Resort information for Serre-Chevalier

Serre-Chevalier is made up of a string of 13 villages set on a valley floor running roughly north-west to south-east. It is not a smart resort, in any sense. Although each of its parts is based on a simple old village, there is a lot of modern development, which ranges from brash to brutal, and even the older parts are roughly rustic rather than chocolate-box pretty. However, with its unpretentious charm, we find the place as a whole easy to like, with reporters stressing how friendly and welcoming the local people are. This is a family resort, which fills up with French children in the school holidays. Ski-buses, covered on the free guest card and all lift passes, circulate around each village and link all the lift bases along the valley, but they finish quite early.

Trees cover almost two-thirds of the mountain, providing some of France’s best bad-weather terrain. Serre-Chevalier’s 250km/155 miles of pistes are spread across four main sectors above the four main villages – the most extensive Villeneuve; Chantmerle well below the tree line, Briancon and Le Monetier. Most slopes face north or north-east and so hold snow well, especially high up. The weather pattern is different here from that of the northern Alps and Serre-Chevalier can get good snow when there is a shortage elsewhere, and vice versa. A range of big lifts means there are few problems getting out of the valley, but the many old, slow lifts at altitude still cause queues.

Mountain restaurants are quite well distributed and there are some good places to stop. Restaurants in the villages are unpretentious and traditional, and the nightlife seems to revolve around the few bars, scattered through the various villages, with several reporters complaining that the resort is too quiet.