Montchavin–Les Coches:Ski resort guide

What is Montchavin–Les Coches like?

Montchavin–Les Coches is one resort on two levels. Montchavin, at 1,250 m, is the old village: the La Plagne tourist office describes chalets clad in wood and stone, a working farm, a chapel and a pedestrian centre. Les Coches, at 1,450 m, sits above it in the forest. The Les Coches gondola joins the two, and runs all year.

Both villages look across the Tarentaise towards Mont Blanc. Both are on La Plagne's ski area, and the Vanoise Express leaves from Le Chanton, in the Montchavin–Les Coches sector, for Peisey-Vallandry and Les Arcs.

The resort holds the Famille Plus label for family facilities.

Skiing in Montchavin–Les Coches

Montchavin and Les Coches ski as part of La Plagne, which the tourist office puts at 225 km of runs, topping out at 3,080 m where the Glaciers 2 gondola arrives. Across the Vanoise Express, Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry take the linked Paradiski area to 425 km, with the Les Arcs side rising to 3,226 m.

The Vanoise Express carries 2,000 people an hour across the Ponthurin valley in under four minutes.

Montchavin ski area

One of the tourist office's top five runs is the Mont Blanc, a blue it calls extra long and extra wide. From the villages you reach it on the Dos Rond chairlift or the Plan Leschaux draglift. From Plagne Bellecôte, the Arpette chairlift and then the Replat lift bring you over to it, and the Mont Blanc runs down through the forest to both villages. It passes the Riders Nation snow park, and the tourist office points to its wooded lower section as the place to be when visibility is poor.

That makes the link two-way: down into Montchavin–Les Coches from the heart of La Plagne, and back up and over from the villages.

Montchavin piste map

The tourist office publishes the La Plagne piste map online and as a PDF; in winter the online version shows lifts and runs opening and closing in real time.

Lift passes

The tourist office lists three tiers that matter here: a village pass limited to the lifts around Montchavin–Les Coches, the La Plagne pass, and the Paradiski pass that adds Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry. There is also a CoolSki pass for beginners. Children ski free until the day before their fifth birthday. Prices change each season; check the ski pass page for 2026/27.

Montchavin ski hire

The tourist office lists ski-hire shops in both villages. In Les Coches, Sport 2000 on the place des commerçants says it has more than 800 pairs of skis and more than 100 snowboards, along with touring and telemark kit, and opens daily. Intersport La Randonnée is on the edge of the Les Coches snow front, 50 m from the ESF. In Montchavin, Montchavin Sport Ekosport on the rue principale rents skis, snowboards, snowscoots, telemark kit and snowshoes.

Ski lessons in Montchavin

The ESF has an office in each village. ESF Montchavin is on the Montchavin snow front, a few metres from the main lifts, and runs the Piou-Piou mini club from age three, group lessons for all levels, and off-piste outings with mountain guides. ESF Les Coches is in the centre of Les Coches, also a few metres from the lifts. Prices are on each school's tourist office listing.

Evolution 2, a ski, mountain-bike and adventure school, has a base on the rue de la glisse in Montchavin, with group lessons for children and adults, private lessons in skiing, snowboarding and telemark, and a daycare for its pupils called Yeti Time. In Les Coches it meets at the top of the gondola, where its adult programmes run from beginner to advanced; for 2026/27 those lessons run daily from 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027.

Where to stay

Accommodation is split between the old village and Les Coches. The tourist office lists apartments, chalets, residences, holiday villages and a campsite.

Montchavin hotels and accommodation

One option is the VVF holiday village Le Balcon du Mont Blanc, in Montchavin at 1,250 m. It sleeps up to 580 people in studios and apartments for two to eight, sold full board, half board or self-catered, with a restaurant and bar, children's clubs from three to 17, a pool and ski lockers. For 2026/27 it opens from 19 December 2026 to 10 April 2027.

For something further out, Le Chalet du Friolin is a mountain inn at 1,800 m at the foot of the Bauches chairlift, about 5 km from the resort. It has four guest rooms, a restaurant serving Savoyard food, and half board. In winter guests arrive by snowcat or toboggan from Les Coches; it opens in winter and summer.

Montchavin chalets

Chalets and apartments are let through the tourist office's accommodation pages and local agencies.

Montchavin–Les Coches for families

The Famille Plus label covers the whole resort. On the Montchavin snow front, at 1,250 m, there is a free beginners' area with draglifts for children. The tourist office also lists a children's ski garden, a toboggan run, a recreation centre with drop-in daycare and kids' clubs in some residences. Both ski schools take children from three.

Espace Paradisio, in Montchavin, is the wet-weather option: more than 1,000 m² of pool and spa, with a Turkish bath, sauna and jacuzzi.

Things to do in Montchavin–Les Coches

Off the pistes, the tourist office lists dog sledding, snowshoe trails, cross-country skiing, ski touring, paragliding, an ice rink, a circus school, yoga and sledging. The ESF also runs guided snowshoe outings.

The resort's calendar includes the Winter Family Race, Saint Agatha's Day in February and a Red Pompon Night on 31 December, plus ski-mountaineering races, cinema and concerts. Check the tourist office for 2026/27 dates.

Eating and drinking

The tourist office lists restaurants in both villages and on the slopes. In Montchavin, La Bovate is a family-run restaurant founded in 1975, at the foot of the slopes in the old village, with a south-facing terrace, French and Savoyard cooking and vegetarian and vegan dishes. For 2026/27 it opens from 19 December to 20 April, Tuesday to Sunday.

On the mountain, Le Joli Bois is at Le Chanton, 1,516 m, 50 m from the Vanoise Express, serving lunch daily from 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027: croziflette, Reblochon dishes and home-made tarts.

Montchavin–Les Coches in summer

The Les Coches gondola runs in summer as well as winter. The tourist office's walks include the Lac des Pierres Blanches, at 2,116 m, which in winter you can reach only by lift, and the Bauches valley. Summer activities also include tree-top adventure courses, canoe-rafting. Espace Paradisio opens in summer too, and La Bovate opens again from 27 June 2027.

How to get to Montchavin–Les Coches

By road, the tourist office's route is the A43 and A430 to Albertville, the N90 towards Bourg-Saint-Maurice, then the D87 and D225 up to the villages. It gives distances of 135 km from Grenoble, 190 km from Geneva and 210 km from Lyon. From 1 November to 31 March, the tourist office says you must carry snow chains or have four winter tyres.

By train, the station is Landry, in the valley below. Bus line S72 runs from Landry to Montchavin, and the tourist office lists taxis.

Geneva to Montchavin

From Geneva airport the tourist office points to the Alpskibus shuttle to Aime station, then the S70 or S71 bus lines.

Weather, snow and webcams

The villages sit at 1,250 m and 1,450 m and La Plagne's lifts go above 3,000 m, so conditions at the snow front say little about the glacier. The tourist office's weather page gives the snow report and forecast at three altitudes, and there are webcams on the Montchavin snow front and at Les Coches.

• Montchavin webcam (tourist office)
• All La Plagne webcams (tourist office)
• Montchavin weather and snow report (tourist office)

When to visit Montchavin–Les Coches

For 2026/27 the Paradiski season runs from 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027, the dates Paradiski gives and the dates the Evolution 2 and Le Joli Bois listings use.

Montchavin–Les Coches vs Peisey-Vallandry

The two face each other across the Vanoise Express, and both are forest villages.

Choose Montchavin–Les Coches if you want an old village with the lifts at the door and La Plagne's 225 km as your home ground.

Choose Peisey-Vallandry if you want to stay higher and ski Les Arcs first.

What's nearby

• Peisey-Vallandry

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

• La Plagne

  The rest of the same ski area, reached over the Dos Rond and Arpette lifts to Plagne Bellecôte.

• Les Arcs

  The other half of Paradiski, beyond Peisey-Vallandry.

• Champagny-en-Vanoise

  A village on the La Plagne side of Paradiski.

• Villaroger

  A Les Arcs village, part of Paradiski.