August 6th, 2008 - Posted by: Powder Monkey
Experience Car-Free Ski Resorts
I am writing this blog in reaction to an article that appeared on www.onthesnow.com that claimed to rank the top ten car-free ski resorts worldwide. I’m compelled to have a rant because I feel that the article had a distinct North American bias and that French resorts are unjustly under represented in the list. Les Arcs, getting recognition for its superb shuttle bus service, came 5th – the only resort in France to make an appearance. Even eco-friendly Avoriaz, where motor vehicles are confined to out-of-town car parks and visitors reach their accommodation by sled, was overlooked.
Ski Resort Traffic
Ok, so maybe Avoriaz is the only French resort that can strictly claim to be car free, but I would hazard a guess that the infrastructure (typically purpose-built at snow-sure altitude for ultimate skiing convenience) of French resorts makes cars redundant in 80% of cases. Skiing in France is like shopping at Bluewater.
Val Thorens, is a good example of the ski mall. Here you’d be exceptionally unlucky if your accommodation wasn’t on the snowfront and at 2300m the resort is as snow-sure as they come. And Val Thorens is so compact that if it takes you more than 20 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other you’ve had way too much to drink.
Admittedly, Val Thorens is remarkable in terms of size and not all French resorts are small enough to navigate on foot but larger resorts invariably boast bus services which put public transport in Britain to shame. Multi-centred resorts like Les Arcs, La Plagne and Tignes, for example, all boast free and frequent buses services between the various accommodation centres.
And in all the resorts mentioned in this blog parking comes at a premium intended to deter drivers. So even if French resorts are not yet car-free they do lend themselves to car-free holidays.
Tags: Avoriaz, Car Free Holiday, French Resorts, Les Arcs, Tignes, Val Thorens
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