Used to Austria? The French ski resorts that go bigger and higher
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
We always go to St Anton, or Ischgl, or Sölden. This year we fancy France, because everyone tells us the ski areas are bigger and the villages are higher. But we like our après, and everyone also tells us France does not do it properly. Is that true?
If that is you, the short answer is Val d'Isère. It is higher than any Austrian resort we cover, in the village and at the top of the lifts, it shares a 300 kilometre linked area with Tignes, and on the après question it is the honest exception. Most of France is quieter than Austria in the evening. Val d'Isère is not.
Here is how we got there.
The numbers, with the resorts you know alongside
The Austrian resorts are your yardstick, not options. We have not yet checked the Austrian ski area totals you will see quoted, so the size column measures every resort the same way: the piste around each village. The last column is our own short read of each place.
| Resort | Village | Highest lift | Piste we measure | Our read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Anton | 1,304 m | 2,811 m | 155 km | Energetic and social |
| Ischgl | 1,377 m | 2,872 m | 152 km | High energy and snowy |
| Sölden | 1,368 m | 3,340 m | 135 km | Sporty and lively |
| Kitzbühel | 800 m | 2,000 m | 135 km | Medieval and lively |
| Saalbach-Hinterglemm | 1,003 m | 2,096 m | 192 km | Fun and friendly |
| Val d'Isère | 1,850 m | 3,456 m, on the Tignes side | 158 km, in Espace Killy's 300 | Lively and upmarket |
| Val Thorens | 2,300 m | 3,230 m | 211 km, in the Three Valleys' 600 | Buzzy and high |
| Méribel | 1,450 m | 2,952 m | 261 km, in the Three Valleys' 600 | Pretty and friendly |
| La Plagne | 1,800 m | 3,250 m | 203 km, in Paradiski's 425 | Practical and friendly |
Bigger and higher: yes, but not how you think
Higher, without argument. Every French pick has a village above Ischgl's 1,377 metres, the highest of yours, and three of them are at 1,800 metres or more. Val Thorens, at 2,300, is almost 1,000 metres above St Anton. The lifts are higher too, with one exception: Sölden's 3,340 metres beats Val Thorens and La Plagne, and only Espace Killy's 3,456, above Tignes and shared with Val d'Isère, tops it here.
Bigger, but it is the links doing it. Measured the same way around each village, Val d'Isère's 158 kilometres is level with St Anton's 155 and Ischgl's 152. What changes is what the village is joined to. Espace Killy's 300 kilometres and Paradiski's 425 are figures we have checked against our own measurement, and the Three Valleys is widely quoted at 600. Even on the village alone, Méribel stands out: we measure 261 kilometres around it, more than at any Austrian resort we cover.
The après: is it really worse?
Honestly, in most of France, yes, it is quieter. In two places, no.
The evidence is our own. Every resort we cover carries a short read of its character and a list of what it does best. All five of your Austrian resorts are tagged lively, and all five list nightlife among the things they do best. Of the seventeen French resorts we cover, two say anything like that: Val d'Isère, for its lively evenings, and Val Thorens, for its party scene. A third, La Clusaz, is lively in a local, weekend way. The rest read as things like friendly, practical, calm or quiet.
So if the evenings are a big part of why you go to Austria, France narrows to two resorts, and both are on this list. If they are a small part, the whole of France is open, and Méribel and La Plagne are the bigger, higher weeks.
Val d'Isère: the like for like
- VillageVillage
- 1,850 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 300 km
Val d'Isère: 158 km of piste we measure. 90 km green and blue 57%46 km red 29%22 km black 14%
Plus 29 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
A village at 1,850 metres, lifts to 3,456, and Espace Killy's 300 kilometres shared with Tignes. The season runs from late November to early May, much like Ischgl's or Sölden's. Our own one line on it is a high altitude classic that skis big and stays up late, and lively evenings are one of the things it does best.
Of the three French resorts our matching puts closest to St Anton, it is the only one that keeps both its lively and its expert character. It is a village with some character too, with trees, an old church and a main street that curves, rather than a resort built for the lifts.
The trade is the steep. Twenty nine percent of Val d'Isère's piste is steeper than one in four, against 43 at St Anton and 34 at Ischgl, and its reds average 23.9 percent against St Anton's 25.8. It has 29 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, against St Anton's 70. Strong skiers will be busy. They will not be scared.
Tignes, at 2,100 metres, is the same lift pass and a different village: higher, more practical, quieter in the evening.
The Three Valleys, from Val Thorens or Méribel: the night, or the village
Same lift pass, very different weeks.
Val Thorens is the highest village of any resort we cover, at 2,300 metres, with lifts to 3,230 and a season from late November to early May. Our read is buzzy and high, and its party scene is one of the things it does best. Of all the Austrian resorts, our matching puts Ischgl closest to it, and the biggest difference is the village altitude. If you go to Ischgl or Sölden for snow and a night out, this is that week, about 900 metres higher.
It is also the least steep of our four picks: 25 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against 34 at Ischgl. We measure 211 kilometres around Val Thorens alone, more than at any of your five Austrian resorts, before you count the rest of the Three Valleys.
Méribel is the village answer. Our matching puts it closest of all French resorts to both Ischgl and Saalbach. It is pretty and friendly, best for families and chalet holidays, and it sits in the middle of the Three Valleys with 261 kilometres of piste around it. But its village, at 1,450 metres, is not much higher than Ischgl's, and it is friendly rather than lively. If you go to Saalbach for the slopes and the family, Méribel is bigger and higher. If you go for the nights, it is the trade.
La Plagne: the biggest, for families
- VillageVillage
- 1,800 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 425 km
La Plagne: 203 km of piste we measure. 128 km green and blue 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
La Plagne's village is at 1,800 metres, almost 800 metres above Saalbach's, and it sits in Paradiski, 425 kilometres checked against our own measurement. That is the biggest linked area in this article we can put a number to without a caveat. Our read is practical and friendly, and families are what it does best.
It is also kinder on the legs than Saalbach. Twenty seven percent of La Plagne's piste is steeper than one in four, against 42 at Saalbach, and its reds average 23.6 percent against Saalbach's 27.8. That is average gradient, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but the direction is clear.
What you trade is the evening. La Plagne is not one of the lively ones. For a family that skis hard and sleeps early, that will not matter.
Who should ignore all of this
St Anton regulars who go for the off piste.
St Anton has 70 kilometres of marked itinerary, more than any resort we cover. Val d'Isère has 29, and the most in France is Chamonix's 44. If the itineraries are the reason, France does not replace them.
Kitzbühel regulars who go for the town.
Kitzbühel is medieval, traditional and lively. Of the French resorts we cover, only La Clusaz is both traditional and lively by our reading. It is higher, with a village at 1,100 metres and lifts to 2,600, but smaller: we measure 97 kilometres against Kitzbühel's 135. That is a different article.
So, which one
you want bigger and higher without giving up the evenings or the village, and your group skis well.
snow and a night out are what you go for, and you want the highest village we cover to do it in.
the village matters more than the nights, and you want the most skiing around the village.
you are a family who wants a huge linked area and a high village, and quieter evenings suit you.
It is higher, bigger once you count Tignes, lively in the evening, and it feels like a village. It asks an Austria regular to give up the least.