Imagine standing on an alpine peak with Italy to your left, Switzerland to your right and 385 miles of skiing heaven laid out beneath you. With over 185 lifts in a network of trails three times larger than the biggest American resorts, it’s easy to see why Courchevel is considered the premiere winter resort of Europe… if not the world.
With that much territory to offer, it doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or a double-diamond pro. There’s plenty of room for everyone and plenty of assistance too. Courchevel is home to Europe’s biggest ski school with 500 instructors and mountain guides ready to show you the slopes. On a routine day you can ski or board down one mountain, cruise down a second (stopping for lunch on the sundeck of an on-mountain restaurant) and coast contentedly down a third.
But the charm of the Three Valleys doesn’t end on the slopes. It was, after all, the French who invented après-ski and in the Alps eating is as important as skiing. For the gourmand, there is the 2-star Michelin restaurant, Le Chabichou as well as a host of exceptional traditional Savoyard restaurants. After dinner enjoy a stroll past the skating rink, see what’s playing at the resort’s three cinemas, or buy a little something special at one of the 150 shops that call Courchevel home. When the living is this good, you’ll want to call it home too.
As published in Art du Voyage’s Travel Notes – January 2007
Filed under: Europe, France, Health and Well-Being, Travel | Tagged: France, winter, skiing, Alps, ski, Haute Savoie, courchevel, Travel, Vacation, Europe, travel tips, travel advice, winter sports, olympics, ski school, alpine, apres ski
