Contamines ski area — Attraction in Bonneville

Magical ski little town in the French Alps.

I'm from Brazil and I stayed there for one month (January 2023) and almost wanted to move there for good. Full of great people and extraordinary nature.

Great infrastructure. Free shuttle bus for riding around town, although the town is already very walkable and I almost didn't use the shuttle. Besides the ski lifts, the town has a Nordic park for cross country skiing, and a beautiful natural reserve with trails (from plain flat easy natural trails to advanced hiking ones) in the Mont Blanc massif.

Several shops to rent ski and snowboard equipment. Also there's a camping place (Le Pontet) which provides a laundromat (even available for non guests) for 7,50 euros for washing 6kg of clothes (including soap), plus around 7 extra euros for drying them (the drying machine is bigger, it fits perhaps 12kg)

Good groceries stores.

Surprisingly, there's a great coworking office with good infrastructure with fair prices provided by the office of tourism itself (120 euros for one month). (my compliments to the Office of Tourism, they are doing an extraordinary job with marketing and infrastructure).

The easiest way to get to Les Contas using public transportation is getting a train from Geneva Cornavin to Saint Gervais Gare Les Bains Le Fayet (around 20 euros with the SNCF-Léman Express L3 line). It is surprisingly difficult to buy the right train ticket online, though. If you have trouble, search online for TER SNCF Leman Express, and look for the "Tout Autre Trajet" single ticket. That train line doesn't have numbered seats, so, in the worst case scenario, just use the ticket machines and buy instead a simple Geneva-Annemasse ticket plus a second ticket Annemasse-Saint Gervais Gare Les Bains Le Fayet. After you arrive at Saint Gervais Gare, you should get on the SAT Montblanc Y84 bus to Les Contamines (costs 3,50 euros and 2 extra euros if you have luggage).

I hope you get to visit Les Contamines and have an extraordinary time,...

I have boarded at this resort 7 times over the past 5 years. The experience at this resort varies tremendously with the weather conditions. Obvious but especially true here. It has many sheltered slopes so ice is a constant problem. If the weather is colder and ice a problem then the resort is not a place I enjoy at all.

But it also has some of the best and most amazing, easily and safe off piste areas which when the conditions are right truely make this resort a place of wonder. It isn't a great beginners resort in my opinion(though it has begineers areas) as it doesn't have enough gently, wide slopes but once you are past that stage then it offers such a range of different conditions that you will be stretched. The mogul fields on the upper slopes are challenging, the long stretches of treeless slopes allow for making unique tracks( which we all enjoy) and the views are brilliant. It isn't a large resort so you will find yourself doing the same runs more often than on bigger resorts. I have had the best days snowboarding here and probably...

Great area for families with one caveat. There is not enough seating/rest space on the mountain outside restaurants. There was a small sack lunch ‘Hors Sac’ space up the mountain that was completely full by 11:30 am each day of the week. Restaurant seating areas kick you out if you show so much as a sandwich from your own bag, regardless of what you purchased from them (One child is a picky eater and refused to eat the restaurant food; I had to abandon purchases in order to feed him, and obviously never went back). We found this lack of flexibility quite oppressive for families with small children, really unfortunate for a mountain otherwise so great for kids and beginners. Pros of Les Contamines include the variety of easier slopes, the exceptional ESF ski school which had raw beginners confidently skiing after 2 lessons, the beautiful and varied terrain. Just watch those conditions, in 24 hours you can experience all possible ski conditions on a single mountain, and even some I...