Northern Alps Ski Resorts

The broad valleys of the Northern Alps such as the Grésivaudan, Maurienne, Tarentaise or the Arve offer a diverse range of mountains which are home to many large international resorts but also hide a lot of extremely charming and authentic villages.Three departments make up this region, the Haute-Savoie, the Savoie and the Isère.The first of the major ski resorts in France were created within the Haute-Savoie: Chamonix, Megeve and Saint Gervais are all found in the Arve Valley. New resorts such as Avoriaz and Flaine are different, they offer a very modern architectural style but also very high quality skiing. In the Haute Savoie can also be found the Aravis Ski Area made up of several resorts, the largest of them being La Clusaz and the Grand Bornand.The department of Savoie has many beautiful resorts in the Tarentaise area such as superstars like Tignes, Val d'Isere, La Plagne and Les Arcs. The Savoie is also home to the largest ski area in the world, the 3 Valleys, which is made up of Meribel, Courchevel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens. On the border between the two Savoie departments are found two resorts, Notre Dame de Bellecombe and Les Saisies, a mecca for cross-country skiing. The Maurienne valley has several resorts such as Aussois, Termignon-la-Vanoise, Bessans and Bonneval sur Arc. At the foot of Col de l'Iseran are the resorts of Val Cenis, La Toussuire, Valloire and Saint François Longchamp.The Isere is characterised by its high altitude offerings, however the mid-altitude resorts in the Vercors area of the department offer cross-country skiing (Autrans) and alpine skiing in Villard de Lans. At the heart of the Isere lies the Osians, home to several larger ski resorts; Chamrousse, Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d'Huez.