Things to do in Courchevel: a forest by floodlight and a frozen lake
More of it is free than the glossy name suggests: a floodlit sledge run two kilometres through the forest, the Olympic jumps at Le Praz and a media library for a wet afternoon. For anyone not skiing, Aquamotion is the day to plan, and after dark there is dog sledding and a frozen lake to dive under.
Courchevel's name is glossy, and some of what it sells off the snow is priced to match. What surprises people is how much of the good part costs nothing, and how much of it sits in the lower villages rather than in 1850. Treat the resort as several places, Le Praz, Moriond, Courchevel Village and 1850, and give each a little of the week.
Start with the floodlit sledge run, two kilometres through the forest from 1850 down to Courchevel Village and lit all the way, so it works after dark. A helmet and a sledge with brakes are compulsory and ski boots are not allowed, which makes it an outing of its own rather than the end of a ski day. In Le Praz the 1992 Olympic jumps are still standing, the exhibition is free, and if the jumpers are training you can watch. The media library there is a proper wet afternoon for nothing.
For anyone not skiing, Aquamotion is the day to plan around: a leisure pool, a wellness area, an indoor surf wave and a climbing space, with a free escalator down from Moriond. When the weather closes in, Le Forum in 1850 puts the rink, the bowling and a bar under one roof, and a good number of the hotel spas will let you in without a room, which is the easiest bit of Courchevel luxury to borrow.
The evenings are the best of it. Dog sledding out to the Prameruel plateau is better in the evening, and because it is priced by the sled it suits a couple or a small family. On Lake Praz the night dives are the ones to go for, and ice floating is the same lake from the surface. Book the dogs through Courchevel Aventure, whose office is at Mountain House.
Free, and worth knowing
Five that cost nothing, spread from 1850 down to Le Praz, and the floodlit run through the forest is the one to do first.
The floodlit sledge run, 1850 down to Village
Two kilometres through the forest, lit from top to bottom, so it works after dark and it is the best free thing in the resort. It starts at 1850 under the arrival station of the Praz gondola and finishes at Courchevel Village at the foot of the Grangettes gondola.
Helmet compulsory, a sledge with brakes compulsory, and ski boots are not allowed. From six years old, and six to fourteen need an adult with them.
Courchevel 1850
The ski jump exhibition at Le Praz
The 1992 Olympic jumps are still here, four of them, and there is a free exhibition at the stadium. You cannot jump, but you can walk in for nothing and watch training, which is a better hour than it sounds when somebody is throwing themselves off a K125.
Courchevel Le Praz
The media library and the Micro Folie
A genuinely strong wet weather afternoon that costs nothing. A digital museum every Saturday, a virtual reality experience for ten and over, an immersive tour of Ancient Egypt built by Ubisoft, Japanese picture theatre for the three to fives, and film screenings for anybody over seven.
All free, and some of it needs booking. There is one paid exception, a woodcarving workshop with Claude at sixty euros, twelve and over.
Courchevel Le Praz
Cross country, and the children's sledging areas
Around seventy kilometres of groomed cross country trails across the villages, free to use, with a good spread from green to black. There are also free fenced sledging areas for small children at 1850 and at La Tania.
The walking paths
Five named groomed footpaths, maintained daily by the commune with the status published each morning. The Rosiere lake path from Moriond is the pretty one. There are nine marked snowshoe itineraries on top of that, including a balcony path linking La Tania to Le Praz.
On the mountain
A toboggan run with eight tunnels, a dog sled for two and a frozen lake to go under, and the last two are better in the evening.
Moriond Racing
Three kilometres and four hundred and fifty metres of descent on a Formula 1 themed toboggan run, with eight tunnels, a carousel bend and a section they call the double serpent. You take the Ariondaz gondola up. Sledge, helmet and mask are all included.
20 to 50 euros · Courchevel Moriond · Their page
Dog sledding
Twenty five minutes out to the Prameruel plateau behind a team of dogs, or thirty five minutes if you go in the evening, which is the better one. Priced per sled rather than per person, so it works out for a couple or a small family.
Over 50 euros · Meets at Courchevel 1850 · Their page
Ice diving and ice floating on Lake Praz
The lake at Le Praz freezes and you can get under it. Ice diving runs by day and by night, and the night sessions are the ones people write home about. If going under is a step too far, ice floating is the same lake in a drysuit on the surface.
Over 50 euros · Lake Praz, Courchevel Le Praz. On foot via the Praz gondola, parking at Alpinium.
In the village
The bad weather answers: a pool and a surf wave near Moriond, a rink and bowling under one roof in 1850, and hotel spas you can use without a room.
Aquamotion
The largest mountain aquatic centre in Europe, and it is genuinely large: a leisure pool, a wellness area, an indoor surf wave, treatments and a climbing space. It sits below Moriond on the Eaux Vives road, and there is a free escalator down to it from Moriond.
Price on request · Between Moriond and Village, on the Eaux Vives road · Their page
Le Forum
One building at 1850 holding the ice rink, an eight lane bowling alley with bumpers for children, pool tables, arcade games, a bar and a restaurant, plus a gym with a sauna. It is the wet afternoon answer and everything is under one roof.
Under 20 euros · Place du Forum, Courchevel 1850
The hotel spas
Courchevel has a great deal of five star spa, and a good number of them take people who are not staying. Le Strato, L'Apogee, Six Senses, the K2, Le Portetta, Le Lana, Cheval Blanc and a dozen more. Barma at La Tania is the one that is not eye watering.
Price on request · Mostly Courchevel 1850, one at La Tania
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.