Resort Information

Les 2 Alpes is a friendly resort in spite of being one of the largest. Contrary to popular belief it's not a purpose built resort, and has developed in a rather eclectic way. Visitors usually find a warm welcome here, and most of the shop and barkeepers do their best to be helpful although their English might not be fluent. The lifties smile and hold the chairs, and the ski-ing has something for everyone. However, if you're looking for picture postcard alpine you won't find it here.

For beginners, the perfect flat areas and small, easy lifts in the village make it ideal during the winter season, and there are also several easy descents for those first forays up the mountain. For expert and/or experienced skiers, there are many blacks, most of which are steep. Many of the black runs are left unpisted, in addition to the many official off piste descents, AND there is easy access to La Grave. For intermediate skiers, there are some interesting runs, but care should be taken with the blues for, although many are easy some of them would be classed as red in other resorts!If in any doubt whatsoever, ask someone who knows.

Nightlife is lively and varied with reasonable facilities for children. The restaurants are numerous and I recommend: Le Blue Salmon for a really nice special meal, reasonably priced; Chalet Mounier if you really want to push the boat out; L'Abri and Il Caminetto for pizzas, and L'Igloo for a good cheap lunch in resort. There are a great variety of other restaurants including TexMex, a good Thai is Le Bangkok, with a rather idiosyncratic owner (he cooks well though!)

Bars are also very varied: "British" bars are: Smokey Joes; The Secret; and The Red Frog . ; The Dutch up in the "Village" area is fun; Le Pressoir is a very French piano bar, and Le Saxo is a lively, young French bar. Many of the bars have Eurosport and Sky Sports, and most have some sort of internet facility so you can keep up with everything you want. The bars are mostly open until 2am. My personal favourites are quiet French bars with no obvious tourist attraction such as Les Lutins and L'Igloo.

Le Brasilien is a bar/disco brilliant for music and dancing, at bar prices, but often very crowded after 10.30pm. It's open until 02.00 and is my favourite night spot.

There are three discos in town: "L'Opéra" in the "Village" area focusing on "club" music;and the pricey, not so friendly, close to the centre L'Avalanche . At the entrance to the resort you'll find La Casa, which is large and has been gaining a following in the last year or two.

Supermarkets are OK, the cheapest is Marche U on the main street, and probably has the biggest selection. There are also two Casinos . Prices are reasonable.

Sports shops are plentiful, I work extensively with Ski Extreme, (carving and freeride skis, good boots, and run by Jutta who speaks fluent English.) In addition I recommend Sport Emotion (Twinner near the entrance to the resort) , a well run shop with a good, selection of equipment and very friendly staff who speak good english. I also find Jacques Sports (where Cedric the best boot man in LDA hangs out) very helpful and well placed at the bottom of the nursery lifts. They have lockers (bookable in advance) for storing your gear overnight in winter, which is particularly handy if you're staying some distance from the slopes or in Venosc.

Accommodation

Les 2 Alpes has 35,000 tourist beds! with a tremendous variety of available accommodation. In winter most of the major British tour operators are here offering chalets, hotels and apartments.

I can personally recommend several self-catering apartments of various sizes, a self catering chalets and 1 catered apartment. Details can be found on the Discounts & Deals page

The Tourist Office (English spoken) can provide a list of accommodation, which can be booked online, and you can also book direct with any of the hotels or other agencies. Catered accommodation ranges from 4* hotels to family guesthouses, and the food is mostly very good - this is France. Some of the hotels are bed and breakfast only, so you can eat out at a different restaurant every evening. Of these I heartily recommend Les Lutins, right in the centre, no frills but all en suite rooms. Exercise care if booking apartments through other agencies since they are often small for the maximum number of people they house. However 4 people in a 6 person apartment is normally OK. The safety regulations in France are not as high as in Britain, so take special care if you have small children. Generally the local agencies have better apartments than the British Tour Operators.

Les 2 Alpes can be reached easily by road - 8 - 10 hours from Calais; by rail - Eurostar and TGV to Grenoble and then by bus or taxi to resort; by bus - 4 or 5 times a week from London to Grenoble and then regular bus to resort; and by air - fly to Lyon, Grenoble (probably the closest) or Chambery . There are regular buses from Lyon and Grenoble airports to Grenoble bus station, and from Chambery airport to the town centre where there are regular trains to Grenoble. Flights to Grenoble and Chambery are normally only available during the winter season. If driving I do not recommend the use of SatNav in the mountains - some people have been sent 3 times as far as necessary and onto the old, tiny, mountain roads instead of the new ones!

If you would like any advice about specific options, or just a general chat about the resort, please feel free to contact me via the e-mail address below.

The above are my personal opinions and favourites, so should be taken as such. Full listed information is on the Les 2 Alpes website which you can access from my links page.

	Resort Information Les 2 Alpes is a friendly resort in spite of being one of the largest. Contrary to popular belief it's not a purpose built resort, and has developed in a rather eclectic way. Visitors usually find a warm welcome here, and most of the shop and barkeepers do their best to be helpful although their English might not be fluent. The lifties smile and hold the chairs, and the ski-ing has something for everyone. However, if you're looking for picture postcard alpine you won't find it here. For beginners, the perfect flat areas and small, easy lifts in the village make it ideal during the winter season, and there are also several easy descents for those first forays up the mountain. For expert and/or experienced skiers, there are many blacks, most of which are steep. Many of the black runs are left unpisted, in addition to the many official off piste descents, AND there is easy access to La Grave. For intermediate skiers, there are some interesting runs, but care should be taken with the blues for, although many are easy some of them would be classed as red in other resorts!If in any doubt whatsoever, ask someone who knows. Nightlife is lively and varied with reasonable facilities for children. The restaurants are numerous and I recommend: Le Blue Salmon for a really nice special meal, reasonably priced; Chalet Mounier if you really want to push the boat out; L'Abri and Il Caminetto for pizzas, and L'Igloo for a good cheap lunch in resort. There are a great variety of other restaurants including TexMex, a good Thai is Le Bangkok, with a rather idiosyncratic owner (he cooks well though!) Bars are also very varied: "British" bars are: Smokey Joes; The Secret; and The Red Frog . ; The Dutch up in the "Village" area is fun; Le Pressoir is a very French piano bar, and Le Saxo is a lively, young French bar. Many of the bars have Eurosport and Sky Sports, and most have some sort of internet facility so you can keep up with everything you want. The bars are mostly open until 2am. My personal favourites are quiet French bars with no obvious tourist attraction such as Les Lutins and L'Igloo. Le Brasilien is a bar/disco brilliant for music and dancing, at bar prices, but often very crowded after 10.30pm. It's open until 02.00 and is my favourite night spot. There are three discos in town: "L'Opéra" in the "Village" area focusing on "club" music;and the pricey, not so friendly, close to the centre L'Avalanche . At the entrance to the resort you'll find La Casa, which is large and has been gaining a following in the last year or two. Supermarkets are OK, the cheapest is Marche U on the main street, and probably has the biggest selection. There are also two Casinos . Prices are reasonable. Sports shops are plentiful, I work extensively with Ski Extreme, (carving and freeride skis, good boots, and run by Jutta who speaks fluent English.) In addition I recommend Sport Emotion (Twinner near the entrance to the resort) , a well run shop with a good, selection of equipment and very friendly staff who speak good english. I also find Jacques Sports (where Cedric the best boot man in LDA hangs out) very helpful and well placed at the bottom of the nursery lifts. They have lockers (bookable in advance) for storing your gear overnight in winter, which is particularly handy if you're staying some distance from the slopes or in Venosc. Accommodation Les 2 Alpes has 35,000 tourist beds! with a tremendous variety of available accommodation. In winter most of the major British tour operators are here offering chalets, hotels and apartments. I can personally recommend several self-catering apartments of various sizes, a self catering chalets and 1 catered apartment. Details can be found on the Discounts & Deals page The Tourist Office (English spoken) can provide a list of accommodation, which can be booked online, and you can also book direct with any of the hotels or other agencies. Catered accommodation ranges from 4* hotels to family guesthouses, and the food is mostly very good - this is France. Some of the hotels are bed and breakfast only, so you can eat out at a different restaurant every evening. Of these I heartily recommend Les Lutins, right in the centre, no frills but all en suite rooms. Exercise care if booking apartments through other agencies since they are often small for the maximum number of people they house. However 4 people in a 6 person apartment is normally OK. The safety regulations in France are not as high as in Britain, so take special care if you have small children. Generally the local agencies have better apartments than the British Tour Operators. Les 2 Alpes can be reached easily by road - 8 - 10 hours from Calais; by rail - Eurostar and TGV to Grenoble and then by bus or taxi to resort; by bus - 4 or 5 times a week from London to Grenoble and then regular bus to resort; and by air - fly to Lyon, Grenoble (probably the closest) or Chambery . There are regular buses from Lyon and Grenoble airports to Grenoble bus station, and from Chambery airport to the town centre where there are regular trains to Grenoble. Flights to Grenoble and Chambery are normally only available during the winter season. If driving I do not recommend the use of SatNav in the mountains - some people have been sent 3 times as far as necessary and onto the old, tiny, mountain roads instead of the new ones! If you would like any advice about specific options, or just a general chat about the resort, please feel free to contact me via the e-mail address below. The above are my personal opinions and favourites, so should be taken as such. Full listed information is on the Les 2 Alpes website which you can access from my links page.	Search Easiski

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