Forget a ski-in, ski-out hotel, how about a ski-in, ski-out resort?
Welcome to France’s Val Thorens, which has been declared the world’s best ski resort nine times, including for 2024/2025.
Here, no matter where you stay, the snow is never more than mere yards from your accommodation’s threshold.
I stayed in hotels Altapura and Fahrenheit Seven and the white stuff was centimetres away from the boot rooms.
But I discovered that proximity to snow is far from the only reason for this resort living up to the hype.
There’s the altitude, for starters.
At 2,300m (7,545ft), Val Thorens, which is encircled by six glaciers, is the highest ski resort in Europe, which makes it reliably snow-sure. And you’ll do most of your skiing in the heavens – 80 per cent of the runs are above 2,300m.
The snow is so bountiful that the ski season lasts six months, the longest in Europe.
MailOnline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill buckled into his snowboard in April and explored Val Thorens (twinkling in the centre) – the French ski resort rated the best in the world
At 2,300m (7,545ft), Val Thorens, which is encircled by six glaciers, is the highest ski resort in Europe
At Val Thorens you’ll do most of your skiing in the heavens – 80 per cent of the runs are above 2,300m
Ted outside Val Thorens’ Fahrenheit Seven hotel
We went in April, and it snowed for two days. The whole resort and all the runs were blanketed in the white stuff.
The landscape is another big draw. It’s spellbinding.
Val Thorens is the highest point of the 3 Vallees ski area, the largest in the world with 600km (372 miles) of linked-up slopes that cater to every level of skier and snowboarder.
The highest summit skiers and snowboarders can reach at Val Thorens is Cime Caron (3,200m/10,482ft).
We didn’t make it up there, but we did ascend to Col de Rosael, which is at an elevation of 3,000m (9,842ft) and offers a breathtaking view of Val Thorens, the valley down to neighbouring Les Menuires resort (1,850m/6,069) and, in the distance, Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest mountain (4,805m/15,766ft).
This transfixing view held up our descent (and everyone else’s, too).
We set off and experienced an all-time great run – a roller-coaster blue (called Fond) that, even though it was the busy Easter holiday period, we had all to ourselves, as if resort management had shut it down especially for us.
Ted reveals that he went to Val Thorens in April and the ‘whole resort and all the runs were blanketed in the white stuff’
If there’s a downside to Val Thorens, it’s an almost complete lack of trees, which means that in ‘white-outs’, it’s not an awful lot of fun.
But when the sun’s out, it’s terrific.
What’s more, most of the lifts launch from the centre of the resort in a starburst, making it enormously convenient.
And they’re modern, well-organised, chaos-free lifts, too, with gondolas that funnel skiers and boarders into pre-boarding ‘pens’, with numbers capped to guarantee there’s always some breathing space on the ascent.
Ted writes: ‘If there’s a downside to Val Thorens, it’s an almost complete lack of trees, which means that in “white-outs”, it’s not an awful lot of fun. But when the sun’s out, it’s terrific’
The resort itself, while not particularly cute, offers several above-average eating and drinking options.
As with any resort, there are mediocre tourist-trap venues, but head to restaurants La Maison (la-maison-valthorens.fr), with its Instagrammable furry chandeliers, and Le Tivoli (www.tivolivalthorens.com), and disappointment will be very unlikely.
Out on the slopes, you simply must grab a coffee at Le Caribou restaurant at the intersection of the Genepi (blue) and Asters (red) slopes.
The views up the valley to Glacier de Thorens are jaw-dropping.
As for places to stay, the aforementioned Altapura, with its indoor-outdoor pool and epic bedrooms, and Fahrenheit Seven, with its glorious terrace views and funky decor, I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Val Thorens – it’s a resort at the peak of its powers.
TRAVEL FACTS
Ted was hosted by the Val Thorens tourism office. Visit www.valthorens.com.
Pros: Snow sure, epic scenery, great hotels, great restaurants, slick infrastructure.
Cons: Lack of trees means white-outs are particularly frustrating here.
Resort rating out of five: 4.5.
GETTING THERE
The best way of reaching Val Thorens from the UK is via Eurostar, which runs a ski train service to the French Alps that departs on Saturdays and returns on Sundays.
It stops at Chambéry, Albertville, Moûtiers-Salins-Brides-Les-Bains (for Val Thorens), Aime-la-Plagne, and Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Visit www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/france/ski-train#Journey.
If that’s booked out, take a Eurostar to Paris and then a TGV from Gare de Lyon.
Eurostar fares from London start at £39 each way in Standard, or £70 in Plus.
