Skiing in Val Thorens (Val Thorens)

Member Name: catherine21

Product:	Val Thorens
Date:	04/09/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Slopes for all abilities, lots restaurants, bars and shops, friendly resort

Disadvantages: None

I visited Val Thorens two years ago on my first ever ski holiday. The resort is located in the Three Valleys in the French Alps, not far from the Swiss border. I have been told it's a couple of hours from the nearest ariport, however, we drove from the UK, so I can only go on what I've been told.

My first impression of the resort was how pretty is was. It is nestled in the middle of the mountains, with the ski slopes right in the resort, no need to get cable cars up mountains or anything, you can walk straight out your hotel and onto the slopes.

The slopes in the resort were for a mixture of ski abilities. There is one main slope that you need to ski down into the valley in order to access all of the other lifts and slopes. This is fairly steep, and was quite intimidating for me as a complete beginner. However, around the rest of the resort there were plenty of slopes rated green and blue, which are best for beginners. The slopes are ranked in order for difficulty. Green is the easiest, then blue, then red, and black is the most difficult.

There is a nice route around the slopes in Val Thorens which uses only blue and green slopes, so it is a nice place for a beginner to gain some confidence. There are also red and black slopes for those who want to challenge themselves, and following these slopes can take you into neighbouring resorts such as Meribel.

In the resort itself, away from the slopes, there are mainly hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops and bars. The resort is fairly small, you could walk around it all in about half an hour, but it is filled with choices of places to eat and drink. These are a little expensive, given that you are up a mountain and have little choice but to eat in the resort, but this is true of most ski resorts. There are also a few small supermarkets for those who have self catering facilities.

There are also quite a few bars and nightclubs. I went to Val Thorens on a university trip with a couple of hundred students, so these were busy every night we were there! I wouldn't know how busy they are the rest of the time. Some of these were really good, such as Malaysia, which is all underground and had live music most nights. Like the restaurants, they were a little expensive.

There are also a few small shopping centres in the resort. These sell mostly ski related clothing and products, which is very useful if you forget anything!

There is a doctors surgery in the resort, which we were unfortunate enough to need to visit. However, everyone there is very pleasant, and the doctors spoke perfect English, so if you are unlucky enough to need a doctor on holiday, you will have no problem in Val Thorens.

This is a great resort for a ski holiday, it's small and friendly, but has plenty to keep you entertained. There is a good variety of slopes for every ability. I felt able to try lots of slopes and explore the resort as a beginner, but the people I went with who were more experienced skiiers also enjoyed challenging themselves on harder slopes.

Whether you're an experiences skiier or want to try it for the first time, I would highly recommend a holiday in Val Thorens

Summary: A great ski resort - I hope to return soon!