Courchevel, Val d'Isere, Chamonix or Megeve: choosing the right week

The four French destinations we let most are not interchangeable, and the mistake guests make is choosing on name rather than on the shape of the week they actually want.

Courchevel 1850 is the resort for ski-in ski-out convenience at the top of the market. It sits within Les Trois Vallees, the lifts start where the chalets end, and the service culture — chefs, drivers, ski hosts — is the most developed in France. It also has an altiport, which makes it the easiest of the four to reach by helicopter. Choose it if you want the ski day and the evening to require no planning at all.

Val d'Isere, linked with Tignes across the Espace Killy, is the skier's resort of the group. The terrain is more serious, the season runs long thanks to altitude and glacier access, and the village keeps a livelier, less formal evening than Courchevel. It is also the longest transfer from Geneva. Choose it if the group actually skis all day.

Chamonix is not really a ski resort in the same sense; it is a mountain town beneath Mont Blanc with several separate ski areas around it. That means a car or driver matters, mornings involve a decision, and the reward is scale and atmosphere no purpose-built resort matches. Choose it for mixed parties, non-skiers and anyone who wants a town rather than a lift queue.

Megeve is the gentle one — a real Savoyard village, lower and prettier, with easier slopes, the best walking and shopping of the four and a short hop from Geneva. Snow reliability is the trade-off. Choose it for families with small children, or for a week where lunch matters as much as the skiing.

Whichever you pick, book the chalet before the flights in the festive and February half-term weeks: the inventory at this level is finite and it goes on repeat bookings first.