The big linked ski areas are the selling point of the French Alps, and the figure that sums them up — kilometres of pistes — is both true and misleading. True, because it measures a real offer. Misleading, because it says nothing about what you ski from the resort where you sleep, nor the time spent on links, nor the price.
This article compares the six big French areas with the data on our resort pages: kilometres, but also the number and age of the lifts, their capacity, the altitude, and the pass price.
The 3 Vallées: the biggest, and one of the dearest
Pistes claimed: 600 km, from Courchevel to Orelle, with Méribel in the middle and Les Menuires and Val Thorens in the Belleville valley. It is the area where you can ski a week without repeating a run.
Its measured figures: Val Thorens (lifts on its page: 28) tops out with the Cime Caron cable car (top station: 3,186 m); Courchevel has one of the most powerful lift systems in France (lifts on its page: 66; combined capacity in the national register, in people an hour: 81,749). It is an area that does not keep you waiting — at the price of its popularity.
The day pass for the whole 3 Vallées, on the Les Menuires price list: €84.20 (2026-2027 season) (local Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville pass: €70 (2026-2027 season)).
For whom: skiers who want variety and altitude and accept paying for both. Beginners are better off sleeping at Les Menuires or Méribel than at Courchevel 1850, dearer for identical skiing.
Paradiski: La Plagne and Les Arcs, linked by the Vanoise Express
Pistes claimed: 425 km, between the eleven villages of La Plagne and the four levels of Les Arcs, linked since 2003 by a double-decker cable car across the valley.
La Plagne has one of the most powerful lift systems in France (lifts on its page: 109; combined capacity in the register, in people an hour: 149,594). Les Arcs top out at the Aiguille Rouge (summit: 3,226 m), the start of one of the biggest descents in France, down to Villaroger.
The day pass for the whole of Paradiski, on the Arc 1950 price list: €78 (2026-2027 season) (La Plagne only: €58 (2025-2026 season, the latest price list published)).
For whom: families — La Plagne is the archetype of the ski-in ski-out resort — and skiers who want vertical without going as far as Tignes. Belle Plagne (village: 2,050 m) is the best compromise of altitude, price and access.
Portes du Soleil: one area, two countries
Pistes claimed: 600 km, between Avoriaz, Morzine, Les Gets, Châtel and the Swiss resorts of Champéry and Morgins. A low area — Morzine (village: 985 m), Les Gets (1,170 m) — except Avoriaz, perched on its cliffs above Morzine, which is its high-altitude heart.
What sets it apart: forest and villages. Les Gets keep one of the oldest lift fleets on the list (oldest lift in the register, year of commissioning: 1945) and one of the most intact charms. Avoriaz, car-free, is the opposite: built in one go in the 1960s, entirely pedestrian.
The pass: the one read on the Les Gets page (n/a to date).
For whom: skiers who prefer a village to a snow front, and accept less certain snow low down at either end of the season — our Météo-France records, resort by resort, say how many days the snow lies at Morzine and Les Gets.
Grand Massif: Flaine and the Giffre villages
Pistes claimed: 265 km, between Flaine, Les Carroz, Samoëns, Morillon and Sixt. Flaine, built in a cirque (village: 1,600 m), holds its snow well; the villages below are several hundred metres lower.
This area has the longest run in France under a single name, the Cascades, 10.5 km and 1,594 m of vertical from the top of the Grandes Platières down to Sixt. At the Météo-France station on the Flaine page (Flaine, 1,620 m), average snowfall a winter: 532 cm (complete winters measured: 10).
The pass at Flaine (day: €63 (2026-2027 season); six days: n/a).
For whom: families and intermediate skiers — the area is wide, not steep, and Flaine is entirely pedestrian at the foot of the runs.
Espace Killy: Tignes and Val-d’Isère
Pistes claimed: 300 km; and above all altitude — villages of Tignes (2,100 m) and Val-d’Isère (1,850 m), top of the area at the Grande Motte (3,456 m), whose cable car (top station: 3,451 m) serves the highest skiable point in France in winter. The Météo-France station on the Tignes page (Val d Isere Joseray, 1,854 m) says how many days the snow lies there (days a winter with 30 cm or more on the ground: 125).
The pass is among the dearest in France (day at Tignes: €78 (2026-2027 season); six days: €468 (2026-2027 season)).
For whom: confirmed skiers and those who want certainty of snow from November to May. Beginners too, at Tignes le Lac, where the snow front is flat and wide — but at that price.
What this comparison does not measure
Charm, food, après-ski, the view: no data measures them and we do not invent them. What it does measure — kilometres, lifts, capacity, altitude, price — decides a successful ski week more often than you would think. The table below ranks every big area in France, one line per linked area.
