The Skiers' Guide to Samoëns

Its a great resort! It has great links to areas like flaine which are slightly higher and allowed for harder pistes and better snow! Samoens itself is quite low and the snow isnt excellent but its great for kids and as a family. The ski school is great and easy to locate! The runs have a good range of difficulties and there are challenges for everyone which is rly nice. The calibre of food isnt as great and very expensive but the igloo is really nice! Would highly recommend !!!

Took my son on his first ever ski trip between xmas and new year for 4 nights and 5 days. He could ski on greens and blues and by end of the trip he tried a few reds. Great resort linking to the 4 villages (Morillon, Sixt, samoens and Les carroz) tonnes of off piste, black runs, blues etc. However in peak season I.e school holidays this place is jam packed. Traffic gridlocks the towns, lift queues on main slopes can be half and hour wait times. Restaurants and bars in slopes you will be queuing also. Everywhere has cashed in, and x2 burger and chips and a few drinks at lunch will cost you around 50.00 euros. Dinner for 2 will be around 100.00 euros. I recommend you download the grand massif app where you can see and track shuttle buses and purchase ski passes along with tracking your ski activity. Amazing, pretty and friendly resort but would avoid in peak season.

I have been travelling to Samoens for 10 years now with my family. Lovely village with plenty of food options & shops etc for non skiers. The Grand Massif range gives a large amount of options for all types of abilities. We blast straight out to Flaine first thing then hit as many slopes back to Samoens 1600 as possible then chill in Morillon for the afternoon. Lots of options available slope wise, well worth a visit.

Its a great family friendly resort with a range for different abilities. Not a massive amount of off-piste or blacks but easy access to the rest of the grand-massif which provides more varied skiing.

We had a fantastic trip to Samoens - one of the most reasonably priced ski trips I've had with some lovely runs. Lucifer is my favourite run!!

There's less additional things than bigger resorts, for example no parks or bordercross, so if you want things like that then bigger resorts may be for you, but we enjoyed the quieter slopes with a more 'local' feel.

Lots of good food places but they do get booked up in school holidays so it's worth booking ahead of trabelling

Ski school, and guides are great. Well worth booking, even as an experienced rider to get a guided tour of the area. Its so large, so great to get expert knowledge of the area

Been to Samoëns a couple of times and stayed in the village. Short walk or free ski bus to the express gondola upto 1600 and then a short green run down to the main chair upto the top of samoens.

From here it a choice of runs back down to 1600 or over to neighbouring Morzine and Les carroz.

The last option is taking the link over to Flaine and making a day of it over in its bowl.

Lots of great runs and great value compared to some of the higher resorts.

Excellent resort, can get extremely busy in peak weeks. Lots of eateries on the slopes with great access to other resorts in the ski domain (Grand Massif). Plenty of off piste and loads of groomed runs. Not much in terms of apres, but some great bars still. Plenty of blues, greens and reds with enough black runs for the advanced among us.

Been going here for years. Place used to be 100% locals, now more touristy but still a classic French village. Connection to the Grand Massif area is great, if you can go to Flaine then do so as it is much higher (albeit with far less trees). It is not designed for apres ski - that is either a positive or negative depending what you like! There are 2 or 3 places in the town itself that are effectively just loud pubs. Tiffanie is the boulangerie - essential to visit every morning

If you are a beginner or using Ski School. then Samoens is a good base as the gondola goes straight to the plateau where the ski schools gather. Otherwise, it's a good base to start from to explore the wider Grand Massif area, with Flaine, Morillon ans Les Carroz all within easy reach.
On cold mornings, if the piste is really hard parked, then the Aouia piste down to the Coulouvrier lift can be quite challenged for beginners - wait for the sun to get on it first.
For beginners, avoid both blue runs down to Coulouvrier in warm spring snow conditions unless you are comfortable with large heavy snow bumps. If there is a huge queue for the gondola, it can be quicker getting the bus to the Vercland lift.
The red Marmotte is a great run back down - likely to have a few moguls on the top section, but can be better than the top of the blue Perce-Neige run from Tete Des Saix at the end of the day.
The red Chamois from Test Des Saix is steep, but usually in great condition and it takes you down to the snow park.
Been here every year for 10 years - don't worry about the lack of snow at town level. The Grand Massif area is generally snow sure and there will always be somewhere to get some good skiing in the area. The Cascade run down to Sixt from Flaine is excellent, but check snow conditions first. The last part is the summer road and in shade most if the day.
Take note of wind warnings when crossing over to Flaine as there is no ski bus service connecting back to the Samoens / Morillon / Les Carroz / Sixt side.
The moutain restaurants are generally really good, but try to avoid the self service places. Only a couple of these around and there are far better options near these places.

Samoens is a beautiful traditional town, and the town lays on lots of things to do and see. The skiing and boarding is extensive with good access to Morrillon, Flaine and Les Carroz. Just an allround lovely place to be in the mountains. Lift queues can be a problem at peak times, but away from these, the lifts and mountains are practically empty.

Loved our stay in Samoens Feb 2023. Being only an hour from Geneva airport, it is ideal for a short break. Great ski school and plenty of choice of runs for advanced beginner/intermediates. Cant wait to go back.

Stayed at club med, the food quality was very poor. A lot of people had food poisoning, including me girlfriend. The lower slopes beneath the hotel were green grass, which meant there was only one lift to access the whole mountain, which was closed one of the days meaning we were stranded, with only one green run accessible all day.

The skiing was pretty good when we got up into Flaine and we had 3 days of top tier skiing conditions. The grooming was pretty hit and miss, with the inconsistent weather conditions some nights the bashers just didnt come out, making for very slushy conditions the next morning. Overall we enjoyed the holiday, however, unlikely to visit Samoens again

Really quiet runs which was great but poor snow quality and you can get stuck with one green run if there is high wind because there is only one lift access flane.

I really enjoyed Samoens. If you are looking for a family friendly, value for money resort, then its great. The slopes arent busy at all and the surrounding scenery is beautiful, its also an easy link into the grand massif. With over 250kms or runs, its more than enough for a weeks trip.

Everyone says they have never heard of the grand massif, but for me (I have been ski ing for 50 years) it is super and samoens is just the most perfect place to stay. I have traditionally gone at Easter and it is always snow sure and never had bad weather.

Lovely family friendly resort. Good ski school options. Beautiful traditional French village that is really easy to access by car.
Limited apres ski, but some lovely restaurants and good village facilities.

Samoëns and Morillon form part of the Grand Massif resort, alongside Flaine. It is easily accessible in just over one hour from Geneva, making it perfect for a quick getaway.

The accommodation options are plentiful (we had a catered chalet called Chalet Brio, which was outstanding) and there are buses to take you around the resort. It is a quiet resort perfect for beginners to intermediates and ideal for families or groups who are looking for a lot of skiing without the queues.

The downside to that is that the apres options are limited and that the towns are very quiet. The upside of course is that the lifts are rarely full and the slopes are easily navigable!

There are plentiful moguls in two areas - the route to Les Carroz which is lower down and very slushy; and of course the majority of the route to Flaine, which is south facing and very popular. For more proficient snow riders, the area above Flaine is full of red and black runs as well as significant off piste areas, and the entire resort has runs between trees which make for a great experience. Unfortunately several runs were shut including the two longest ones - Marvel and Piste des Cascades, because of a lack of snow.

The ski school offer is fantastic. Many of our party had lessons from Ecole 360, who are brilliant instructors despite their terrible website. I had some private lessons via Maison Sports which was outstanding also. Whatever your level, you can always improve, and the wide and enjoyable slopes here are the perfect place to do so.

Overall, this is my favourite ski resort and a little known secret, mostly populated by locals. I don't know what I'd want to see improved other than perhaps the mogul slopes being groomed during the day or having alternative routes. Definitely go here!

If you want to head out for Aprés then Samoëns probably isnt for you.
If you want to enjoy some of the quietest hidden gems of the alps then youre heading to the right place!
A grand masif pass will unlock more off piste than you can possibly handle in a week!
And its lack of footfall later in the season means youll be enjoying some perfectly groomed pistes with a good chance of not seeing another soul. PERFECT.
Love this place !