Hints and tips for Courcheval 1650

[WelshMoth]

Off there this half term, staying in a self-catered apartment right by the gondola, so fab for location.

All hints and tips appreciated.

Still hoping!

Hi welshmoth I have an appt in 1650 but it was only ready this season so am still new to the village. We love it in the three valleys.
My tips are:
Only get a 3 valleys lift pass if you are all good skiers. There is lots of good
skiing in courchevel itself and you can always upgrade for a day.
Best bakery is tropez next to the tabac.
There are 3 supermarkets I like the utile best.
Restaurants wise we tried L'Arc en ciel which was great but busy so you probably need to book and cucina Angelina which was mediocre and over priced
Aquamotion is fantastic so definitely take swimming stuff.
Takeaway pizza in the village from the little pizza place by the seafood bar was excellent.
The navette to 1850 only takes 10 minutes so we went up there a couple of evenings to people watch and have a drink.
We went for 2 weeks at Xmas and are there again at half term.
I loved it which is good as we are committed now!

andiem that is superb advice - thank you ever so much. I think I'll be getting passes just for Courcheval because DD's and DH are all novices.

Also, we're flying into Grenoble and then driving. We've hired a fairly roomy car so is stopping in a Lidl/Intermarché to stock up a good idea?

Huge thanks!

Definitely stock up with food on the way - and worth noting that Courchevel is not cheap to eat on the slopes :) there are I believe something like 18 michelin stars in the 3 valleys - and it is possible to spend £15+ on a small bowl of chips if you choose the (wrong) restaurant! If you do decide to eat on the slopes - aim to eat early or late as it gets very busy - best option is self cater for lunch and then treat yourself by eating out in the evening in resort where it should be cheaper... If self catering though - be aware you can't eat your food in their restaurants / deck chairs etc.... I have done the 3 valleys cheaply and expensively - while it is nice having the guide phone ahead and have the wine put on ice ready for you to turn up actually the skiing is so good you just want to eat and go...

would def. agree that you only need Courchevel passes - while the snow slopes are technically best in Val Thorens valley (two across) and Meribel valley is okay but best as a crossing point either way, my favourite slopes are all in the Courchevel valley and I would happily ski there all week (and am a pretty advanced skier) if your kids and OH are novices, then no need to pay more to have access to areas you will not visit...

There is a super u on the road out of moutiers which is excellent so we stop there. We were over several times whilst our place was being built and I tried all of the supermarkets in moutiers and it is, in my opinion, the Iciest.
What I do is buy all the meat etc there and just top up milk, juice and veg in the village.
Definitely go to the bakery for bread and croissant though they are excellent and open every day from 6.30.

We too enjoyed L'Arc en Ciel, also the Alambic. Up,the road from the l'Arc. I have just dug out my Trip Advisor review of it:

This has become our favourite port of call on the "chalet girls' night off" when in Courchevel. This time there were nine of us and we ordered a mixture of pierrades and fondue to suit everyone inluding the veggie. As usual portions were very generous , the meat was of very high quality, unlimited salad and excellent chips. With the odd beer, five bottles of wine some puds, and a tip it worked out at 40 euro each. Great ambiance, lovely staff and complimentary Genepi all round to finish.

I'm there now
Staying in 1650 with dd 7yo and ds 2 months, dh and other family members.

We hired skis from Francis blanc sports, it's next to the spar shop. Great service really friendly and helpful with my daughter.

Went to the aqua motion yesterday. Dd loved it, they wouldn't let ds swim as he is too young. You can hire towels for €5 each. It is really expensive but worth a visit, espacially if you have young kids who don't want to just ski. We walked down from the village but the escalator is only a short walk from the pool. Wish we had known before we walked all the way down but at least we were able to get back up easily.

Dd has been having lessons with sweet ski and snowboard. They have been amazing with her, she is asd and really struggled with skiing last year but has got so much confidence from only 2 lessons, she is going venture off the nursery slope tomorrow, never thought she would do so well and pick it up so quickly. She def has the bug now!

We are in a catered chalet so are only eating out tomorrow night, we are going to try portetta which is just along from where you'll be staying. Will let you know how that goes.

Second other reviewers, it is so expensive here, try to get food before you arrive at the resort if you can. The snow isn't great at the moment either and quite patchy in places. I'm pretty sure some runs will have to close in the next few days. There is more snow forecast for next week so hopefully conditions will improve for you.

Sorry for the long post, hope it makes sense, am sat typing on my phone! Hope you have a brilliant time, have skied in several french resorts, also Austria and Switzerland and this has to be one of my favourites it's just got such a lovely atmosphere.

Thanks User that's helpful. Huge shame about the snow though. We're hoping to get away with just a 1 valley ski pass but if the snow doesn't pick up...

Aqua Motion is a definite. How much is it to get in? We'll take our own towels probably.

I went about three years ago having stayed at 1800 about 15 years ago. The jump in restaurant prices was scary. We ended up self catering for lunch which was a pita. There is actually a nice/reasonable bakery in the big shopping centre in the middle of 1800 if you are there st lunch time, does pizza slices, etc.

The ski run which is just for sledging at 1800 is amazing. We spent an afternoon there. You need to hire a proper sledge but the run itself is free with your ski pass.

We also stayed in an apartment near the gondola and it's a good location.

Aqua motion was €26 for adults and €13 for children. Lockers were free (activated using wristbands used for pool entry).

2 days of snow forecasted for next week so I'm sure you'll have more by the time you guys arrive. It tried to snow a little bit yesterday!

I have been out most afternoons and managed to find plenty of skiing in this valley but the other guys I'm here with have said that the show is best in VT at the moment.

Possum where will we get sledges from?

Most of the ski hire shops in 1800 rent them out. Think it was about 14 euros per sledge but a 125 euro deposit! Take a credit card! Dd lost her sledge and I nearly died! Thankfully dh found it halfway up a tree!

Possum

Halfway up a tree?!

Yes. Epic parenting fail in my part.

I was trying to race some French lads and bombed down the run, which is long it goes from 1800 to 1500. Dd was following, she was 11yo.

I got to the bottom, no sign of dd. She appears walking about ten minutes later and very pissed off. She'd gone flying off the piste, there's a bit of a drop off on one side at one point. She went off at speed and sledge got stuck I in a tree.

Oh heck! Thankfully, I'm too old to do any racing.