The Skiers' Guide to Valfréjus

Small but quiet and friendly resort. Good value for money and good bus links linking us to more resorts

A lovely family-friendly resort. Easy to drive to. Good bus links to other resorts. Plenty of places to hire equipment. A well stocked supermarket.

Fantastic family resort for those not looking for rowdy night life.
Loads of off piste opportunities.
Groomed runs can be challenging for beginners.

Valfrejus is a great compact resort and a snowy playground with pisted and off piste runs to suit all abilities. The first lift is a cable car meaning that learners and non skiers can walk in and enjoy being at the top of the mountain, and perhaps a vin chaud off the bar terrace. The beginner slopes are high up the mountain rather down low in the resort so they are more snow sure and surrounded by the rest of the skiing action, which is great for mixed ability groups and parents juggling childcare with skiing/boarding. There are some glorious long runs ranging from blacks to blues plus opportunities for para skiers to launch themselves off both sides of the the Punta Bagna peak. The 10km tree lined Jeu (blue) is a spectacular tree lined run and and a gentle off piste play ground, its a scenic joy of a run and leads back into the heart of the resort. It's a modern resort, not a vintage twee setting. The resort has plenty of bars, a choice of hire and clothing shops, a supermarket, a delicatessen plus some other boutique and gift shops. The majority of the accommodation is within an easy walk of the main chair lift. This resort has a lot going for it, we would definitely go back.

Lovely small family resort, good value, and plenty of resteraunts. Plenty of runs, written good lifts and no queues.If you're a party animal, though, this provably won't be for you.

Small family resort, has some challenging pistes.
Off piste is easily accessed, fresh snow can be found days after a fall.
Lift system is modern and efficient.
Apres is low key, so look elsewhere if you want to be dancing on the tables.

Very small resort. The ski pass is quite cheap at 42 euros a day, but for good reason. Very few posters appropriate for advanced skiers, and many of the beginner slopes are extremely flat, so end up being a lot of tiresome pushing for beginners. Would only recommend for absolute beginners and families.

brilliant resort so many slopes for everyone every level of skiing food is very cheap for a resort and the town is amazing

Valfrejus is great as a day trip or even a long weekend, especially when coupled with nearby bus-linked and lift pass-sharing La Norma, but for a full week you'll struggle to be satisfied. There's simply not enough to go at, even though what there is is pretty good.

The whole area is essentially 3 main lifts, and while they are fast and efficient and generally have minimal queues, you'll rapidly get bored of repeating the same circuits over and over.

Those who may enjoy Valfrejus include expert off-piste skiers who'll appreciate the two big high bowls on the front and back, and speed demons (some of my highest speeds have happened here).

For families and beginners, a week here will be either terrifying or boring. A couple of bunny runs at mid mountain with busy lifts are all that's available to start with. From here, you can progress to a couple of small lifts with some short easy blues but these will quickly become old, and from there the step up to other slopes becomes a lot more serious.

The slope back down to the village is often icy and congested, so beginners will want to ride the gondola back down.

The long Jeux piste is good fun, offering an away-from-the-lifts playground from top to bottom. The back bowl is a great place for picking up some serious speed, taking your first dabbles in off-piste or trying something more serious.

The resort can be prone to avalanche risk or high wind closing the top lifts, in which case the choice of slopes reduces to 1 or 2 served by one lift, on these days it's hardly worth getting your gear on.

All that said, the resort is cheap, has plenty of accommodation options, and a nice small selection of bars and restaurants. The large self-service restaurant at mid mountain can be hit and miss, better to have lunch at one of the spots on the tiny snowfront in the village. The tiny snack bar at the top of Envers Col makes a great scenic stop for a panini and a hot chocolate.

A hidden gem in the Maurianne Valley, small but perfectly formed.
75kms of marked runs but oodles of easy access off piste and side country which is safe for all.
Slopes are north facing so hold the snow well all season.
The resort is quiet compared to the big well known resorts with little or no lift queues.
Fresh powder can be found days after a fall, I probably shouldn't have disclosed this :).
The resort has a modern lift system and is suitable for families.
The village is on one level with all the bars and restaurants within a small walk on level ground as it is located on a plateau.
If you want to break free from the crowds this is the place to go.

The perfect family resort for children and beginners to learn!

Never busy

Prices so much lower than bigger resorts.

Options to travel on free bus to neighbouring resort La Norma, which has more tree coverage so perfect for snowy days.

Can see over to italy from Valfrejus and it is just perfect on a sunny day.