Resort Overview
Not many skiers have not heard of Courchevel. There are in fact 3 Courchevels, 1850, 1650 (moriond) 1550 ( village) + there is Le Praz and La Tania.
Courchevel 1850. It’s seriously hard to find a bargain here. It’s actually quite large with some very plush chalets, sadly quite often unused. The shopping is a mix of essentials + all the brands you would expect in a top Resort. There are lots of bars and restaurants, some eye wateringly expensive others more manageable. Apres in 1850 is not wild but at the foot of the Mountain there is quite often live music at Le Tremplin. Best maybe to stop off on the way home at Cap Horn where there also live outside music, not cheap mind 🙁
Courchevel Moriond 1650. This resort just below 1850 seems to get better and better, mainly in looks as a lot of new tasteful building have gone up or been recladed. less shopping than 1850 but still not too bad. Lots of Restaurants a good mix of styles, try Copina for some Spanish treats.There’s quite a good apres scene here, one being the Funky Fox which has live music.
Courchevel village 1550, quieter resort but still has it all, the necessary shops and quite few restaurants and bars, access to the Aquamotion pool and spa from here is an easy walk .
Le Praz lovely old village with narrow streets, a few shops for the basics and quite a lot of restaurants and bars, try the Bistro Le Praz. This is where the 1992 olympic ski jump are and I believe the 2030 event as well, along with the finish to the mens downhill down the difficult Eclipse Run, give it a go yourself its not that easy. Access to the higher slopes is via two modern lifts, One heading towards all that Courchevel has to offer the other if you are looking to go to Meribel, two lifts and you are over. There are several Easy reds coming back into the village.
Le Tania
Set amongst the forest you will find Le Tania. Built for the 92 Olympics it has now grown even larger with some more tasteful chalets amongst the large apartment buildings. There are several bars and restaurants, one being the Lodge which serves affordable food and a good apres scene with live music, there are a few connivance shops also. It has a nice family feel and is certainly not as pretentious as the Courchevel’s above. There really are some delightful tree lined piste coming back into the village that are very well maintained. Le Tania is well situated to make the most of the whole 3 valleys and is serviced by a gondola. Quite a few ski in out options here as well.
Skiing
Part of the massive 3 valleys ski area, all 600 kms of it and to be honest the best interconnected ski area in the World. There really is something for everyone here, Courchevel is amazing for intermediate skiers but there’s also some very good black runs and also the Grand Couloir if you are up for a challenge. On bad weather days just head to the lower tree line runs coming into Le Tania and Le Praz. All the Courchevel resorts have beginner areas, Le Praz may not be the best of them for this.
Photo credit: Patrick Pachod
Resort Statistics
Courchevel
150 km of slopes
55 lifts
58 Green/Red runs
32 Red runs
12 Black runs
3 Valley’s
600 kms of slopes
154 lifts
172 Green and Red runs
25 Red Runs
31 Black runs
