Samoëns:Ski resort guide

What is Samoëns like?

Samoëns is an old market town that happens to have a ski area, rather than the other way round. The name goes back to 1167 and a medieval phrase for the seven mountains around the valley, which is why the people who live here are called Septimontains. About 2,200 of them live here all year. The weekly market still runs on Wednesday mornings, a tradition that goes back to 1355, when Count Amadeus VI of Savoy established it.

Take the centre slowly. The square around the Gros Tilleul, a lime tree traditionally dated to 1438 and now 20 m tall, is a classified site, as are the Lac de Gers above the village and the Ermoy cave. The church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, mostly 16th to 18th century, houses what the tourist office calls the most important organ in the département. Nine hamlets surround the village, each with its own onion-domed chapel.

Two things give Samoëns its character. The first is stone. The village's itinerant masons and stonecutters, the Frahans, founded their own confraternity in 1659 and spoke a secret trade dialect, the mourmé. The hamlet of Vercland is the heart of that tradition, and La Société des Maçons still runs guided tours. The second is the Jaÿsinia, an alpine botanical garden laid out in 1906 by Marie-Louise Cognacq-Jaÿ, co-founder of the Paris department store La Samaritaine. It carries the Jardin remarquable label, and entry is free.

Samoëns suits you if you want a real place to come back to after skiing, and don't mind riding a gondola to reach the snow.

Skiing in Samoëns

The village sits at about 700 m, so you don't ski from your door. Two gondolas do the work: the Grand Massif Express from the edge of the village and the Vercland gondola from the hamlet of the same name. Both climb to Samoëns 1600, the Plateau des Saix, which is where your ski day starts. Parking at Vercland is free; the Grand Massif Express car park charges in winter.

From 1600 you are in the Grand Massif proper. The Chariande Express chairlift takes you to the Tête des Saix at 2,120 m, the crossroads where the lifts from Samoëns, Morillon and Les Carroz meet, with Mont Blanc in view. From there you can ski on to Morillon, Les Carroz and across to Flaine. The lift company counts about 30 runs in the Samoëns sector, reaching 2,200 m, and claims the Coulouvrier chairlift, at 2.9 km, as the longest in Europe.

The Samoëns ski area

The Coulouvrier chairlift serves four runs through the woods of its combe. For the widest choice you need the full Grand Massif pass, which adds Flaine and the Cascades run. The Villages pass covers Samoëns, Morillon, Les Carroz and Sixt, and is the cheaper option if you are happy to stay on this side of the mountain.

If you do cross to Flaine, the lift company reckons on about an hour to get back and asks you to start home by 15:30.

Beginners

The nursery slopes are up at Samoëns 1600, not in the village. The lift company counts the area among the largest beginner zones in France: about ten lifts, including a covered carpet, and the Oratoire carpet is free. A Samoëns beginner pass covers two gondola return trips plus the beginner lifts, so you don't pay for the whole area while you learn.

Four ski schools work here: the ESF, two independent schools (ZigZag and 360) and 2 Ski Fly, which combines skiing with paragliding.

Read the full guide: Ski schools→

Cross-country and other snow

The valley has more than 50 km of groomed cross-country trails, split between the valley floor and the Col de Joux Plane above the village. The valley loops leave from the Lac aux Dames close to the centre, but at 720 m they depend on the snow. Beyond the pistes, the tourist office lists snowshoeing, ice climbing, heliskiing with drop-offs in Switzerland or Italy, sledging and an ice rink.

Where to stay

You can stay in the old centre, in the hamlets around it, or up at Samoëns 1600. The centre has the shops, restaurants and evening life, and free ski buses run to both gondolas. Vercland puts you at the foot of its gondola, with free parking. Samoëns 1600 puts you on the snow; the Club Med up there is ski-in, ski-out.

The village has hotels from two to four stars, a good stock of apartment residences and several holiday villages with children's clubs.

Read the full guide: Where to stay→

Samoëns for families

Samoëns works well with children, with one caveat about childcare. All four ski schools run lessons for young children: the ESF's Club Piou-Piou takes 3 to 5-year-olds, ZigZag runs Mini Mouse groups for 4 to 5-year-olds, and 360 runs first-lesson groups for 4 to 6-year-olds. At the time of writing, children under eight ski free for the day if you buy their pass at a ticket office with proof of age.

The caveat: the village crèche takes only children of families who live in the valley, so visitors need a holiday village or hotel with its own club. Les Becchi, which describes itself as 300 m from the centre, runs clubs from 3 months to 17 years.

In summer the Lac aux Dames leisure area has two lakes, a play area, tennis, a skatepark and a water golf course, and the outdoor pool has a 60 m slide.

Things to do in Samoëns

In winter, the village itself is the thing to do when you're not skiing. Walk the centre, visit the Jaÿsinia, book one of the stonemasons' tours or go to the Wednesday market. The Clos Parchet farm, 5 km up the Joux Plane road, has been an écomusée since 1994. For something stranger, the Vercland gondola runs a 50-minute "suspended apéritif" in one of its cabins.

The Christmas village runs from 5 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, and the Col de Joux Plane has a sledge run as well as its cross-country trails.

Eating and drinking

The village has a good spread for its size: Savoyard cooking at La Marmotte Blanche and Le Gai Soleil, a brasserie on the main square, modern bistro food at La Table de Fifine, and the Maître Restaurateur kitchen at Neige et Roc. Le Lodge, on the route de Sixt, is listed in the Michelin Guide. Book ahead in the school holidays.

On the mountain, the restaurants cluster at Samoëns 1600, around the top of the gondola. La Demoiselle des Saix stays open into the evening.

Read the full guide: Restaurants→

Samoëns in summer

Summer is when Samoëns makes most sense as a village. In summer the Grand Massif Express and the Chariande Express above it open the Tête des Saix to walkers, paragliders and mountain bikers.

Easy walks start from the top of the gondola: the Lac des Gouilles Rouges is 1h15 there and back, and the Tête des Saix is 1h15 to 1h30 up, for about 500 m of climbing and the Mont Blanc view. The riverside trail "Au fil du Giffre" follows the valley floor to the leisure area. Walk on from the Tête des Saix into the Combe de Gers and you reach its lake and refuge, which serves lunch in summer.

Mountain bikers should know that the downhill trails here are technical enduro routes for experienced riders, and the two black trails were closed in summer 2026. Paraglider pilots launch from 1,632 m above the village, a site the tourist office calls suitable for beginners, and six paragliding schools work from Samoëns. In September 2027 Samoëns hosts the UCI Cross-Country Marathon World Championships.

Read the full guide: Summer→

Read the full guide: Family biking→

How to get to Samoëns

Geneva Airport is about an hour away by car. Leave the A40 motorway at exit 18, Cluses-Scionzier, and Samoëns is about 20 minutes further up the Giffre valley.

Without a car, take the train to Cluses and the Y94 bus up the valley, or come through Annemasse on the Y02. A newer bus line, the 274, runs from Taninges to Geneva Airport, with Y02 connections from Samoëns and Morillon. Once you're here, free ski buses cover the village, both gondolas and the neighbouring villages.

Read the full guide: Getting there→

Weather, snow and webcams

The tourist office has live webcams at Samoëns 1600, the Tête des Saix, the Col de Joux Plane and the Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval. Its slope info page shows which runs are open and when it was last updated. For the forecast, the lift company's weather page covers the Plateau des Saix and the Tête des Saix.

When to visit Samoëns

For 2026/27 the lift company lists Samoëns as open from 12 December 2026 to 11 April 2027. The whole Grand Massif links up from 19 December. At 700 m the village can be green while the skiing above is good, so judge the snow by Samoëns 1600, not the main square.

• December: the Christmas village runs through the holidays, and the first weeks of the season depend on snow.
• January: the ESF runs evening private lessons on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• February: the French school holidays, so book ski school and accommodation early.
• March and April: longer days, and the season closes on 11 April.
• Summer: the gondola runs for walkers and the summer shuttles run from 4 July to 31 August.

Samoëns vs Morillon

Samoëns and Morillon are neighbours in the Giffre valley, and both reach the same ski area. The difference is scale.

Choose Samoëns if you want a proper village centre, the widest choice of ski schools and accommodation, and a slightly longer season.

Choose Morillon if you want somewhere smaller and quieter, a cheaper beginner pass, and the Lac Bleu on your doorstep in summer.

What's nearby

• Morillon

  Smaller, quieter and next door, with the Lac Bleu for summer.

• Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval

  Up the valley, for the Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval and the end of the Cascades run.

• Les Carroz

  Over the Tête des Saix, on the far side of the mountain.

• Flaine

  The Grand Massif's high resort, an hour's ski away.

• Chamonix

  Mont Blanc's town, a drive away.