Alpe d'Huez — Attraction in Grenoble

Having tried Austria and Germany for skiing, I have to say this is the best resort we have found overall; particularly for beginners and those who like easier slopes. There are free areas (see photo of areas circled in black; and two levels of discounted beginners passes (see red area 28euros and blue area 50.5 euros on the map). The blue beginner pass includes so much. Our favorites were Marcels farm, Chez Roger’s and Barbars. I only wish it included the Alpauris life because the Bucheron piste run was also a really fun green. And I’d Morton’s was included in the 28 euro pass, it would make it less difficult to get across to rif nel 1 and 2 - otherwise kids have to walk a long ways. Better connection to beginner areas would be great. We loved staying on the slopes near the Alpauris lift and everyone wished we had another day, even after four days of skiing. The ice skating rink is just 1 km away too which made for another option nearby. Just be careful getting up the mountain. Not sure I would want to drive up with severe weather or at night. Great restaurants, grocery and bakery in the village. Overall a...

We stayed in Vaujany for our Wintersport holiday.

The pros: Vaujany is well connected to the ski resort, actually only one gondola distance away. Relative many gondolas versus drag lifts; makes moving up generally efficient. That being said, the larger gondolas are generally extremely busy. Be prepared to be packed like canned fish. Waiting times were long for the Pic Blanc lifts (30mns). Everything is expensive, but compared to Austria and Switzerland still affordable. Friendliness: staff in the ski area are extremely friendly and customer focused. ESF in Vaujany is multilingual and will provide courses in English.

The cons: Signs in the ski area are not extremely clear (area is not big enough to really get lost). Also signs do not always correspond with online maps. Typical French: black slopes not prepared (Fare excepted) which makes them unpleasant for the average skier. Typical French 2: Ski lifts not heated and generally looking tired. Inefficient for snowboarders: many quasi flat piste sections and inefficient lift entries or exits force...

With powder snow I can imagine that this place would be an off piste playground. When we went in the first week of January there hadn't been any snow for about 2 weeks. Still we had a great time on the pistes. Sarenne was a fantastic long run, but from the very top it felt like there were just 2 runs down - Sarenne and tunnel. Tunnel was shut (presumably due to conditions). After a week spending our time on the pistes, Alpe d'Huez just felt a bit limited compared to other resorts I've visited. For example Courchevel (just the Courchevel area - excluding the rest of the 3 valleys) seemingly has many more options on piste and we rarely struggled to choose a great run. Alpe d'Huez had some very reasonable places for lunch. We found that the snack bar in the Les Bergers shopping complex offered tasty food options for a good price. We often went there for lunch. If you fancy doing something different amongst the snow, try the luge/...