Ski holidays in Les Deux Alpes, France

Les Deux Alpes is one of France's most popular ski resorts, known for glacier skiing up to 3,600 metres and a lively après-ski scene. The village stretches along a long main street at 1,650 metres in the Oisans region, just an hour from Grenoble. The resort attracts a young, international crowd looking for good skiing at reasonable prices.

The ski area offers 225km of pistes with a truly distinctive terrain profile. The glacier at the top provides wide, beginner-friendly runs at altitude, while the middle sections have technical red pistes through varied terrain. The lowest sections back down to the village contain some of the resort's most challenging black runs, with steep, narrow passages through the forest belt.

Les Deux Alpes has one of Europe's largest glaciers open for skiing, and you can ski here even in summer. The glacier is also home to one of the world's most famous snowparks, making the resort a favourite among freestyle skiers and snowboarders.

Après-ski is a big part of the experience in Les Deux Alpes. The main street is full of bars, restaurants and nightclubs, and the atmosphere is lively and fun. Prices are noticeably lower than in the most exclusive French resorts, making Les Deux Alpes an affordable option in the French Alps.

5 tips about Les Deux Alpes

1. Beginners on the glacier The wide, gentle pistes up on the glacier at 3,600 metres are ideal for beginners, despite the high altitude. The surface up there is often more even than down in the village.
2. Make the most of the vertical With pistes between 1,650 m and 3,600 m, you can start the day in sunny high-alpine terrain and finish with some technical skiing through the trees down towards the village.
3. Travel outside the school holidays Book a week outside the school holidays for lower accommodation prices and quieter slopes, particularly along the popular main street, where the après-ski scene otherwise draws the crowds.
4. Freestyle on the glacier The snowboard park on the glacier is rated as one of the best in the world, so set aside some time there if you enjoy jumps and rails, whether you ride a board or skis.
5. Plan for après-ski The main street is packed with bars and clubs the moment the lifts close, so expect a lively evening scene if you're staying centrally in the village.

Pistes and lifts in Les Deux Alpes

Les Deux Alpes offers 225km of pistes and 47 lifts, from the village at 1,650m up to the glacier at 3,600m. This gives one of the biggest vertical drops in the Alps. The glacier area has wide beginner-friendly runs, the middle section offers varied red pistes, and the lowest sections have challenging black runs through the forest. The snowpark on the glacier is one of the best in Europe.

Piste map for Les Deux Alpes

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Snow reliability in Les Deux Alpes

Les Deux Alpes is considered snow-sure thanks to its glacier, which reaches all of 3,600 metres, one of the highest skiable altitudes in the Alps. That altitude keeps the snow cold and stable well into the season, while the village itself sits at 1,650 metres, giving good conditions for runs down through the tree line.

With 225 km of pistes spread across a considerable vertical, from the glacier right down to the village, there's every chance of finding good snow conditions whenever in the season you visit.

Best time to travel to Les Deux Alpes

December to April for the winter season. January and February offer the best snow across the whole ski area. The glacier provides summer skiing in June and July. March and April offer sunny skiing with reliable snow at altitude.

Will there be lift queues in Les Deux Alpes?

Les Deux Alpes is part of Les 2 Alpes, and the lift system there carries 72,615 people an hour across 43 lifts. 14 of the 43 lifts are gondolas or high-speed chairlifts and 4 are drag lifts, which take longer to get through when it is busy. The fastest lifts carry up to 3,600 people an hour, for example Toura. Per kilometre of piste there is less lift capacity than at an average resort on this site, so a busy week is felt more clearly here. The queue you actually notice is almost always down in the valley between eight and half past nine. If you are on the lift before eight you avoid it.

When is Les Deux Alpes busiest?

How busy the slopes get is not decided by the English half term but by when the local families and the neighbouring countries are on holiday. These are the weeks that fill Les Deux Alpes in the 2026/2027 season.

• France: The French winter holidays roll through three zones and together cover 6 February to 8 March. All three zones head for the same valleys, so the whole period is busy.
  6 to 22 February: zone C, including Paris and Toulouse
  13 February to 1 March: zone A, including Lyon and Bordeaux
  20 February to 8 March: zone B, including Marseille and Strasbourg
• England: The English February half term is 15 to 19 February 2027 for most councils, with a few areas breaking up a week earlier. The Easter holidays run from 26 March to 9 April.
  8 to 12 February: half term in a few council areas, for example Hull
  15 to 19 February: half term in most of England, including London, the Midlands and the North
  26 March to 9 April: Easter holidays for most English schools
• Easter holidays: Easter 2027 is early, on 28 March. Austria and Germany take their holidays around the weekend, while the French holidays fall after Easter, in April.
  20 to 29 March: the whole of Austria, all states at the same time
  22 March to 3 April: most German states, including Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia
  3 April to 3 May: the French zones, which fall after Easter 2027 and only affect the highest resorts
• Long weekends: Long weekends fill the slopes with day visitors from the nearest cities, even when no schools are on holiday.
  26 December to 3 January: Christmas and New Year, the most expensive period of the year
  6 January: Epiphany, a public holiday in Austria, Italy and parts of Switzerland
  27 to 29 March: the Easter weekend. Easter Monday is a public holiday across the Alps, but Good Friday is a working day in Austria, Italy and France
  1 to 2 May: May Day, a public holiday across the Alps

The weeks before 6 February and after 8 March are noticeably quieter and cheaper. January is the best time for anyone who wants the pistes to themselves.

Snow right now. There is no snow cover in the valley or at the top right now. The figures are modelled by Open-Meteo, not measured by the lift company, and were fetched 15 October 2026 at 20:24.

The lift pass included. The stay comes with the Les 2 Alpes lift pass, which covers 220 km of piste. The pass is worth around €327.

How to get to Les Deux Alpes

Last-minute deals in Les Deux Alpes

Last-minute offers, that is late dates the operator still wants to fill, appear from January onwards. Once the season is under way we will show them here on this page.

Les Deux Alpes is suitable for

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Frequently asked questions about Les Deux Alpes