High in the Tarentaise, Val d’Isère pairs serious, snow-sure skiing with polished French alpine living. Think broad, well-groomed pistes, lively après, and discreet, design-led chalets. With Bluemoon, explore our hand-picked Val d’Isère luxury chalet rentals and wider French Alps selection and find the perfect base for your trip.
From slope-side chalets with spa suites to contemporary apartments in the village heart, Bluemoon curates exceptional homes for a ski season done well. Explore our selection of Val d’Isère luxury chalets and apartment rentals and find your perfect base.
Swap airport queues for mountain air. Touch down by private jet in Genève or Chambéry, where our team fast-tracks formalities, ensures your winter slot, and coordinates your skis and luggage. From there, choose a swift helicopter hop to Val d’Isère’s helipad or a chauffeured alpine transfer, both timed to put you beside the fire before the first flakes settle. Arrange a fully regulated private jet charter and keep the whole journey on your schedule.
Val d’Isère is where big-mountain ambition meets easy, village living. Stone-and-timber streets, the church spire, and a dining scene that stretches from fireside classics to fine, contemporary plates. Mornings start on Solaise, evenings end beneath a sky full of stars. This is the place those serious about making the best of their ski season.
Heritage chalets in the old village, contemporary lodges in La Daille, and quiet, postcard corners up in Le Fornet. Service is discreet, wellness spaces are the norm, and everything is built around the day’s skiing. Explore our Val d’Isère luxury chalets and apartment rentals to find your perfect base.
Late January into early February is the sweet spot; the base is deepest, temperatures stay reliably cold, and the pistes are quieter and often have the best snow of the season. Steer clear of French and UK school holidays (especially mid-February half-term and late-December peak weeks), when queues and prices climb. Christmas and New Year bring a great atmosphere but variable conditions, sometimes bumper snowfall, sometimes lean, so if you choose this window, aim high (Solaise, Pisaillas) and keep plans flexible.
Beginners settle in on Solaise’s gentle greens; confident skiers roam from Bellevarde’s fast reds to the tree-lined bowls above Le Fornet. Experts test edge and nerve on the Face de Bellevarde and find powder stashes after storms. Long, leg-burning returns drop you straight back into the village for an easy après glide.
Trying to decide which corner of Val d’Isère best fits your rhythm? This guide walks through the resort’s neighbourhoods and the restaurants and après that give the valley its pulse, from candle-lit suppers in the old village to the high-energy terraces of La Daille.
At the heart of the resort, Val d’Isère Centre folds together Savoyard charm and modern polish. Cobbled streets lead to the old church square, where independent boutiques and candle-lit restaurants trade in warmth and authenticity. It’s the perfect base for those who want the lifts, nightlife, and fine dining all within a snowball’s throw.
Start your evening with dinner at Casserole, understated and utterly French, it’s a quiet local favourite known for its namesake dish. For something sweet (or savoury), Crepe Val is a must-book; a handful of tables, paper-thin galettes, and locals who never tell you how good it is until after you’ve left. For fondue and raclette in a centuries-old setting, La Corniche, tucked beside the old church, might be a difficult to find but once you have you'll appreciate the authentic classics from fondu to raclette that this place offers.
When the lifts stop spinning, après begins. The legendary Folie Douce kicks things off up at La Daille, followed by CocoRico, where live bands, barrel dancing, and vin chaud stretch the day long past sunset. Prefer to decompress? Chez Jules – Le Coin des Amis, just by Crepe Val, is the insider’s stop for a quiet hot apple vin chaud before dinner.
Ten minutes above the village, Le Fornet feels like a separate world, stone chalets, narrow lanes, and views that seem to belong to another century. It’s where those in the know stay when they want snow and serenity in equal measure.
Lunch is a ritual here: La Cascade, a casual canteen-style spot near the glacier, serves a plat du jour that might just be the best value meal in resort. On sunlit afternoons, book the terrace at L’Edelweiss, perched beside the slopes for a long lunch in the winter light.
First up the mountain and last off it, La Daille is made for those who ski hard and stay social. From here, you’re straight onto the Bellevarde runs, with lift access seconds from your door. The scene peaks at Folie Douce, a global après institution where champagne sprays meet dance-floor theatrics, but there’s balance, too: Fromagerie, next door, pairs great food with the lunch-time cabaret crowd for a show-and-dine experience worth seeing once.
Linked via the Espace Killy domain, the Tignes side rewards early starts and hungry legs. The descent to Tignes Brévières brings you to Restaurant La Bouida, a rustic hideaway with excellent onion soup and a welcome sense of calm after the buzz of the upper lifts. For a proper mountain burger, Le Peau de Vache at the top of Bellevarde is unmissable; candle-lit, atmospheric, and unapologetically indulgent.
Val d’Isère’s dining runs the gamut, from two-Michelin indulgence at Panoramic (slippers included) to the warm simplicity of La Bouida’s plat du jour. For modern flair, Fondue Factory reinvents the Savoyard staple, while Airelles Val d’Isère offers opulent haute cuisine at slope level.
When the sun dips, après follows its own rhythm: Folie Douce for the spectacle, CocoRico for the chaos, Blue Note for an English-style pool bar wind-down. Wherever you end up, order the hot apple vin chaud, a local secret that turns up everywhere, though no one seems to call it the same name twice.
