Tignes ski resort in Savoie in southeastern France in the western Alps close to the Swiss and Italian borders is one of the highest skiing spots in France and remains snow-covered throughout the season (skiing here remains closed only for a few weeks in May, June and September). Tignes turns into skiers’ paradise during the winter owing to the presence of Grande Motte glacier (3,456 metres high). Tignes, along with with Val d’Isère, forms part of the Espace Killy ski area (10,000-hectare in area). The resort elevation is 1,550 metres while the top elevation is 3,450 metres.
Tignes comprises several villages like, Val Claret, Tignes-Le-Lac, Le Lavachet, Tignes Les Boisses and Tignes Les Brevières.
Skiing at Tignes:
Tignes has a wide terrain. Infact, if one takes into consideration Val d’Isère, then Tignes offers a separate skiing zone on every day of the week. Passes are also available here. The state-of-art lifts and hands-free passes at Tignes help to keep down long queues as well.
Fresh skiers can learn the initial lessons at the Rosset chairlift while the intermediates can opt from the wide range of blue and red cruisers located on either side of the valley. Sache is a notable black run here.
Tignes also offers thrilling off-piste skiing opportunities. However, the lesser experts can first try at Le Spot, a specially marked off-piste skiing field. Advice can be sought from the ski patrol. One can also try out at the Naturides before setting out for the unmonitored terrain.
December through early May is mainly winter at Tignes. The glacier is also open for summer skiing from mid-June to late August and then re-opens in mid- September for the longest ski season in France.
Other activities:
- Snowboarding (Tignes offers excellent snowboarding facilities including halfpipes and a boardercross course)
- Ice diving
- Dog sledding
- Skijoring (being pulled along on skis or snowboard by a horse)
- Ice skating
- Mountain biking
- Ice climbing
- Paragliding
- Horseriding
- Ice driving
- Playing basketball, football, volleyball, tennis, squash at Tignespace, the sports centre at the base
- Indoor aquatic activities in Le lagon
- Gym
- Bowling
- Cinema watching
- Enjoying video games, multimedia, animation (try at Multimedia Centre on the top floor of the Maison de Tignes)
- Child care facilities at the children’s ski school Les Marmottons, which accepts children from age two-and-a-half to six. Children’s tobaggun runs in the evening as well as Le Lagon’s fun pool are also popular
- Shopping:
Ski gears are available at intersport shops like Snowpark, Snocool and Black Cats. Galerie Palafour also has a few fashion and souvenir shops. - Aerial sightseeing (contact Aéroclub du Palet)
- Après ski:
On rue de la Poste, La Grotte du and Angelbar are popular
drinking destinations. Down the hill, Jam Bar is popular with snowboarders while Jack’s Club keeps open till late night. In Val Claret, Grizzly’s Bar and Couloir are popular spots. - Eating out:
There are several affordable restaurants serving traditional Savoyard cooking as well as pizzerias. Le Caveau or the restaurant at Hôtel L’Arbina are also good.
Accommodation:
- Le Ski d’Or (4-star hotel)
- Val Claret
- Le Lévanna
- Agence Immotignes
Reaching Tignes:
- By air:
Chambéry (140 km), Lyon (220 km) and Geneva (200 km) are the nearest airports to Tignes. - By rail:
Bourg St Maurice, which is 31 km away, is the nearest railway station to Tignes.
Getting around:
One must leave his/her vehicle in a car park for Tignes is a car-free resort. The resort lifts are mostly reachable by foot or otherwise there is free ski bus service that connects various parts of Tignes (excluding Les Brevières).
