Val d’Isère holds a place among the Alps’ most celebrated ski resorts, where sophisticated alpine style meets lively après ski and world-renowned pistes.
Val d’Isère has built its reputation on serious skiing, and that hasn’t changed. What has is everything around it, with chic hotels and chalets, a bustling après-ski scene, and a warmth towards families that now sits easily alongside the resort’s famous nightlife.
Ski schools take beginners onto gentle, sun-soaked pistes, while confident skiers head for the blues, reds, blacks, and tree-lined runs. Val d’Isère is linked directly to Tignes, and together the two resorts form the Espace Killy, one of the largest ski areas in the world.
The village itself dates back to 1664, giving it far more history and character than many purpose-built ski resorts share. Explore our Val d’Isère ski holidays to discover the hotels, chalets, and experiences that make it like nowhere else in the Alps.
Val d’Isère suits confident skiers chasing off-piste runs, families settling in for the week, and couples drawn by the après-ski, in equal measure. What sets it apart is the altitude, with 60% of the pistes above 2,200 metres. Snow cover here holds reliably from the end of November to the beginning of May, a season few resorts in the Alps can match.
Step off Val d’Isère’s own slopes and the terrain keeps going. Lifts and pistes connect directly through to Tignes, forming the Espace Killy, which is more than 300km of pistes spread across two glaciers and every gradient in between. Beginners and intermediates tend to find their rhythm on Tignes’ broad, sun-facing bowl, while Val d’Isère’s own runs are steeper and more demanding, threading through trees and rewarding skiers confident enough to explore off-piste.
Five-star hotels and celebrated chalet addresses cluster through the village and along the slopes. Built from stone and timber in the Savoyard tradition, and furnished to a standard that rivals any city retreat, expect private spas, acclaimed restaurants, and impeccable service.
Val d’Isère takes its Famille Plus label seriously. Slow skiing zones keep new skiers away from faster traffic, chalets provide the privacy and facilities families need, and the resort runs its own calendar of events and entertainment built around families rather than added as an afterthought.
For those who want childcare throughout their stay, our Explorers childcare and private nanny services fill the gaps around ski school. Our private nanny service is completely tailored to your needs, and our afternoon care makes easy work of collecting children from their lesson and taking them to lunch for an afternoon filled with activities.
Val d’Isère is known for its expert runs and it hasn’t let up. The black run La Face, host to the Men’s Downhill at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, drops from the top of the Bellevarde cable car in one uncompromising line. Ski it early, while the snow is still groomed and your legs are fresh, or attempt it as your last run only if you’re extremely competent and fit.
Beyond the pistes, couloirs, glacier routes and tree-lined descents spread out from the lift network, and we can arrange a high-mountain guide to lead you into it, reading the snowpack and finding lines that never make it onto the piste map.
Our Val d'Isère hotels feature ski-in, ski-out locations in some of the resort's prime spots. Meanwhile, our handpicked collection of chalets offer spaces that sleep up to 16 – perfect for group ski holidays to Val d'Isère surrounded by your friends and family.
The centre is where Val d’Isère’s two lives meet. Mornings start quietly, with skis clicking past shopfronts on the way to the lifts, and by mid-afternoon the same pedestrian streets fill with shoppers, skiers back from the slopes, and the first glass of the evening. Boutiques and jewellers sit alongside ski shops and patisseries, while five-star hotels and celebrated chalets cluster within a few minutes’ walk of the lifts and of each other.
Restaurants and bars gather here too, from relaxed pizzerias to quiet dining rooms that turn a night out into an occasion. Base yourself near the centre and skiing, shopping, and dinner all sit within walking distance.
The moment skis come off, Val d’Isère’s scenic nightlife comes alive. Terraces fill fast, champagne is poured before boots are even unclipped, and the bars scattered through the village keep going long after the lifts stop turning. Some nights call for a lively terrace with music spilling onto the street, others for a slower dinner and good conversation, and Val d’Isère does both equally well.
Maison Chevallot is proof that not every highlight needs noise. The village bakery has built a following that reaches well beyond Val d’Isère, and the queue for its bread and pastries is one worth joining.
Up on the mountain, lunch draws its own crowd, as our Ski Specialist Miranda Bird knows well:
"A must-do is heading to Gigi's Restaurant at Le Refuge de Solaise. The views are spectacular up at 2,500m and there is no better place to enjoy a Tartiflette and glass of rosé in the sun!"
La Daille sits at the entrance to the resort, and everything about it is built around getting onto snow quickly. The Funival funicular lifts skiers straight from the village to the Rocher de Bellevarde in minutes, opening up the whole of the Espace Killy without a queue in sight.
It’s a quieter base than the centre, with a handful of restaurants and bars rather than a full nightlife scene, and chalets here trade proximity to the shops for proximity to the piste. For skiers who would rather ski in and ski out than walk to breakfast, La Daille is the practical choice, with the centre a short bus ride away whenever you want it.
Le Fornet is Val d’Isère at its most traditional. Set at the quiet end of the valley on the road up towards the Col de l’Iseran, its stone-and-wood chalets and narrow streets look much as they must have decades ago, gathered around an old chapel rather than a strip of shops.
What Le Fornet lacks in nightlife, it makes up for in altitude and dining. Its cable car climbs straight to the glacier terrain above Val d’Isère, giving guests staying here a head start on the mountain before the crowds arrive from the centre, and a handful of excellent restaurants make it worth lingering over dinner rather than rushing back down the valley. It’s the choice for those who want their luxury quiet.
Typically, Val d'Isère boasts outstanding ski conditions from early December to early May. At 1850m (6,000 feet) it's among the highest resorts in Europe. However, there is more to Val than that:
While it can be extremely cold, particularly in December and January, this combination of factors, not to mention extensive artificial snowmaking and glacial terrain, means that Val has one of the best snow records in Europe. In fact, the World Cup Ski circuit holds the Criterium de la Première Neige event in Val every December to test the quality of the first snow.
All three of Val’s ski areas – Bellevarde, Solaise and Le Fornet – have wide, cruising blue runs higher up and more challenging runs for strong skiers lower down. Beginners will find slow skiing zones and easy runs at the top of Solaise and Bellevarde. There are seven lifts which are completely free of charge (Village/Rogoney), plus three drag lifts in the Solaise area and two in La Daille. For intermediate and advanced skiers seeking long red runs, Tignes has a huge amount to offer. Getting there couldn’t be easier, as the Espace Killy integrates the two resorts seamlessly. The off-piste terrain is vast and taking a guide is the only way to really do it justice.
You can book your Val d'Isère holiday for as long as you like, although we find that most people tend to go for a week to 10 days. The beauty of booking with Scott Dunn is that there are no limits – we're here to create the trip that caters to your appetite and your schedule.
Yes! Val has plenty to offer non and part-time skiers. The Leisure Centre, which opened in December 2009, is a fabulous new facility, offering swimming, squash, cardio training, a sports hall, a climbing wall and a range of fitness classes as well as jacuzzi, steam and sauna facilities. The ice driving circuit is the world’s most thrilling driving lesson and dog sledding, ice skating, paragliding, snowshoeing, ice climbing and snowmobiling are just a few of the other activities on offer in Val d'Isère.
The village is bustling with bars, shops and restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. The policy of leaving the streets covered in snow undoubtedly adds atmosphere and reduces the salt pollution of the Isère River. Rubber “granny gripper”-style crampons are a good idea when wandering through the village to avoid a tumble. Val is restricting vehicular access to make wandering the central streets more of a pleasure and the Vieux Village is the oldest part – a delightful mix of narrow streets and original chalets.
Historically the nightlife, epitomised by Dick’s Tea Bar, has been high on raucousness and low on sophistication but this has changed considerably and we think it now offers a great balance of fun and quality. Eating out is improving every year but quality varies from one season to the next so it is always a good idea to get the most up-to-date advice from our resort team. The lamb shank at the Lodge is always reliable, La Grande Ourse is another favourite and 1789 may look unimpressive but the ‘cote de boeuf’ cooked on the fire is quite delicious. The range of bars and nightspots is just as varied and Café Face, La Doudoune’s Le Chalet and the bar of Le Blizzard come recommended.
The ski schools in Val d'Isère compete hard for business and as a result, the resort is well served by a multitude of excellent choices. Private and group lessons, as well as guiding, are provided by English-speaking instructors and good coaching can make a massive improvement to your holiday. We recommend Oxygene and Progression in particular.
Val d’Isère and Tignes share the same 300km of piste across the Espace Killy, linked by lift and covered by a single pass.
Val d’Isère is the older of the two, its stone-and-wood village built up over centuries rather than to a masterplan, with five-star hotels, celebrated restaurants and an après-ski scene that runs long into the evening. Tignes, by contrast, was purpose-built in the 1960s across several high-altitude villages, trading historic charm for direct ski-in ski-out convenience and glacier access that keeps its slopes open later into spring.
Whether you're a beginner or a pro, skiing doesn't get much better than in Val d'Isère. Get in touch with us today and allow us to plan the luxury trip of a lifetime.
Call us on 212 372 7009 to start planning
