Val d’Isère (Alpes, Savoie department) 1785 – 3300 m – this is a traditional ski resort, one of the best in France, a classic mountain holiday in winter and summer.
Val d’Isere – the valley of the river Isere – is an area in the Vanoise National Park (Park national de la Vanoise) near the border with Italy. After the creation of the European Union and the destruction of the border zone, this area became completely open to tourists and a favorite vacation spot for guests from all over the world.
Val d’Isère is the cradle of French skiing. In 2009, the Alpine Skiing World Cup was held in Val d’Isère. Located in the Espace Killy, the resort offers ski slopes of any difficulty, as well as an unusually friendly atmosphere for foreign guests who visit this ski resort every year.
The structure of the mountain resort of Val d’Isère
The resort of Val d’Isère includes several “villages” located in the valley along the river:
– La Daille – at the entrance to the resort, closer to Lake Tignes, near the first lift to the bike park
– Le Cret – at the entrance to the resort center
Central village central village, tourism office, aqua center and sports town
– Le Fornet – behind the central village closer to the border with Italy, where even in summer you can ski
– Le Laisinant – near La Fornet on the other side of the valley
– Le Joseray – deep into the Vanoise park
– La Legettaz – towards the lift “Solaise”
– Le Chatelard – towards Vanoise Park and a quieter and more peaceful place
– Le Manchet – sports town and park right in the middle of the ski and hiking trails
Lifts (Téléphérique = cable cars), most of which operate year-round – in winter and summer, serve to lift tourists to routes with skis, bicycles, mopeds .. strollers. You can smoothly find yourself on them at neighboring resorts – Tignes or Plagne:
– narrow chair lift (télésiège des etroits) – at the entrance, the village of La Daille
chairlift “Solaise Express”
– funicular “Solaise” towards Lake La Plagne
– large cabin “Olympique” (Olympic) towards the bike park and Lake Tignes
– lift from Le Fornet to the route of the Great Alps, in the gorge “Col de l’ Iseran”, where in summer there is snow and you can ski
– du Fornet – from here, but on the other side of the valley, where there is no snow in summer
– Laisinant Express from the respective village and sports base
– various small lifts operating on a special schedule
Map, plan of the Val d’Isère resort
Popular recreational facilities in the central village:
– Aquacenter (central village) – sports and recreation
– Charles Diebold Sports Park
– green amphitheater
– Congress Center Henri Oreiller, where you can hold conferences and presentations
– children’s town – sports and entertainment for children
Recreation areas within reach of the cable car:
– hiking trails in the mountains
– park for cyclists (velo-moto-bike park)
– ski slopes
– parkour
Suggested main sports and activities:
– ski slopes, winter and summer
– rental and sale of the sports skis and the sports equipment
– skiing lessons of the various difficulty levels, for the adults and children
– hiking independent or with an instructor hiking in the mountains
– training in mountaineering and rock-climbing of different levels of difficulty
– bike races, bike trips, bike rental and sale
– aquasport, swimming, pool, diving, diving training with a wetsuit
– water procedures, SPA, massage
– children’s sports club, football
– acrobatics on trampolines
– kayaking
– horseback riding and equestrian sports (Hey, cavalry !!!)
– fitness, outdoor aerobics in summer
– skate, there is a whole skate park
– mini golf, the game and training
– acrobatics on the bicycles
– tennis, also the game and training
– parkour – fun in the style of “Mowgli”
– archery
– yoga, classes with instructors for beginners and professionals
– mopeds and racing on them on special tracks, karting, auto-simulators
– laser beatlon
– kettlebell lifting, running, athletics, etc.
– fishing, sports and amateur
– orienteering
– local history museum and the historical / sightseeing guided tours
French Alps in summer: various summer sports for adults and children. You can play football, volleyball and tennis on the sports grounds. Hiking in the mountains, on your own or with an instructor, along routes of varying difficulty, is very popular. Rock climbing, a special children’s training center. Bike rides and bike rentals. The list will be updated according to the current season.
bike park
The Val d’Isere resort is constantly expanding its Bike (Velo-Moto) Park and parkour zone for beginners, parkour for the “federal” level and parkour for extreme pilots of professional level.
Mechanical lifts will take you to all sites of the Bike Park in the Val d’Isère – Tignes area. There are equipped parking lots for cars, motorcycles and bicycles. Near the parking lots there are restaurants and everything you need. Near the Great Alps route there are beautiful villages at different altitudes for you to choose from.
In the mountain resort of Val d’Isère, there is a special bike park – an area in the Alps, adapted for cycling and outdoor activities.
Orienteering course
Orientation courses on the map are held in the Central Sports Park. The resort of Val-d’Isère has five parkour courses of varying difficulty
Aqua center. Water park and sports equipment
Aquacenter is a favorite year-round vacation spot for tourists. There is not only a mini water park, swimming pool, spa, but also fitness equipment and even car racing simulators. In general, everything for “M” and “F” in one place
Congress Center Henri Oreiller
Several halls up to 2000 sq. meters and a capacity of up to 300 people with all the necessary equipment (sound equipment, projectors, microphones, etc.) allow you to successfully hold conferences, business seminars, presentations, reports, corporate parties and various performances.
Personal travel experience and the Resort Reviews
Visited with an “inspection” resort in the summer for one day at the end of July 2015 in order to identify the best and worst mountain resorts in the summer. The impressions were the best. This is truly one of the best resorts in the French Alps, especially in summer. Most of all I liked the long and beautiful cable cars (not all of them were checked in one day, but only a few), which will take you to various recreation areas and parks, where you can swim and sunbathe in some, and ski in others on natural snow. The cable car offers fantastic views of the mountains and the Vanoise Natural National Park. Everywhere we met different groups actively involved in sports. Cyclists, bikers, pedestrians with sticks (more of a tourist tradition), football players and even horseback riders. A lot of sports equipment is sold and rented on the streets. Bar-restaurants managed to “check” only two and both turned out to be inexpensive, but with good tasty food (France! Cuisine!). It’s better to keep silent about the wine in the bar (France-2!) because of it we almost missed the bus “home”. It is the French who will order a glass of wine and sit all evening, while foreign tourists “tasting” wines in other volumes. 🙂 I didn’t have enough time to see the Aqua Center and the sports town, but all the booklets were kindly provided at the tourism office, where you can get all the current comprehensive information. At the same time, the staff said that the resort has interesting things to see. Having been here for only one day for testing, we concluded that we need to come here again just to relax with friends. So the continuation of reports and reviews will be for sure.
Reviews and photo report from the traveler and athlete “Doctor Jean”
Winter 2016 – 2017. One of the local restaurants (see google map).
Premises indoors and outdoors. French cuisine, hot drinks, wine, mulled wine. Prices are moderate (everything is very expensive only in Courchevel, Three Valleys).
What is interesting in the vicinity
— Summer holidays with children. Parkour “Lair of squirrels”
Sightseeing tours around the neighborhood and not only.
A daily trip along the Isère valley and to other resorts: a sightseeing tours to Italy and the surrounding area is possible. We also offer our own WW1 & WW2 battlefield tours.
How to get to Val d’Isère resort
Public transport from Geneva airport can be reached by train or express bus to Chambéry (two hours), then by train to Bourg St Maurice + bus to Val d’Isère (approximately 2-3 hours). Budget, but problematic.
Taxi with an English-speaking driver is the most popular transfer from the airport (usually Geneva or Lyon Saint-Exupery) to the hotel in the resort. The price depends on the number of passengers and the amount of luggage (you need to choose the best option), and of course on the class of the car (mini-bus). The road is very beautiful and you can stop along the way to take pictures of the sights. Cost from 555 Eu for the whole company and luggage. Phone +33659354620 (Your duty dispatcher for the Alps), learn more:
- Geneva International Airport / RR station private transfer to hotel or rent a car with driver