Les 3 Vallées are the largest linked ski areas in the world, claiming roughly 600 km (370 miles) of ski slopes. As implied by the name, the area originally consisted of three valleys: Saint-Bon, Allues, and Belleville. Since then, the ski area has expanded into a fourth valley with the addition of the resort of Orelle in 1996. It feels enormous – we were very impressed and managed to only touch two valleys over the course of two aggressive days of skiing.

The area is operated by several independent companies responsible for piste maintenance and lift operations. I mention this because it was startingly obvious – Courchevel was top notch, Méribel was complete trash (in technical terms), seemingly groomed by drunken squirrels. They clearly did not care. We wouldn’t focus time on these pistes next time. It was especially bad on the intermediate and beginner terrain.

The pricing is expensive (by European standards) for the lift tickets, and shockingly expensive lodging. I haven’t found a good way around this for a hotel experience of reasonable quality.

Courchevel

We were happy with our (not cheap) lodging choice in Courchevel la Praz. It’s one of the lower towns under the name: Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650, and Courchevel 1850, etc. It’s not a big village, but it’s extremely convenient and has enough – including a gondola that runs to the biggest village, 1850, until 23:30. Several bars, 5-6 restaurants, and direct access to Courchevel and Meribel slopes. After seeing the other towns, unless you find a really great deal, I wouldn’t make a point of trying to stay in other places on this side of the resort.

The hotel, **Les Peupliers, makes up for aging rooms with really good service, food, and public areas, and convenient parking. There are multiple places to hang out with friends, a friendly bar with indoor and outdoor seating, and very acceptable breakfast. Almost ski-in-ski out; the lift is just across the street. The spa is small and feels like an afterthought (but on the positive side, seems to be ignored by most of the guests). Our dinner at the onsite restaurant, **Restaurant La Table de Mon Grand-Père, was quite good. Honestly, if they just replaced the carpets in the (surprisingly good size) rooms, there’d be almost nothing bad to say about this place.

Also in la Praz, **Restaurant Le Bistrot du Praz was good – a nice “date-night restaurant.”

The surprise hit meal was ***Black Pearl – Piezzeria, about a 5 minute drive down the hill from the main la Praz area. Pizza was outstanding (remarkable even). The staff were friendly, crowd very local. Felt like a secret find.

Galen’s Ski Report

The 3 Vallees is one of the most amazing combined resorts we’ve skied in Europe. We skied Courchevel,  Méribel, and a very small amount of Val Thorens, and I can say the lower slopes of Méribel were not impressive and some of the worst grooming I’ve seen in my life. Courchevel is amazing. Start on lookers right heading towards Chenus peak, then Saulire Peak, then go toward Roc Merlet, ending up at Signal for some intermediate slopes and great lunch. It’s pretty easy to ski back from there all the way to Courchevel la Pras.

Don’t forget to take the Foret lift and ski the Col de la Loze and L’Eclipse for an amazing run. We did this several times.

There is really no shortage of expensive, festival, large-scale production restaurants on the slopes. Food quality seemed very high, good service – worth it, in general, especially on a sunny day.

• **Le Grand Lac and **La cabane de Sul’Lys were casual, easy places to have a mid-morning drink.
• **La Casserole (Courchevel side) was great. Slightly annoying crowd, but I think that was just who we sat next to. There’s a cute restaurant dog, the patio is sunny, and the service is fairly quick. We both had very good pasta dishes.

• **Le Clos Bernard (Méribel side) is one of those famous party places you see on instagram. It wasn’t as raucous as we expected, but it’s a fun atmosphere and the food was outstanding. Getting there is a bit “sporty” on skis, and getting out a fair amount of work. Worth it.