Les Deux Alpes - Ski, Snowboard & Summer Holidays

Les Deux Alpes is a long, relatively narrow resort, so where you stay can make a noticeable difference to your holiday. The central area is the best choice if you want easy access to shops, restaurants, bars and après-ski, while staying close to the Jandri 3S is particularly convenient for getting quickly up to the higher ski area and glacier. The southern end around Place de l'Alpe de Venosc is livelier, with many bars and restaurants, while the northern end towards Mont-de-Lans is generally quieter and has more of a residential feel.

Central Les Deux Alpes: best for restaurants, shops and nightlife.
Near Jandri 3S: best for quick access to the high-altitude skiing and glacier.
Venosc end: good for après-ski and a lively atmosphere.
Mont-de-Lans end: quieter and potentially better for families wanting a less hectic base.

Les Deux Alpes has a good free shuttle-bus network, with eight routes covering the main parts of the resort during winter. Services connect the different neighbourhoods with the main ski areas, while night buses serve some of the outlying areas. The buses are free and their locations and timetables can be checked in real time, making it relatively easy to get around without a car.

Yes, Les Deux Alpes is a good choice for a family ski holiday, particularly for families with children who are learning to ski or progressing beyond beginner level. The resort has dedicated beginner areas at the foot of the slopes and higher up the mountain, including gentle terrain around 2,100m, while the high-altitude glacier offers wide, relatively easy pistes for improving skiers. This gives children plenty of scope to progress without quickly outgrowing the beginner area.

There are also ski schools, children's clubs and family-friendly activities, both on and off the slopes. The resort's free shuttle buses make it easier to get around, although its long, linear layout means it's worth choosing accommodation carefully. For families with older children and teenagers, Les Deux Alpes has an advantage over some quieter resorts: there is a lively après-ski scene and plenty of activities to keep them entertained after skiing.

Overall, Les Deux Alpes is particularly well suited to active families who want good skiing, a lively atmosphere and plenty to do beyond the slopes. Families looking for a very quiet, traditional or luxury resort may prefer somewhere else.

Yes. Les Deux Alpes is a particularly good choice for beginner skiers, with dedicated nursery slopes in the resort and additional gentle terrain higher up the mountain. One of its biggest advantages is that beginners can ski at altitude: the resort has beginner-friendly areas around 2,100m and 2,600m, while the glacier at around 3,200–3,600m offers wide, relatively gentle pistes where improving skiers can build confidence in good snow conditions.

The resort also has several ski schools and dedicated children's and beginner areas, making it easy to arrange lessons. Beginners can progress from the nursery slopes to longer green and blue runs without having to leave the main ski area.

Another advantage is the high proportion of skiing above 2,000m, which can provide more reliable snow than lower-altitude resorts, particularly later in the season. However, the journey back down to the resort involves more challenging terrain in places, so complete beginners should check their route carefully rather than assuming every run from the upper mountain is suitable. The Demoiselles green run back to the village is narrow, sits atop a summer road, and can get crowded or icy, making it stressful for true beginners. Take the gondola or chairlift back down if you feel unsure.

Yes. Les Deux Alpes is a very good choice for intermediate skiers, particularly those who enjoy long, high-altitude runs and varied terrain. There is a good selection of blue and red pistes, including wide, confidence-building runs on the upper mountain and glacier, as well as longer descents back towards the resort. More adventurous intermediates can explore the different sectors of the ski area and progress onto steeper red runs as their confidence grows.

The high-altitude skiing is a particular advantage: much of the terrain is above 2,000m, so intermediates have plenty of options when conditions are less reliable lower down. Strong intermediates can also start exploring some of the resort's more challenging terrain and, with appropriate guidance, experience the spectacular freeride terrain towards La Grave–La Meije.

Overall, Les Deux Alpes suits intermediates who want plenty of high-altitude skiing and the opportunity to progress.

Yes — Les Deux Alpes is particularly appealing to advanced skiers who enjoy challenging terrain and off-piste skiing. The resort has a selection of steep black runs, including demanding descents from the high mountain, as well as extensive freeride opportunities. The high-altitude terrain around the glacier provides spectacular skiing, while the Vallée Blanche and other sectors offer more challenging runs away from the main beginner and intermediate areas.

The biggest attraction for experienced skiers, however, is the potential to access La Grave–La Meije, one of the Alps' legendary freeride areas. When the high-altitude connection from Les Deux Alpes is operating, experienced skiers can reach La Grave's exceptional high-mountain terrain. This is serious off-piste skiing rather than a conventional marked ski area, with crevasses, glaciers and avalanche hazards, so it should only be attempted by suitably experienced skiers and ideally with a qualified guide.

Les Deux Alpes is therefore a strong choice for advanced and expert skiers, especially those who value challenging and off-piste terrain over the sheer number of groomed pistes. For expert skiers who primarily want a huge network of interconnected pistes, resorts such as the Three Valleys or Paradiski offer considerably more mileage.

Les Deux Alpes has a good choice of ski schools and independent instructors, catering for everyone from complete beginners to advanced skiers. The main established schools include ESF Les Deux Alpes, ESI Saint-Christophe, European Ski & Snowboard School and ProSki, while several independent instructors offer private and specialist coaching. The resort's ski schools provide both group and private lessons, with options for children, adults, snowboarders and more advanced skiers.

ESF is a good all-round choice, particularly for families and children, with lessons from age 3 and a wide range of group, private, freestyle, competition and off-piste courses. ESI Saint-Christophe and the European Ski & Snowboard School are also well established, with the European school particularly suited to international visitors and small-group lessons. ProSki offers small-group and private instruction and caters from beginners through to freestyle and freeride skiers.

It's worth booking early during school holidays, particularly if you want private lessons or a specific instructor.

The closest major airport to Les Deux Alpes is Grenoble Alpes–Isère Airport, around 110km away, with a transfer time of roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on traffic and weather. However, Grenoble has a relatively limited winter flight schedule.

Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport is a more practical option for many international visitors, around 160km away with a transfer of approximately 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes. It has a much wider choice of flights, particularly from the UK and other European destinations.

Geneva Airport is another popular option, at around 220km away, typically taking about 3 hours by road. It offers a very extensive range of international flights and can be particularly convenient for UK visitors.

The easiest option is usually a pre-booked transfer or shuttle such as Bens Bus, particularly in winter when mountain roads can be snowy.

From Grenoble Alpes–Isère Airport, the closest airport, there are shuttle services connecting with flights and taking you directly towards Les Deux Alpes. The journey is around 1½ hours. From Lyon Saint-Exupéry, there are seasonal shuttle options, although services and operating days vary; another option is to take a bus from the airport to Grenoble and then connect with a Grenoble–Les Deux Alpes shuttle. The total journey is around 2 hours.

From Geneva Airport, you can also arrange a shuttle or private transfer, with the journey taking around 2½ hours in normal conditions.

The nearest mainline station is Grenoble, around 70km from the resort. Grenoble is well connected by TGV and regional trains, making train travel a practical option for visitors travelling from Paris and elsewhere in France.

From Grenoble, you can continue by bus or shuttle to Les Deux Alpes. During the winter season, the direct Transaltitude service takes around 1 hour 45 minutes from Grenoble to the resort, while regular regional buses also operate, with some services requiring a change at Bourg-d'Oisans. Taxis and private transfers are another option.

Yes — Les Deux Alpes has one of the livelier après-ski and nightlife scenes in the French Alps. The resort has a large choice of bars, with après-ski starting on the mountain and continuing into the village. Umbrella Bar, next to the Jandri lift, is a popular slopeside option with DJs from around 4pm, while other venues offer live music, cocktails, pub-style atmospheres and sunny terraces.

The action continues into the evening, with plenty of bars and several late-night venues in the central and southern parts of the resort. The southern end around Place de Venosc is particularly lively, while the northern end is generally quieter.

So, if good après-ski is important to your holiday, Les Deux Alpes is a strong choice. It's particularly well suited to groups of friends, younger skiers and anyone who wants a lively atmosphere alongside their skiing. Families can enjoy the après scene too, with plenty of relaxed bars and terraces rather than everything being focused on late-night partying.

There is plenty to do in Les Deux Alpes if you don't ski, making it a good choice for mixed groups and families. One of the highlights is taking the Jandri lift up to 3,400m without skis, where you can visit the glacier, walk to the Belvédère des Écrins viewpoint and visit the famous ice cave. Pedestrians can also access several high-altitude restaurants and panoramic walking routes.

Other activities include snowshoeing, winter walking, ice skating, paragliding, sledging and wellness treatments, while the resort also has a swimming pool and indoor sports facilities. You can take the cable car down to Venosc, a traditional mountain village with stone buildings, craft shops and a weekly market, or visit the museums and exhibitions in the surrounding villages.

For non-skiers who want to experience the mountains rather than simply stay in the resort, the pedestrian access to the glacier is a particularly strong selling point for Les Deux Alpes. It's quite unusual to be able to reach 3,400m and experience a glacier environment without putting on skis.

Yes — one of Les Deux Alpes' biggest advantages is its unusually long ski season. Its high-altitude glacier reaches 3,600m, allowing skiing to continue well beyond the normal winter season. For the 2026/27 season, the main winter ski season runs from 28 November 2026 to 2 May 2027, followed by high-altitude skiing from 3–30 May. A more limited area then remains open for ski training until 4 July 2027. The resort therefore promotes 218 days of skiing from late November to early July, although the late-season skiing is increasingly limited to the high-altitude glacier and is quite different from a normal winter ski holiday.

This makes Les Deux Alpes particularly attractive for early- and late-season skiing, especially in April and May when many other French resorts have already closed. The glacier's altitude also gives the resort a significant snow-sure advantage during the main season.