Serre Chevalier Vallée Briançon (or sometimes just “Serre Che” to its friends!) is one of world’s biggest ski areas with more than 80 runs, adding up to about 250km of piste and spread over 410 hectares of wonderful natural environment in an authentic valley of the Hautes-Alpes.
But when you’re staying there, the only real clue to just how big it is is when you set off skiing in the morning and realise the pistes can take you on and on amid the larch forests over a 1,600m vertical between up to 2,800m above sea level, with 80% of the runs located above 2,000m.
That’s because where you stay are not big-altitude resorts but in one of three charming villages (Le Monêtier-les-Bains; Villeneuve – La Salle les Alpes; and Chantemerle – Saint Chaffrey) or in the historic little mountain town of Briançon, whose fortifications have been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Whichever you choose, you’ll find each benefits from the same fabulous climate of the Southern Alps, bathed in sunshine once the snow has fallen. It’s a natural, genuine environment of beautiful landscapes, where you can breathe deeply, relax, really feel you have got away from your day-to-day life or the crowded slopes of some well-known ski resorts and then just have fun.
Just how you have fun is up to you, and if you’re in a family or group where half of you like high-adrenaline sport, and the other half prefer to relax, Serre Che is your perfect choice.
Along with hundreds of kilometres of piste for all abilities, from great novice areas to the steepest off-piste terrain and mostly XL-sized terrain parks, Serre Chevalier also thinks hard about every aspect of your snowsports holiday, so there are special learning areas for first-timers in the terrain park or on the freeride slopes, and there are also runs designed to just be straightforward, simple, pure fun!
Enjoying Serre Chevalier Vallée Briançon at a gentler pace may include a bit of snowshoeing, taking one of the 20 or so trails leaving from the valley, allowing you to discover the magnificent surrounding countryside and its impressive peaks which form part of the Écrins National Park. Nordic skiing, dog sledding, perhaps a ride on a piste-basher or ski-joering (being gently towed behind a pony on your skis) are among the many other opportunities here, or if you just want to completely pamper yourself, there are plenty of spas to choose from too, including some very unusual and innovative options.
Whatever you choose to do during the day, you can all get back together in the evening to enjoy some of the great regional cuisine in an authentic mountain restaurant or perhaps a drink in a cosy local bar to reflect on another wonderful day in the mountains.
Getting To Serre Chevalier
Ski Holidays to Serre Chevalier are offered by numerous ski holiday companies including the big operators like Crystal and Inghams or smaller specialists like Ski Miquel or Zenith. You can also arrange holidays yourself via the resort’s website: serre-chevalier.com/en/winter/ Fly in to Grenoble or Turin or it’s a 12-hour drive from London!
Learn more about what to do on and off the slopes in Serre Chevalier here.
