Haute Tarentaise & Bourg St Maurice, France

Bourg St Maurice in the heart of the French Alps might be at the end of the railway line, but it is at the start of one of the most fabulous valleys in the world of skiing - the Haute Tarentaise.

In the famous French Alps valley of the Tarentaise, Bourg St Maurice is the largest town & prime transport hub to some of France's best ski resorts.

Pros & Cons for the Tarentaise & Bourg St Maurice

Pros

• Amazing French Alps ski resorts & villages covering the complete spectrum.
• Incredible skiable verticals of over 2,000m.
• Vast network of lifts & ski trails.
• Wonderful on-piste trails for all abilities of skier & snowboarder.
• World class off-piste freeride terrain & powder.
• High snowfall region of the Alps.
• Public transport access is excellent by train & bus.
• Fabulous local cuisine.

Cons

• A generally busy region (but with some notable exceptions!).
• For such an important town, Bourg St Maurice has surprisingly little to do & see within the city limits.

Pro or Con (depending on your perspective!)

• Prices vary from the extortionary down to the downright reasonable throughout the region.
• Village architecture styles in the region range from the authentic & traditional, to the worst examples of French Alps development excess.
• Accommodation can be difficult to get in some resort villages.

Haute Tarentaise Skiing & Snowboarding

The Tarentaise valley's reputation for impressive ski resorts is a reasonable boast in anyone's book. However, the six main ski resort areas accessible from Bourg St Maurice encompass everything that is good (plus bad & ugly!) about skiing in the French Alps.

The Paradiski area, essentially comprising Les Arcs and La Plagne, is the most accessible of the ski resorts in the area. A funicular to Les Arcs leaves directly from the Bourg St Maurice train station. One of France's mega ski resorts, the Paradiski area represents excellent value for money considering its 425km of quality piste trails & vast freeride terrain. You will even find the challenging architecture grows on you……….. eventually! Les Arcs is our Powderhounds pick, whereas La Plagne is wonderful for beginners & intermediates plus experts on a good powder day.

Further up the valley is the sunny south-facing, family friendly La Rosiere ski resort. La Rosiere has a wonderful consistent snow-record, and its predominantly gentle terrain has recently been altered for the better by opening up the steeps on Mont Valaisan. It is lift, piste & freeride linked with Italy's favoloso La Thuile.

Next along is the quiet & discrete, powder-laden paradise of Sainte Foy ski resort. Both Sainte Foy & La Rosiere get the most snow in the region plus have far & away the cheapest lift pass prices & least crowded slopes. Sainte Foy is the most difficult of the Tarentaise - Bourg St Maurice resorts to get to by public bus, but well worth the mission.

Toward the end of the valley are the 300km of piste trails & 10,000 hectares of freeride terrain of Tignes - Val d'Isere. The busiest ski resorts in the upper Tarentaise, Tignes and its direct neighbour Val d'Isere are still worthy of a visit to pay homage to two of the world's most incredible ski areas.

A short distance down the valley near Moûtiers (30min by car or train), the world's largest lift interlinked ski resort (& the arguably the best ski resort in Europe) resides, the behemoth that is the 3 Vallèes. An amalgam of several ski resorts, Les Trois Vallèes comprises Courchevel, Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens. Its 600km+ of trails has with it the writhing mass of humanity during peak season that one comes to expect at the supersize ski resorts. Everyone should visit though; it is simply amazing.

The sneaky secret stash of Pralognan la Vanoise ski resort deep in the Vanoise valley past Courchevel is close to Moûtiers as well. Shush, don't tell anyone!

Summer Skiing

Summer skiing in France is limited, and getting more so as climate change rapidly depletes the glaciers, but Bourg St Maurice is the gateway to 66% of it! Both Tignes and Val d'Isere have summer skiing for a short time on their highest glaciers. In Val d'Isere from early June to mid to July (depending on snow), 2 lifts access piste trails on the ever-diminishing Glacier du Pissaillas. Tignes has more extensive summer skiing from late June to early August. 6 lifts access 20km of piste trails on the broad Grande Motte glacier. By the way, the main French summer ski area is at Les 2 Alpes a couple hours’ drive to the south.

Where is the Tarentaise & Bourg St Maurice France?

The Tarentaise valley & Bourg St Maurice are in the Savoie (pronounced Savwa) region of France on the banks of the Isere River and in the heart of the best peaks in the French Alps. The town is 55km (45min) east of Albertville. With its major railway station terminus, the train is the recommended mode of travel to get the town & the region’s ski resorts.

By road the town is 2-2½hr southeast of Geneva (GVA) airport and a similar driving time east of Lyon-Saint Exupéry (LYS) airport, both of which are the best gateway international airports. In winter, weekend flights from the UK and within Europe arrive at Chambery, the closest airport to the Tarentaise.

Bourg St Maurice is the terminus for trains travelling from as far away as Paris & London. Trains are also accessible from airports at Lyon and Geneva. Buses meet the trains to transport skiers to the nearby resorts of La Rosiere, Tignes & Courchevel, plus Sainte Foy via the Tignes-Courchevel bus lines. For Les Arcs, the funicular leaves from a station just a few minutes’ walk from the train platform.

Search & book train tickets to Bourg St Maurice & the Tarentaise valley.

This region is near perfect for a multi-resort ski safari. And whilst we always try to use public transport to get around, if looking to visit multiple resorts, getting a rental car direct from the airport, or in Bourg St Maurice, is the way to go.

For more information on getting there & connecting to the local ski resorts, see the Travel to Bourg St Maurice page.

Bourg St Maurice Accommodation

Bourg-St-Maurice accommodation can be utilised by skiers, but most visitors tend to stay in the nearby villages & ski resort lodgings. The town does have a lovely & authentic centre, plus every type of service & store on its expanding fringes. Staying in Bourg St Maurice is particularly attractive if one has a rental car & intends skiing all the local resorts. Several traditional hotels are in the town centre, and there are some fine new hotels & apartments to try, including the adventurously named Refuges en Ville holiday homes, plus Hotel Base Camp Lodge, where the amazing dormitory rooms have to be seen to be believed.

Search & book all hotels, apartments & chalets on our Bourg St Maurice Ski Accommodation Listings page.

For alternative lodging options, visit the individual ski resort pages on Powderhounds and follow the accommodation links.

More Reasons to Visit the Tarentaise

A visit to Bourg St Maurice & the Tarentaise opens a plethora of ski opportunities unrivaled anywhere else in the world. The access to world class ski resorts in the beautiful upper Tarentaise valley is simply unparalleled. Something in the mix of traditional villages, architectural oddities & modern resort complexes will appeal to everyone. The freeride powder opportunities & ski touring routes in the area are sensational.

Reviews

The Powderhounds visited the region in 2017, 2018, 2020 & 2023, and are consistently blown away by the possibilities in this incredible location. We will be heading back soon. Click on the review link in the left column (or top of the page if on a mobile) to read all the reviews.

See how the Tarentaise ski resorts compare to the rest of the French ski resorts on the France ski resort ratings page, or compare to the rest of Europe on the European ski resort ratings page.

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