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The Courchevel Guide

Excursiv · Guides · Alpine

The Courchevel Guide

Where

Courchevel 1850, Savoie, France

When

December. April

Read

10 min read

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The Week

Courchevel 1850 has more Michelin stars per capita than any ski resort on earth. It sits at the top of the Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski domain in the world. It has its own airport. It is not trying to be anything other than what it is.

The Altiport. Europe's Highest, Shortest, Steepest Runway.

Ch. 01The Arrival

The Altiport. Europe's Highest, Shortest, Steepest Runway.

The Courchevel Altiport, ICAO code LFLJ, sits at 2,008 metres above sea level and holds three distinctions simultaneously: the highest, the shortest, and the steepest paved commercial runway in Europe. The single runway measures 537 metres with an 18.66 per cent uphill gradient. There is no instrument approach procedure, no go-around option once committed to landing, and the approach requires a specific certification from the French Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile that only a limited number of pilots hold. Fixed-wing access is restricted by the DGAC to private owners in their own aircraft; commercially chartered fixed-wing flights land at Chambéry, 110 kilometres away, or Geneva, 185 kilometres, before continuing to the resort by helicopter. Helicopters account for approximately 70 per cent of all Altiport flight movements during the winter season. The transfer from the Altiport to the village of Courchevel 1850 is four kilometres. The correct arrival is by helicopter from Geneva in 35 minutes, landing on the Altiport slope while skiers watch from the adjacent pistes. The road transfer from Geneva takes two hours thirty minutes by private car.

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Helicopter Transfer · Geneva to Courchevel Altiport

LFLJ · 35 minutes · Direct to the slopes

From €3,000 one way

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Cheval Blanc. The First Maison. Thirty-Six Rooms.

Ch. 02The Stay

Cheval Blanc. The First Maison. Thirty-Six Rooms.

Cheval Blanc Courchevel opened in 2006 as the first property of LVMH's luxury hospitality brand, set in the Jardin Alpin of Courchevel 1850 with direct ski-in ski-out access to the Trois Vallées. The Maison holds the Palace distinction, awarded by the French government to fewer than forty hotels in France, and houses thirty-six rooms and suites across a contemporary chalet that carries works by Paola Pivi, Walter Niedermayr, and Xavier Veilhan. The Cheval Blanc Spa by Guerlain occupies an indoor infinity pool, ice plunge pool, steam room, sauna, and five treatment rooms. The Cigar Yurt on the terrace is a Mongolian structure with sofas and fur rugs. The hair salon is run by Parisian coiffeur John Nollet. Le Bar plays live music each evening. The five-night minimum stay for peak weeks is the Maison's mechanism for ensuring the character of its guest list. The Apartment on the top two floors occupies 650 square metres across four bedrooms with private lift access, a grand piano, three reception rooms, and a slopeside ski room. Rooms from €2,000 per night. Book in September.

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Cheval Blanc Courchevel

Rue du Jardin Alpin · Courchevel 1850 · LVMH Palace

From €2,000/night · Five-night minimum peak weeks

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Aman Le Mélézin. Thirty-One Rooms. The Bellecôte Piste at Dawn.

Ch. 03The Other Stay

Aman Le Mélézin. Thirty-One Rooms. The Bellecôte Piste at Dawn.

Aman Le Mélézin opened in 1992 on the Bellecôte piste in Courchevel 1850, four storeys of slate-roofed chalet architecture rising into the pine forest above the village. The hotel has thirty-one rooms and suites with cedar-panelled walls, large-format windows framing the piste, and 24 rooms with their own balconies. The Aman Spa occupies two full floors with a 14-metre lap pool, twin jacuzzis, wood sauna, Turkish hammam with vaulted ceiling, and five treatment rooms including a dedicated Thai massage room. Morning yoga is offered daily before the slopes open. Ski butlers meet guests at the boot room each morning with warmed boots already clipped into bindings, positioned at the Bellecôte piste edge. Nama, the hotel's Japanese restaurant, holds the only Japanese kitchen in the Trois Vallées, serving wagyu beef, otoro tuna, sashimi and sushi under the direction of master chef Keiji Matoba. The Bar has the largest sake and Japanese whisky collection in the resort. Half-board rates include dinner at Nama or at six partner restaurants in Courchevel, including Le Chalet de Pierres.

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Aman Le Mélézin

Rue de Bellecôte · Courchevel 1850 · Bellecôte Piste

From €1,800/night · Half board included

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Le 1947. Three Stars. Five Tables. Wednesday to Sunday.

Ch. 04The Dinner

Le 1947. Three Stars. Five Tables. Wednesday to Sunday.

Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc is the only three Michelin star restaurant in Courchevel, the highest three-star restaurant in the world at over 1,850 metres, and one of the smallest with only five tables. It has held three stars since 2017. The restaurant is named for the most celebrated vintage of Château Cheval Blanc, the Saint-Émilion premier grand cru classé that shares ownership with the hotel under LVMH. The kitchen is led by chef Yannick Alléno, who also holds three stars at his Paris restaurant Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen. The dining room, designed by Sybille de Margerie around a Corian sphere in bronze, chocolate, and white, opens directly onto the kitchen so that the brigade is visible throughout service. The tasting menu runs to twelve or more courses, with Alléno's signature extraction sauces defining the character of the evening. Service runs Wednesday to Sunday, dinner only, from 19h30. Reservations are taken for hotel guests first and for outside guests by telephone in early December. The restaurant opens each year in early December for the winter season. A table for two rarely becomes available without advance planning. For those who cannot secure Le 1947, La Ferme Saint Amour with chef Éric Fréchon's creative winter menu and La Mangeoire, an Alpine interior that becomes a late party, are the correct alternatives.

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Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc

Rue du Jardin Alpin · Wed to Sun · 19h30 · Five tables only

Tasting menu from €395pp · Wine pairing additional

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Bagatelle. 2,250 Metres. The Table You Stand On.

Ch. 05The Mountain Lunch

Bagatelle. 2,250 Metres. The Table You Stand On.

Bagatelle Courchevel sits at 2,250 metres at the summit of the Chenus gondola in Courchevel 1850, accessible by ski from the Trois Vallées or by gondola for non-skiers. Part of the Bagatelle Bistrot group with locations in New York, London, Ibiza, St Barth, and Dubai, the Courchevel outpost is the brand's highest address. The sun-drenched terrace faces Mont Blanc and delivers a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding valleys. The menu runs to foie gras, baked Mont d'Or cheese with truffles, lobster, tuna tartare, and fresh fish. The average spend is around €150 per person before wine. As the afternoon develops, the DJ volume increases, the dancing begins on the tables, and the distinction between lunch and après-ski ceases to have any practical meaning. Corporate chef Rocco Seminara oversees a kitchen that is expected to feed a terrace full of people who are simultaneously trying to decide whether to ski down or stay until the gondola closes. The answer is almost always the latter. Reserve well in advance. Cap Horn, the nautical-themed seafood and sushi restaurant near the Altiport with its exceptional wine cellar and live performances, is the alternative for those who prefer their lunch without the table-dancing.

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Bagatelle Courchevel

Sommet de la Loze · 2,250m · Top of Chenus Gondola

Lunch from €150pp · Reserve ahead

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The Trois Vallées. 600 Kilometres. The World's Largest Linked Ski Domain.

Ch. 06The Skiing

The Trois Vallées. 600 Kilometres. The World's Largest Linked Ski Domain.

Courchevel 1850 sits at the entrance to the Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski domain on earth with 600 kilometres of marked pistes shared between Courchevel, Méribel, Les Menuires, and Val Thorens. The ski area was designed partly for the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, and its lift infrastructure remains among the most modern in the Alps. The key runs for understanding Courchevel: the Bellecôte is the home run beneath the Aman Le Mélézin, a long red with consistent pitch and reliable snow. La Creux Noire is the bowl above the tree line for untracked powder on the morning after a snowfall. The Jean Blanc and Combe Saulire descents from the summit of the Saulire are the runs that justify the altitude, long and technically demanding, with views across to Méribel. The connection to Val Thorens at 2,300 metres is via Méribel and adds the highest resort in the Alps to the day's itinerary. Courchevel Aventure in the village organises night tobogganing, dog sledding, snowmobiling, and moonlight skiing for those whose afternoons do not end at Bagatelle.

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Ski Pass · Les Trois Vallées

600km · Courchevel · Méribel · Val Thorens

From €68/day · Six-day pass from €367

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