Val Thorens help/advice required

[florenceandthemac]

Hi all. We'd like to ski in Val Thorens; we are two families and neither of us have been to VT before so have no idea where to start. We appreciate it will be expensive to stay there, but are looking for some advice on where to stay that's maybe outside the main resort but easy enough to access skiing in VT. We'd preferably like accommodation we can share (4 adults and 3 children).
Last year we skiied in Avoriaz but stayed in a lovely 4 bed apartment in Morzine, as accommodation is either tiny or pricey in Avoriaz. But we had the gondola close by in Morzine to take us up to Avoriaz everyday. We'd like a similar setup for VT.
Could anyone recommend an area that we should be searching for accommodation in?

Thanks in advance!

You could try Les Menuires or St Martin de Belleville. Not sure if they’ll be much cheaper. And if you’re there towards the end of the season go check links will still be open. We stayed in VT in a pretty basic apartment through booking.com. It was cheap and adequate for a night (long story) but I wouldn’t have fancied a full week there.

Or you could also look at Orelle. We actually skied over to the 3V from there. Suspect it’s a bit cheaper but depending on how good you are at skiing, it’s a hike to get to Maribel or courchevel from orrlle. I’m a bit paranoid about missing the last lift.

Why VT? It’s so busy especially on those thoroughfare blue runs and no guarantees the Cime Caron will be working by next season. I wouldn’t really want to base there either but I prefer to be able to get quickly around the whole 3V. If you’re on a budget I’d go for Les Menuires although it’s pretty ugly. St Martin isn’t a cheap place to stay or eat out but it’s a lovely village. It is also often heavy slush late season on the lowest runs although you can download.

Definitely don't stay in Orelle with young children. It is not comparable to Morzine for Avoriaz and it will take you some time to get to the centre of Val T.

I have been to Val T a few times but am not a fan of it as there is no tree cover on white out days and all the accommodation is priced higher than the equivalent in other resorts. For the money you would spend going there you could probably stay in better accommodation in La Plagne, Les Arcs or La Rosiere and have an excellent holiday.

Although it does depend slightly which week you are going as if very early or late season it might be worth considering Tignes or Val T, but I prefer Tignes of the two. If you'd like to stick with Val Thorens I think Les Menuires would be a good place to stay as it is fairly central to the 3 valleys ski area and accommodation will be cheaper than Val Thorens. Another option would be staying in the Pierre and Vacances apartments in La Tania which is below Courchevel and in the same ski area as Val T.

It depends when you want to go really.

If you're set on VT, check out Snowheads (online forum)- they do an End of Season trip to VT which is very good value for money as well as being so high up it's one of the few places you can be relatively snow-sure in April; they book out the whole of the Oxalys (and is ski in/out), and set up lessons you can sign up for.

You then have access to Orelle (as others say not to stay in with young kids), Meribel and Courcheval if you want to go across the valleys.

As others have said, Orelle links in to VT but it bears no comparison to Morzine/Avoriaz.

Also echo what others have said that Les Menuires and La Tania would be good options.

Tignes or La Plagne (which aren't in the Three Valleys) would also be good options.

Thanks all. We’ve booked La Plagne instead!

Good choice. We went there last season and had an excellent week. Which La Plagne village are you staying in?

1800

See you have booked, but if you want good family sc accommodation I would recommend lombardes in VT.

Id look at Les Menuires or Meribel Motteret. Having stayed in VT a few times, unless you are going for the late night apres then there's other places in the 3 Valleys that are much nicer. Also if the weather is poor/visibility is low the skiing in VT with children isn't that pleasant. Id stay in one of the other villages, and ski over to VT on a nice bright clear day.