Alpe d'Huez
L'Alpe d'Huez is a ski resort in Southeastern France at 1,250 to 3,330 metres. It is a mountain pasture in the central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Introduction from the English Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Seven criteria rated from 1 to 5 stars, in half-stars, from this page's sourced data. A rating is a rank among the 322 French resorts we cover — 5 stars means “among the best in France on this point”, not “perfect”. Nobody types these in.
- SnowCan you count on the snow?4 / 5
Top of the ski area: 2,112 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,810 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 124 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 96%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?4 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 136 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 136 km · Lifts: 52 · Balance between piste levels: 84%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?n/a
Not rated: “adult day pass” is missing from this page.
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?4 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 72% · Magic carpets: 11 · Sledging runs: 1 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 3 · Famille Plus label
- AccessIs it easy to get to?2.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 35 · Nearest railway station: 53 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 37
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?4 / 5
Bars and pubs: 6 · Nightclubs: 2 · Restaurants: 23 · Upcoming events: 0 · Collective tourist beds: 4,950 — index: what the map and the listings publish
- Luxury and comfortHow upmarket is the resort?3 / 5
5-star hotels: 0 · 4-star hotels: 2 · Share of hotel rooms in 4 and 5 stars: 51% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 1 — index: what the map and the listings publish
“Atmosphere” and “Luxury” are indexes: they count what OpenStreetMap and the event listings publish within 2.5 km (bars, nightclubs, rated hotels, spas, upcoming events), not what you experience there. A zero means “nothing mapped”, not “nothing there”. Sources per criterion: snow (altitudes (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata), snow depth observed at the Météo-France station, ERA5-Land model) ; ski area (OpenStreetMap pistes and lifts, linked area (Wikidata)) ; value (the resort’s official price list) ; families and beginners (OpenStreetMap pistes, price list, ESF ski school, Famille Plus label, OpenStreetMap leisure) ; access (OSRM drive times from 20 cities, SNCF stations, GTFS shuttles, airports) ; atmosphere and après-ski (bars, nightclubs and restaurants within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap), upcoming events (OpenAgenda), collective tourist beds (INSEE)) ; luxury and comfort (rated hotels within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap) and by category across the commune (INSEE), spas and boutiques (OpenStreetMap), day pass price).
Open pistes and lifts will appear here during the season, as published by the resort. Out of season we show nothing rather than a misleading zero.
Right now at the ALPE-D'HUEZ station (1,860 m)
Avalanche danger
7-day forecast
Village 1,860 m · top 2,112 m
Forecast corrected for altitude; fresh snow = forecast total at the top; UV = peak of the day. Beyond 3 days, check the resort’s own report. Source:Open-Meteo.
Average snow depth by month
Good snow from December to April: a long, reliable season.
☀️ Average daily sunshine : Nov 6.4 h · Dec 5.7 h · Jan 6.1 h · Feb 7.6 h · Mar 8.7 h · Apr 10.2 h — 26 bright days in April (Open-Meteo estimate, 2015-2025).
- November—no record
- December66 cmGood skiing · 86%
- January94 cmGood skiing · 96%
- February123 cmGood skiing · 100%
- March141 cmGood skiing · 100%
- April98 cmGood skiing · 94%
- May—no record
30 cm on the ground: the benchmark for groomed-piste skiing. Bar = monthly average depth; percentage = share of time above 30 cm.
- Good skiing: 30 cm on more than 8 days in 10
- Variable: 30 cm on 5 to 8 days in 10
- Insufficient: 30 cm less than one day in two
Snow actually measured, winter by winter
32 complete winters measured, from 1991-1992 to 2025-2026 — on average 124 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.
- 1-15 Dec43 cmVariable · 61 %
- 16-31 Dec58 cmVariable · 79 %
- 1-15 Jan76 cmGood skiing · 97 %
- 16-31 Jan94 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 1-15 Feb111 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 16-29 Feb121 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 1-15 Mar125 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 16-31 Mar113 cmGood skiing · 97 %
- 1-15 Apr96 cmGood skiing · 93 %
- Best winter of the series
- 2012-2013 — 136 days at 30 cm or more
- Worst winter of the series
- 2016-2017 — 91 days at 30 cm or more
How much snow actually falls — 453 cm a winter on average, spread over 53 days of snowfall. Measured over 30 complete winters, from 1994-1995 to 2025-2026.
- Biggest 24-hour snowfall
- 70 cm — 2011-2012
- Snowiest winter
- 2012-2013 — 767 cm
- Leanest winter
- 2010-2011 — 206 cm
The ski area
Compare with another resort →159 pistes, by level — 136 km
- Skiable vertical
- 302 m (1,810 m → 2,112 m)
- Lifts
- 1 funicular, 16 gondolas, 11 chairlifts, 14 drag lifts, 11 magic carpets
- Cross-country skiing
- 1 named trail — 2.1 km of marked loops, 1.4 km from the resortOpenStreetMap, lengths measured on the geometry, surveyed on 12 September 2026. A trail with no difficulty tag is shown as "n/a" — never guessed.
See the trails(1)
Trail Level Length Boucle rochette n/a 2.1 km - Snowpark
- 2 mapped zones — Skicross (intermediate) · Boardercross Family (very easy)
OpenStreetMap, surveyed on 12 September 2026. OpenStreetMap does not map individual features (kickers, rails): what is counted here are the named zones. - Night skiing
- 1 floodlit pistes (OSM)
- Without skis
- 3 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 1 sledging run
- Piste aspect
- N 21% · E 10% · S 28% · W 41% (descent direction of 142 OSM pistes, terrain model)
- Mountain restaurants
- La folie douce (2334 m)
- Tourist office
- Office de Tourisme · 51 route de la Poste, 38750 · 04 76 11 44 44 · [email protected] (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
- Piste map (PDF)
- Alpe_d'huez_Alpin_2026 (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
- Resort app
- Android (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
- Famille Plus
- The resort’s family page (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
Resort data: declared by Office de Tourisme and distributed by ANMSM · read on 18 September
Pistes and lifts surveyed on OpenStreetMap within 4 km of the resort — for a resort in a linked area, the figure may include neighbouring pistes.
Lift passes detail →
The price list for this resort is being collected: most resorts publish winter prices between September and November.
Official piste map
Open the piste map (PDF, 4.6 MB) ↗
Link to the resort’s own file — a piste map is a copyrighted artwork, we host no copy.
The ski area in figures
Measured on 9 September 2026Measured on OpenStreetMap (altitudes: IGN RGE ALTI), not taken from the brochure. The vertical above is that of one piste, not of the whole ski area. Population: INSEE municipal population via geo.api.gouv.fr.
Source: national register of mechanical lifts (STRMTG, CAIRN), fleet as of 1 January 2025 — lifts attributed to Alpe d'Huez only (“ALPE D'HUEZ (L')”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Alpe d'Huez
We compare the partners that cover this resort. Some links earn us a commission — never at the expense of the price or of the data.
Stay & accommodation
Live webcams
All webcams (11) →Official players of the resort, live image.
Piste map
Open on OpenSnowMap ↗Pistes coloured by level, lifts as lines. The resort’s official map is the reference in season.
Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA) · pistes © OpenSnowMap (CC-BY-SA) · data ©OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Getting to Alpe d'Huez
From Paris: 6 hr 59 (636 km) by road.
By road
- From Grenoble: 1 hr 10 · 63 km
- From Chambéry: 1 hr 49 · 122 km
- From Valence: 2 hr 07 · 152 km
- From Annecy: 2 hr 18 · 169 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 22 · 165 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Genève: 2 hr 48 · 207 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 2 hr 56 · 214 km
- From Marseille: 4 hr 10 · 290 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 14 · 357 km
- From Dijon: 4 hr 15 · 366 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 15 · 334 km
- From Besançon: 4 hr 33 · 396 km
- From Nice: 5 hr 29 · 399 km · avoids Col de Restefond, closed in winter
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 35 · 505 km
- From Nancy: 6 hr 22 · 577 km
- From Toulouse: 6 hr 31 · 591 km
- From Strasbourg: 6 hr 57 · 634 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 59 · 636 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 14 · 721 km
- From Pau: 8 hr 26 · 781 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Jarrie - Vizille station
halt · then 53 min drive (48 km)
Nearest main station: Grenoble, 1 hr 10 by road.
No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables (checked on 13 September 2026): ask the resort about a private shuttle or a taxi.
Shuttles and buses from the station: see the resort’s official website.
By plane
- Grenoble-Alpes-Isère (GNB): 1 hr 37 by road · 105 km
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 2 hr 01 by road · 130 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Alpe d'Huez as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
12 charging stations within 2 km
26 charging points · up to 120 kW
- HUEZ - Parking Palais des sports et des congrès · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0 km
- HUEZ - Parking Palais des sports et des congrès · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 120 kW · 0 km
- HUEZ - Parking Palais des sports et des congrès · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0 km
- HUEZ - Avenue des Jeux · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0.2 km
- HUEZ - Parking Des Jeux · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0.2 km
Freely accessible charge points read from the French national EV charging database (data.gouv.fr ↗, operators’ own declarations), checked on 9 September 2026. Check availability before you leave: the database says what is installed, not what is free tonight.
Road conditions
From 1 November to 31 March, snow chains or winter tyres are compulsory in most mountain areas (French “Loi Montagne II”).
Driving times computed on the OpenStreetMap road network (OSRM), SNCF stations (open data), airports (Wikidata). Indicative, not a timetable: allow extra time in snow.
Off-piste & ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing →Named itineraries: Combe Charbonnière · La Brèche
Itineraries surveyed on OpenStreetMap within a 4 km radius (7 September 2026): “marked” means an itinerary exists on the map, not that it is open or safe on the day.
Ski touring routes described
Resorts for ski touring →12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Alpe d'Huez — up to 1,870 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croupe de l'Herpie : Point 3060 m · Cheminée S de Mâcle (ou Mascle) | 5.1 · E3 | 290 m | 2,770 → 3,060 m | W | 2.6 km |
| Pic du Lac Blanc · Versant S par le Glacier des Rousses | 2.2 · E1 · PD | 1,463 m | 1,860 → 3,323 m | W | 3.2 km |
| Pic de la Pyramide · Versant W | 3.3 · E1 · AD- | 1,520 m | 1,860 → 3,382 m | W | 3.6 km |
| Pic Bayle · Versant W | 4.1 · E2 · D- | 1,400 m | 2,150 → 3,465 m | W | 3.9 km |
| Les Grandes Buffes · Couloir NW | 4.1 · E1 · AD | 515 m | 1,649 → 2,164 m | NW | 4 km |
| Pic du Lac Blanc · Versant E par le Glacier du Grand Sablat | 3.2 · E2 · AD | 1,870 m | 1,450 → 3,323 m | SE | 4.1 km |
| Pic de l'Herpie · Face W | 3.3 · E2 · PD | 1,200 m | 1,810 → 3,012 m | W | 4.2 km |
| Couloir de l'Herpie | 5.2 · E3 · TD | 400 m | 2,210 → 2,675 m | SW | 4.2 km |
| Signal de l'Homme · Combes SE | 1.3 · E1 · F+ | 650 m | 1,530 → 2,176 m | SE | 4.3 km |
| Dôme des Petites Rousses · Couloir de l'Agnelin | n/a · AD | 1 m | 2,810 → 2,810 m | W | 4.3 km |
| Dôme des Petites Rousses · Couloir Fleur | 5.1 · TD- | 1 m | 2,810 → 2,810 m | NW | 4.3 km |
| Dôme des Petites Rousses · Couloirs des Perrins | n/a · PD+ | 1 m | 2,810 → 2,810 m | SW | 4.3 km |
Source: Camptocamp.org topo guide (CC BY-SA), routes starting within 10 km, read on 13 September 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗
Beyond skiing at Alpe d'Huez
Ice rink
- Patinoire à ciel ouvert · Huez · 0.2 km away
- Patinoire - Pôle Sports & Loisirs · Vaujany · 7.4 km away
- Patinoire des Deux Alpes · Les Deux Alpes · 9.8 km away
Swimming pool
- Piscine couverte · Huez · 0 km away
- Piscine de plein air chauffée · Huez · 0.3 km away
- Piscine - Pôle Sports & Loisirs · Vaujany · 7.4 km away
- Piscine des 2 Alpes · Les Deux Alpes · 9.8 km away
Spa and thermal baths
- Le SPA du V**** by Pure Altitude · Vaujany · 7.6 km away
- SPA de La Perle By Pure Altitude · Vaujany · 7.7 km away
Paragliding
- Ecole de Parapente - Air Ailes Parapente · Les Deux Alpes · 9.9 km away
Museum
- Musée d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'Alpe d'Huez · Huez · 0 km away
- Eco musée des Cours - Musée rural "Alice" · Auris · 4.5 km away
- GALTA la Galerie des Trésors Alpins · Le Bourg-d'Oisans · 5.3 km away
- Espace Musée de Vaujany · Vaujany · 7.5 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma L'AgorAlp · Huez · 0 km away
- Cinéma Les Ecrins · Le Bourg-d'Oisans · 5 km away
- Cinéma · Vaujany · 7.5 km away
Source: DATAtourisme (open data), within 10 km of the resort; places in a large town of the valley are left out. Checked on 12 September 2026. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.
Practical information
Collective accommodation
4,950 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 15 hotels · 656 rooms (3 × 5★, 2 × 4★, 7 × 3★, 1 × 1★)
- 3 holiday villages and family centres · 1,958 bed spaces
- 9 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 2,992 bed spaces
Commune: Huez · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
Tourist office
Office du tourisme
Ski school
ESF L'Alpe D'Huez
367 instructors
🇬🇧 277 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Days without skiing
- Cinema · Le Palais
- Ice rink · Patinoire
- Cinema · Le Signal
In case of accident
112 — the European emergency number, free of charge, triggers mountain rescue. On the pistes, the ski patrol number is printed on the piste map and at lift ticket offices. Piste rescue is charged: check your insurance or take the option sold with the lift pass.
Nearby resorts
Frequently asked questions
How high is Alpe d'Huez?
Alpe d'Huez sits at 1,860 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 2,112 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Alpe d'Huez have?
Alpe d'Huez has 136 km of pistes served by 52 lifts, within the linked Alpe d'Huez Grand Domaine Ski area (OpenStreetMap survey).
What is the longest piste in Alpe d'Huez?
The longest piste is Sarenne: 8 km (black run), for 1,657 m of vertical. Measured on the OpenStreetMap map, segments of the same name and level joined end to end, altitudes from the IGN RGE ALTI terrain model — a resort sometimes advertises a longer run by chaining several pistes.
How high do the lifts go in Alpe d'Huez?
The highest lift, Pic Blanc (aerial tramway), tops out at 3,318 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Alpe d'Huez have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 44 installations at Alpe d'Huez (2 aerial tramways, 6 gondolas, 12 chairlifts, 11 drag lifts, 13 magic carpets), for an authorised capacity of 53,650 people per hour, of which 3,900 for Jeux alone. The fleet spans 1962 to 2022, an average age of 23 years. This count covers the resort itself, magic carpets included, not the whole linked ski area — a resort brochure often announces a different number. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How do I get to Alpe d'Huez?
By road, Alpe d'Huez is 1 hr 10 from Grenoble (63 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Jarrie - Vizille, 53 min by road from the resort. No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables. The nearest airport is Grenoble-Alpes-Isère, 1 hr 37 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Alpe d'Huez?
6 hr 59 for 636 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is the snow reliable in Alpe d'Huez?
Yes: good snow through most of the winter according to twenty winters of Météo-France measurements; in season the daily report prevails.
Is Alpe d'Huez good for beginners and families?
72% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather easy area. The resort holds the Famille Plus family label.
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