Ski Weekends in France

France: ski weekends and short breaks

Being the closest skiing nation to the UK makes France brilliant for ski weekends. If you’re travelling by plane, flights from the UK tend to take around 1-2 hours. Pick a resort with a short transfer and you can minimise your travel and spend more time on the slopes – an extra day’s skiing in some cases. Alternatively, coach trips often depart in the evenings, arriving the morning after, while some people prefer to drive or get the train.

The French Alps are your best bet if you’re planning to base your ski weekend in a chalet, with more of this type of lodging than in any other country. It certainly helps to have most of the food and drink you’ll need during your break included, letting you focus on enjoying the mountains.

This country also wins when it comes to doorstep skiing, with tons of properties on the mountainside that you can ski right out of. Snow reliability is another bonus of skiing in France, with skiable glaciers, tree runs and slopes well above 2000m – and when you’re only out there for a few days, it helps to have the highest likelihood of good conditions.

Best French resorts for ski weekends:

Three Valleys: Courchevel, Meribel, Val Thorens – the world’s biggest linked ski area with 600km of pistes of every difficulty, buzzing mountain bars and all types of accommodation.

Portes du Soleil: Morzine, Avoriaz, Les Gets – an international ski area crossing the border to Switzerland, short transfers to the ski resorts from Geneva airport and excellent offerings for families.

Espace Killy: Tignes, Val d’Isere – a huge, high altitude ski area with glaciers, lively après ski bars and a bundle of chalets, apartments and hotels – many with doorstep skiing.

Paradiski: La Plagne, Les Arcs – this is a huge, high altitude ski area totalling 425km of pistes, loved for its great value ski-out accommodation.

Grand Massif: Flaine – the parts of this linked ski area surrounding Flaine have a super snow record, and you also have wonderfully short transfers from Geneva airport.

Chamonix Valley: Chamonix – there are a handful of ski areas within easy reach of here, and another benefit is the short drive time from Geneva airport.

To widen your search to include other countries in the Alps, check out our ski weekends in Italy, Austria and Switzerland, or view all weekend breaks here.