Charming Meribel

In the middle of the “3 Vallées” connected skiing area, Meribel is probably the most charming ski resort in France.

Meribel is bourgeois, Meribel is active, Meribel offers fun for all kind of snow lovers, Meribel is just beautiful with only slendid wood and stone chalets of reasonable size and no concrete buildings devoted to massive tourism. The resort is actually divided in 2 main locations: Meribel itself and Meribel-Monttaret. Meribel-village and Les Allues are further away and less connected to the skiing area.
Meribel attracts many foreigners and English is fluently spoken there. Accommodation is expensive though in this glamorous corner of the Alps. But you won’t get bored there: a large choice of restaurants and bars, night clubs, spa and fitness centers, ice karting and skating, bowling….
The scenery is wonderful along the 8 green (the easiest), 36 blue, 21 red and even 9 black runs (2 Olympic runs and 2 slalom stadiums). The skiing area is ideal for all levels. On top, Meribel has one of the best snowparks of the Alps for snowboarders: the new Moonpark with 4 runs (comprising a sequence of jumps, rails and boxes) and the snowpark at Monttaret with 2 half-pipes.There are guided off-piste skiing, 33 km of cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and 25 km of walking trails.
Of course, Meribel is linked to the other resorts of the 3 Vallées skiing area and its 600 km of runs (in Courchevel, La Tania, Les Minuires, Val Thorens).

To sum up, Meribel worth’s the extra euro to enjoy the best of your winter trip in the Alps.

Agenda:

1. Dec 18th 2008, Meribel organizes the first competition of the Freestyle ski World cup.
2. March 28th - April 10th: The very british Meribel organizes the English ski championship in spring.

The pros: Lovely village with lots of charm, part the large connected skiing area of the 3 Vallées, one of the best snow parks for snowboarders, very lively at night. Ski lifts are high quality and the runs are fantastics with very nice panoramas. Meribel is well adapted for kids. Free shuttle within the resort.
The cons: Expensive and very busy during school holiday.

• Tips and advice: The Altiport area is well indicated for beginners to practice. Staying in Meribel is expensive but for a much cheaper option, you may consider staying at Les Allues or even Brides-les-Bains since both are connected to Meribel by cable car (25 min from Brides-les-bains). It’s less fun without snow garanteed in town (for Brides-les-bains) but so much cheaper.

An overview of my favorite ski resorts in France

We are first week of December and the snow is already massively covering the Alps, the Pyrenees, The Massif Central and the Jura. The ski season is very promising this year we have seen last week end the first fans surfing on the fresh silver powder in the main ski resorts. This is the opportunity to introduce my favorite ski resorts. I will focus on the Alps since I know the area better.

For skiers of all levels and snowboarders, many resorts developed great infrastructures for trying new trends like ski cross or snowblade. I suggest just a few for the quality of ski and the numerous activities they propose: Les Gets (for beginners and average skiers) and Avoriaz (great snowpark) connected to the Portes du Soleil ski area, Val d’Isere in the Espace Killy area, Courchevel (one of the most complete resort for sport and après-ski activities, quite expensive because very chic), Val Thorens (the highest ski resort in Europe – always good snow there).

For a more family-oriented resort with great panorama, I would consider Combloux and the nearby chic resort of Megeve. Both are very charming villages in a great setting in front of the Mont Blanc (especially Combloux) with good slopes (when the snow is abundant) and many other possibilities for families. The villages are lower in the valley and may not always have snow in town.
Otherwise, Meribel is very chic and a lovely village well indicated for all kind of snow lovers from skiers and snowboarders (very good snowpark) to snow walkers; Les Saisies is more quiet and rather a place for beginners and lovers of cross-country in a fantastic setting; Autran is well recognized for cross country (main activity); La Cluzas is another pretty village with lots of opportunities for all ski levels and snowshoeing and walking.

Not to forget the very international Chamonix at the foot of the highest summit in Europe: Le Mont Blanc. This town has an incredible mountain expertise (ski and climbing) with fantastic summits around.

Many more ski resort from big to very small offer very good quality ski and other snow-related activities that cannot be listed here but you can find those at http://ski-resort-france.co.uk/.

Check out the next posts, more reviews to come on specific resorts...