Val d'Isere or Tignes: where to stay

The short answer

Choose Val d'Isère for a family trip where everyone skis well, or if you're keen skiers who also want good evenings. It's a real village, much of it is ski-in, ski-out, and it has the best night-time scene in the area, with clubs and parties.

Choose Tignes if you're a party or young group, if some of you are beginners, or if you're watching the budget. It's lively and fun, it has more apartment complexes and so more cheaper options, and it has a few easier runs, including easy ways home.

Either way you ski the same area. The two resorts sit on either side of a ridge and link in 1 or 2 lifts, so the choice is about evenings, budget and the run home, not about the skiing.

Staying in Val d'Isere

Val d'Isère is the historic heart of the area: refined, traditional and busy in the evenings, from Cocorico at the foot of Solaise as the last runs come in to La Baraque and the clubs later on. We stayed in the centre on both our trips and loved being able to ski in and out.

The one catch is the way home. There's no easy run back into the village: only reds and blacks such as Santons, La Face and Plan to Piste M, which get choppy and busy around 4 pm. Less confident skiers ride the Olympique or Solaise gondola down instead, or take Diebold, a blue, down to La Daille and a short bus.

For a chalet, the lower Santons area is a good choice, because almost everything there is ski-in, ski-out and two minutes from the lifts and the village.

Staying in Tignes

Tignes is higher, with its main villages around 2,100 m, so the snow on the doorstep tends to last longer. It's built more around apartment complexes than chalets, which usually means more choice at lower prices.

Tignes Le Lac is the centre, by the lake, with easy blues such as Henri and Lac back to the village and the Tovière lifts over to Val d'Isère. Val Claret sits at the foot of the Grande Motte glacier, with the funicular up and Double M, one of the best reds in the area, finishing at the door. Les Brévières, the lowest village at 1,550 m, is quieter and is where La Sache ends.

Beginners do better here. The runs into the Tignes villages are gentler, and nobody has to take a gondola down at the end of the day.

Which village for which group

Families who all ski well: Val d'Isère centre, for ski-in, ski-out and a proper village. Families with beginners: Tignes Le Lac or Val Claret, or La Daille on the Val d'Isère side, which has the only blue run down to valley level.

Young groups and party trips: Tignes for value and a lively base, or Val d'Isère centre if the nightlife matters most. Keen skiers: Val Claret for the glacier, or Val d'Isère centre for La Face and Solaise. Peace and quiet: Le Fornet or Les Brévières.

Not sure about the skiing? Our guide for beginners and intermediates covers which runs suit which level.

Getting home across the ridge

Wherever you stay, you'll ski both sides, so plan the way back. The link is quick, 1 or 2 lifts, and heading back by about 16:00 keeps you comfortable. In bad weather the link stayed open for us, but the runs back to Val d'Isère can be left ungroomed, so you may ski home in rough conditions.

The one link we've seen close is between Le Fornet and Val d'Isère. If its chair stops, it's about a 30-minute walk across the ridge. Our day routes start from every village and plan around this.