Tignes

• Tignes’ high-altitude ski resort at 2,100m has access to the Grande Motte Glacier which provides snow-sure and quality conditions throughout winter from late November until May. You can even ski in summer on this glacier. Most of the slopes above the resort are north facing, giving Tignes a reputation for one of the top ski resorts in France and Europe for reliable, quality snow.
• Tignes has one of the most varied and extensive winter activities in the French Alps including ice diving, ice driving or the unique Bun J Ride (bungee jumping with your skis/snowboard strapped on).
• It is part of one of the most beautiful and easily accessible linked ski areas in France, the Tignes-Val d’Isere ski area with a huge 300km of slopes as your playground
• Tignes is located next to a beautiful and impressive dam where you will find the authentic village of Tignes Les Brévières at the foot of the dam. Tignes 1800/Les Boisses is also charming and the high altitude purpose-built ski resorts at 2,100m have convenient and easy ski-in ski-out access (although not that attractive to the eye, you will be pleasantly surprised by the great atmosphere).

• Families will love Tignes Le Lac with its central location for so many activities and its ski-in ski-out convenience. Here there are 5 villages to choose from.
• Party people will love Tignes Val Claret where all the lively après-ski scene is located as well as quick access to the Perce Neige funicular to La Grande Motte cable car at 3,034m which finishes up at the top of the Glacier station at 3,456m.
• Friends and family members who do not wish to ski will be amazed by the countless non-skiing activities on offer in Tignes.
• For people looking to ski a truly world-class ski area without breaking the budget, Tignes has incredibly cheap ski packages on offer.
• Skiers /snowboarders looking for awesome off piste skiing with high quality snow conditions throughout the entire winter season, including early opening and spring skiing, will find it at Tignes.
• Tignes has a snowpark and it also connects easily to Val d’Isere snowpark.
• There is so much off piste terrain for the advanced skiers and so many good quality intermediate groomed runs for everybody to enjoy.

Tignes is full of winter activities not many European ski resorts can match such as the unique Bun J Ride and ice diving in Tignes Le Lac.

For family members and friends who are not skiing, Tignes has one of the best non-skiing activity programmes on offer in the Alps!

This includes: Ice Driving (incl Quad bikes and buggy), snowmobiling, Fat Bike, paragliding, speed riding, ice-climbing, mountaineering, dog sledding, snakegliss, snow tubing, tobogganing, helicopter rides, microlight, snow shoeing, village igloo for kids, curling, horse riding on snow (including ponies for kids), ski joering, horse sleigh rides, horse snakegliss (rubber ring pull by a horse), Camp Trappeur, Glacier evening (gourmet dinner on the glacier restaurant followed by the longest night skiing downhill slope in Europe). And that is just for the outdoor stuff!

Tignes also has a very impressive Sports Centre called Tignespace with many indoor activities on offer such as: rock climbing, squash, team sport courts (handball, basketball, badminton, hockey…) golf simulator, dancing classes, gym etc… it is Europe’s highest training centre.

You will also find the Lagon aquatic centre with its swimming pool, sauna, hamman, hot tubs, spa treatments…

Tignes is a 2-hour 30min drive by private transfer from either Lyon or Geneva Airport.
It’s a 30 min drive from Bourg St Maurice train station, the closest train station in France to Tignes.

A shared shuttle transfer from Geneva will take over 4hrs and will only drop you off at the village bus stop, not at your accommodation – not ideal if you are travelling with ski gear and luggage and don’t know your way around.

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

Next winter, Tignes ski resort is scheduled to open from December 2^nd 2023 to May 5^th 2024.

There are only 2 ski resorts linked on the Tignes-Val d’Isère (formerly called Espace Killy) lift pass: Tignes & Val d’Isère.

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!