an old mountain village at 1,250 m on the southern side of La Plagne, made up of hamlets of wood and stone houses. The La Plagne tourist office notes that it kept that character after it was linked to La Plagne's ski area in 1971.

The village has a Baroque church and Espace Glacialis, a glacier interpretation centre with films, models and a photo gallery. It holds the Terre d'Alpinisme label for its mountaineering heritage.

Behind it, the road continues into the Champagny-le-Haut valley, a protected natural site since 1992 and a gateway to the Vanoise National Park, France's first national park, created in 1963.

Skiing in Champagny-en-Vanoise

Champagny skis as part of La Plagne, which the tourist office puts at 225 km of runs, with a top lift station at 3,080 m. Across the Vanoise Express, Les Arcs and its villages make up the other half of Paradiski, with its own top at 3,226 m.

Champagny ski area: how the link works

The link is two-way, but it depends on the gondola and on snow at the bottom.

• Up: the Champagny gondola leaves from the village centre and climbs from 1,250 m to 2,000 m in about ten minutes. The tourist office describes the top as the departure point for the Champagny, La Plagne and Paradiski ski areas. It also notes the gondola runs subject to favourable weather.
• Across: from the Champagny side, the Verdons Sud chairlift climbs to the Verdons viewpoint at 2,500 m. On the far side, the Verdons Nord chairlift comes up from Plagne Centre, so the two chairs meet on the ridge.
• Down: from the Verdons, the Mont de la Guerre run goes down to the village at 1,250 m.

Check that the Mont de la Guerre run is open before you plan to ski home. The tourist office does not publish a last-lift time for the gondola, so check it locally.

Champagny piste map

The tourist office publishes the La Plagne piste map, which covers the Champagny sector. In winter the online version shows lifts and runs opening and closing in real time.

Lift passes

Champagny uses La Plagne and Paradiski passes; the tourist office notes that the Verdons viewpoint is reached on either. Children under five ride the Champagny gondola free. Prices change each season, so book or check them through the Champagny-en-Vanoise page.

Champagny ski hire

The tourist office lists ski-hire shops in the village, open from 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027.

• Skimium Champagny, in the village centre near the tourist office, with free parking and lifts up to the ski lifts next door. It hires ski equipment, including ski-touring packages and avalanche kits (transceiver, shovel and probe), and has a repair shop and a boot-fitting area.
• Ski Shop Vanoise – Skiset, which hires ski equipment, snowshoes, helmets and ABS airbag rucksacks, plus pushchairs, baby carriers and sledges, and has a servicing workshop.

Ski school in Champagny-en-Vanoise

The ESF Champagny-en-Vanoise is at Planchamp, in the village. The tourist office listing gives 35 instructors and lessons in English, French and Dutch.

Ski lessons in Champagny-en-Vanoise

The ESF runs group ski and snowboard lessons for children from three and adults from 13, plus private lessons in alpine skiing, cross-country, snowboarding, telemark, freestyle and snowscoot. Its other courses include a group-lesson-plus-pass package for beginners, a team-rider course for older children, a race course, biathlon and guided snowshoe walks. Prices are on the school's website.

Where to stay

The tourist office lists chalets, apartments and residences in Champagny-en-Vanoise, as well as campsites and mountain refuges. In Champagny-le-Haut, camping is allowed only at the official campsite. Search all of them through the tourist office's Champagny accommodation listings.

Champagny-en-Vanoise for families

The ESF's Club Piou-Piou and snow garden take children from three to five. Its Les Cabris daycare takes children from 18 months to under six, with indoor and outdoor activities but no skiing. Skiset hires sledges and pushchairs, and the tourist office lists a sledging area in Champagny-le-Haut and a swimming pool with wellness facilities in the village.

Things to do in Champagny-en-Vanoise

In winter, the tourist office lists sledging, and the village hosts rounds of the World Ice Climbing Championships. Champagny-le-Haut has a cross-country skiing area, and the Verdons viewpoint, at 2,500 m, is reached by chairlift with a ski pass. The tourist office says there is no access on foot.

Espace Glacialis covers the region's glaciers. Events on the tourist office calendar include a Nordic Derby, ice-climbing competitions and the Xplore Festival; check the tourist office for 2026/27 dates.

Eating and drinking

The tourist office lists restaurants in the village and on the slopes. On the mountain, Les Borseliers is 50 m from the Borseliers chairlift, on the pistes above Champagny. It serves home-made traditional French and Savoyard food, including cheese dishes, and opens daily in the winter season.

Champagny-en-Vanoise in summer

In summer the village is a base for the Vanoise. The tourist office lists walking, mountain biking and e-mountain biking, via ferrata, rock climbing, horse riding, paragliding, fishing and adventure parks.

Champagny-le-Haut, at 1,500 m, sits under the Grande Motte and the Grande Casse. It has many walking trails and a discovery trail accessible to people with reduced mobility. Its hamlets, including La Couaz, Le Bois, Friburge and Le Laisonnay, are listed in the inventory of architectural heritage. Ibex, chamois and marmots live in the national park.

How to get to Champagny-en-Vanoise

By road, the tourist office's route is the A43 and A430 to Albertville, then the N90 towards Bourg-Saint-Maurice as far as Moûtiers, then the D915 and D91B up to the village. It gives distances of 125 km from Grenoble, 180 km from Geneva, 200 km from Lyon and 660 km from Paris. It advises switching off your GPS from Albertville onwards, to avoid roads closed in winter.

From 1 November to 31 March, you must by law carry snow chains for two drive wheels or have four winter tyres.

By train, the station is Moûtiers – Salins – Brides-les-Bains. The bus station is next to it, and buses and taxis go on to Champagny.

Geneva to Champagny-en-Vanoise

The tourist office gives the road distance from Geneva as 180 km, on the route above. Check public transfer options with the tourist office.

Weather, snow and webcams

The village is at 1,250 m and La Plagne's lifts go above 3,000 m, so conditions in Champagny say little about the top of the ski area. The tourist office runs webcams in the village and in Champagny-le-Haut, and a snow report and forecast for La Plagne.

• Champagny village webcam (tourist office)
• Champagny-le-Haut nordic area webcam (tourist office)
• All La Plagne webcams (tourist office)
• La Plagne weather and snow report (tourist office)

When to visit Champagny-en-Vanoise

For 2026/27, the village's ski-hire shops open from 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027. In summer, the Champagny-le-Haut valley opens up for walking in the Vanoise.

Champagny-en-Vanoise vs Montchavin–Les Coches

Both are La Plagne villages at 1,250 m.

Choose Champagny-en-Vanoise if you want an old village with a national-park valley on the doorstep and do not mind riding the gondola.

Choose Montchavin–Les Coches if you want the Vanoise Express in your sector, for Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry.

What's nearby

• Montchavin–Les Coches

  Another La Plagne village of Paradiski, in the sector the Vanoise Express leaves from.

• Peisey-Vallandry

  Across the Vanoise Express, on the Les Arcs side of Paradiski.

• La Plagne

  The ski area Champagny belongs to, reached by the Champagny gondola.

• Les Arcs

  The other half of Paradiski, across the Vanoise Express.

• Villaroger

  A Les Arcs village, part of Paradiski.