A traveler's guide to Courchevel
Decide which Courchevel you are sleeping in before you fall in love with a photo of 1850. The skiing is the valley. The price is the village.
Courchevel is the ski resort people mean when they say the expensive village in the Trois Vallées. Courchevel 1850 is the one the prices refer to. The villages below it — 1650, Moriond, Le Praz — share the same skiing for a different bill. The valley pass reaches Méribel, Les Menuires, and Val Thorens.
When to go
Mid-January through March. The altitude is kinder than Val Thorens and less snow-sure in a dry December. French school holidays fill the lifts; the weeks between them are the ones to aim for. An altiport arrival only works in good weather, so keep a road plan.
On the hill
The Trois Vallées is one of the largest linked ski areas in the world, which is a reason to look at the clock. A lap into Méribel is easy. A lap to Val Thorens is a day, and the return is the part that goes wrong. Ski the Courchevel sectors hard on the days you do not want a transfer. The resort grooms a lot of intermediate terrain; the couloirs are not that terrain.
Village and passes
1850 is walkable, expensive, and the photograph. Le Praz and 1650 are still Courchevel. The valley lift pass is the one that matches the map on the wall. Taxis between villages at night are real money. If you stay in 1850, you can ignore the car. If you stay lower, know the bubble schedule.
If you only remember this
- 1850, 1650, Moriond, and Le Praz are not the same hotel bill.
- A trip to Val Thorens is a whole day. Turn around earlier than you think.
- School-holiday weeks are a different resort. Book around them if you can.
- The altiport is a fair-weather arrival, not the only way in.