Alpe D’Huez

Located on a sunny plateau in the Southern Alps in the Grande Domaine ski area, the Alpe d’Huez ski resort is often affectionately referred to as “The Island in The Sun” thanks to more than 300 days of sunshine every year.

Despite its sunny south-facing orientation, at a high altitude of 1,860m, Alpe d’Huez provides a reliable and beautiful blanket of snow all winter long. This gives Alpe d’Huez one of the longest ski seasons in the French Alps.

Alpe d’Huez is home to the world’s longest black run, La Sarenne with 16km, starting from the Pic Blanc summit at 3,330m. The Sarenne descent is completely on-piste and descends more than 2,000 vertical metres.

Alpe d’Huez provides skiers and snowboarders alike plenty of different slopes to suit all levels of ability, from beginners to advanced.

The resort has something for every level and ability of skier or snowboarder, with great snowparks and appeals to anyone looking for good value or budget ski packages without compromising on first class ski conditions.

Alpe d’Huez has been awarded the ‘Famille Plus’ quality label by the French Tourism body, signifying that it is particularly suitable for family holidays.

There are plenty of easy runs (green and blue runs) leading into the resort perfect for young children and beginners alike while also providing a big selection of red and black runs for the more advanced thrill seekers.

Due to the long snow season, Alpe d’Huez is suitable for early season travel or spring skiing and for families, friends and couples wanting to learn skiing or snowboarding for the first time.

There are plenty of non-skiing activities on offer including the outdoor ice skating rink,  ice cave with sculptures, a cinema, the Alpine Coaster (1 or 2 seat sledges), dogsledding, ski joering, snowmobiling (skidoo), ice driving, paragliding, scenic and helicopter flights including microlight flights and more…

The Premium Pass Winter provides access to the Sports Centre’s gym, swimming-pools, skating-rink, mini golf, ping-pong as well as extra options such as fitness, aquafitness, squash, badminton, tennis, football, pan, climbing, archery, jorky ball, tournaments..

Alpe d’Huez is a 1hr50min drive by private transfer from Lyon Airport and 2hrs 40min drive from Geneva airport.
It’s a 1hr 15min drive from Grenoble train station, the closest train station in France to Alpe d’Huez.

Top Snow Travel can also arrange helicopter or scenic flight transfers from all airports or other ski resort altiports in the region

Next winter, Alpe d’Huez Ski Resort is scheduled to open from December 2^nd 2023 to April 21^st 2024.

There are 5 ski resorts and 2 villages which are part of the Grand Domaine lift pass and ski area which include: Alpe d’Huez, Auris en Oisans, La Garde, Le Freney d’Oisans, Oz en Oisans, Vaujany and Villard-Reculas.

January 3^rd to Feb 7^th 2026 is the cheapest and best time to go (low season), followed by 7^th March until mid-April 2026 (the shoulder season).

For Australians travelling to France to ski during our January summer holidays, we benefit from the cheaper rates on offer in the French ski resorts’ low season.  This happens to be when the French and Europeans go back to work and school after the 2 week Christmas and New Year holiday period.

Europeans and the Brits flock to the resorts through February into March (DO NOT TRAVEL from 7^th Feb to 7^th Mar 2026 as this is the French school holidays). The slopes are extremely busy, the queues at the lifts are long and the price for accommodation is very expensive during that time.  Even all the restaurants are booked out!

Typically, in January, the snow is dry with the largest build up. It is also the coldest time, so you will need to make sure that you dress warmly. It is still wise to choose a high-altitude resort in case mother nature has not been kind earlier in the season. Bear in mind though, that snow-making is used to supplement natural snowfall in high traffic areas.

So, not only is January the cheapest time to go skiing in the French Alps, it is also the best time to go thanks to the weather conditions, the lack of queues, more availability and choice of accommodation and you get to breathe fresh air with your loved ones, rather than with thousands of other people!