Villaroger:Ski resort guide

What is Villaroger like?

Villaroger is a commune of hamlets on the slopes above the Isère, between Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Les Arcs, Séez, and Tignes and Val d'Isère. The commune counts about 14 hamlets around five main villages, including the chef-lieu at 1,080 m, with its church on a rocky outcrop; La Bonneville, the lowest, on the banks of the Isère; Le Planay at 1,300 m, at the foot of Mont Pourri and Mont Turia; La Savine at 1,525 m and La Gurraz at 1,605 m, on the road up towards Tignes and Val d'Isère; Le Loissel, in the Rhonaz forest; and the twin hamlets of Le Pré and Le Pré Derrière, at 1,202 m, where the ski runs arrive.

The name, the commune says, comes from "Villarium Ogerii", the villa of a man called Oger or Ogier in the fifth or sixth century, and the parish was already recorded in 1258.

There is no purpose-built resort here. The skiing is the Les Arcs ski area, and Le Pré, at about 1,200 m, is where the runs end.

Skiing in Villaroger

The commune shares its ski area with Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Les Arcs, and through Les Arcs it is part of Paradiski, which links Les Arcs with La Plagne by the Vanoise Express. Paradiski gives the linked area as 425 km of slopes.

The Villaroger sector itself, by the commune's count, has about 20 km of pistes over 115 hectares. Its signature is the Aiguille Rouge run, which starts at the top of Les Arcs at 3,226 m and comes down to Le Pré at 1,200 m: 7 km and more than 2,000 m of descent. The commune calls it one of the longest runs in Europe.

How Villaroger links to Les Arcs

The way up is the Villaroger gondola, which the commune describes as a new-generation ten-seat lift. The commune lists it with the Droset chairlift, and the Les Arcs tourist office's lift list for the Villaroger sector names four lifts: Villaroger, Droset, Rhonaz and Azure. For this winter, the tourist office says four wooden panoramic shelters, each for six to ten people, have been built at the top of the Villaroger gondola.

The way down is on skis. The Aiguille Rouge run ends at Le Pré, and the commune says the runs through Sollières and Le Pré connect Le Planay to the slopes as well.

One thing to plan for: the tourist office marks the Rhonaz lift "access back to Villaroger only". If you are staying in Villaroger and skiing elsewhere on Les Arcs or across in La Plagne, check the lift closing times on the day so you can still reach the runs home. The Les Arcs lift status page shows each lift's opening times.

Above the pistes, the Réserve Naturelle des Hauts de Villaroger, created by decree on 28 January 1991, protects chamois, deer, roe deer, mountain hare, ptarmigan and black grouse. Skiing in it is limited to two marked itineraries, Les Lanchettes and Grand Col, and only with a guide or instructor or after a two-hour induction session run by the ONF, the national forests office. Skiing in the closed zones carries fines.

Villaroger piste map

The Villaroger sector appears on the Les Arcs piste map. The tourist office's lifts and pistes page has a download link for the map and an interactive version with live openings, and the Les Arcs tourist office also points to its Yuge app for the interactive map.

Lift passes

There is a lift-pass point of sale in Villaroger. The commune also describes two "petit skieur" passes for beginners: one limited to Villaroger, one that adds part of the Arc 2000 area. For the full Les Arcs and Paradiski passes, the lift company sells online; prices change each season, so check the Les Arcs / Peisey-Vallandry lift pass site for 2026/27.

At the time of writing, Les Arcs advertises 15% off some passes in the first week of the season, 12 to 18 December 2026, and the final week, 17 to 24 April 2027; check which passes on its lift status page.

Ski schools and ski lessons in Villaroger

ESF Villaroger is the village's ski school. Its website lists lessons for three to five-year-olds, children from six to 14, and teenagers and adults from 15, along with snowshoe outings from age eight and off-piste skiing. Meeting points and prices are on the ESF Villaroger site.

Where to stay

The commune runs an accommodation site, hebergement.villaroger.fr, for rentals in the hamlets. What you find is in the old villages rather than in residences at the snow front: Le Pré and Le Pré Derrière are the hamlets at the bottom of the runs.

Villaroger for families

The commune's two beginner passes cover the Villaroger sector alone, or the sector plus part of Arc 2000, and ESF Villaroger takes children from three.

For more for children, look to Les Arcs.

Things to do in Villaroger

The Réserve des Hauts de Villaroger is the main thing to do off the slopes. In winter the ESF's snowshoe outings are the way in. The commune also runs a programme of discovery sports in winter and summer; dates are on the commune's site.

The church in the chef-lieu is Baroque, and the commune runs heritage visits to it and to La Gurraz, where a 19th-century bread oven survives.

Eating and drinking

The commune's restaurant list covers a handful of places in the hamlets. Check opening before you go, as the village is small and opening depends on the season.

On the mountain, the new shelters at the top of the gondola are places to stop; for slope restaurants, the rest of Les Arcs is a lift away.

Villaroger in summer

Summer is walking country. The commune's walks include a circuit of La Gurraz, a route to the moraine of the Gurraz south glacier at 2,830 m, and a walk from La Gurraz past Le Crêt to the Refuge de la Martin, an hour and a half up. The Refuge de Turia, at 2,427 m, is the base for routes such as the Dôme de la Sache; the commune says it is staffed from mid-June to mid-September.

The Maison de la Réserve, in Le Planay, opens daily from 10 am to 5 pm in summer and offers free guided nature walks on request.

The Aiguille Rouge itself opens to walkers in summer: the Les Arcs tourist office lists the cable car to the 3,226 m summit daily in July and August, with a 360° panorama over the French, Swiss and Italian Alps.

How to get to Villaroger

By road, the commune's route is the A43 to Albertville from Chambéry, or the N212 from Annecy, then the RN 90 expressway up the Tarentaise to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, then the RD 902 towards Val d'Isère. The commune tells drivers to carry snow chains, to practise fitting them before leaving, and to check that any route a GPS suggests is passable in winter.

By train, the station is Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the Les Arcs tourist office's rail hub, with TGV INOUI and OUIGO from Paris, the Travelski Night Express in winter, and from the UK Eurostar with a change, or direct trains on certain winter Saturdays. From the station, the funicular climbs to Arc 1600 in seven minutes. Onward to Villaroger, the commune lists local taxis on its access page.

Weather, snow and webcams

Villaroger's slopes run from about 1,200 m to the top of the Aiguille Rouge at 3,226 m, so conditions at Le Pré say little about the summit. Les Arcs publishes weather, snow conditions and webcams for the whole ski area.

• Les Arcs webcams (tourist office)
• Les Arcs weather (tourist office)
• Les Arcs snow conditions (tourist office)

When to visit Villaroger

For 2026/27 the Les Arcs ski area opens on 12 December 2026. Paradiski gives its season as 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027, while Les Arcs advertises a final week of the season from 17 to 24 April 2027. The run home ends at about 1,200 m, so check on the lift status page that it is open early and late in the season.

In summer the walks and the reserve are the reason to come, with the Aiguille Rouge cable car open in July and August.

Villaroger vs Peisey-Vallandry

Both are Les Arcs villages away from the main resorts, and both are linked by lift into the same ski area.

Choose Villaroger if you want old hamlets, the Aiguille Rouge as your run home, and a small sector at the bottom of a big ski area.

Choose Peisey-Vallandry if you want to stay higher, with the ski schools and shops of a resort, and quick access to La Plagne.

What's nearby

• Peisey-Vallandry

  The other Les Arcs village of Paradiski, on the far side of the ski area.

• Montchavin–Les Coches

  Across the Vanoise Express, on the La Plagne side of Paradiski.

• Champagny-en-Vanoise

  A village on the La Plagne side of Paradiski.

• Les Arcs

  The ski area Villaroger belongs to.

• Bourg-Saint-Maurice

  The valley town and railway station below Les Arcs.