"Progressive attitude, superb terrain, improving architecture"

Tignes, France review

Image credit: © Jérémie Pontin

300km of pistes (for the whole of the Espace Killy)

Adult lift pass: 218 euros for six days

Resort elevation: 2100m/6890ft

Vertical skiing range: 1900m/6233ft

On a sunny day, the high valley of Tignes is so beautiful it'll make your eyes bleed: it's only when the clouds come down that you'll notice it's full of ugly buildings. Thank heavens it's beginning to change - a ski resort with world-class terrain like this deserves much better.

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Official Site www.tignes.net/en

Piste Map

The choice of fast, intermediate-friendly pistes.

The wide-open freeride terrain.

The big off-piste descents.

The snow-insurance provided by the glacier. Even if the snow is awful everywhere else, you can ski up here.

The highly-developed snowboarding and freestyle scene - with the European X-Games now its flagship event.

This superb JibVid, filmed in the Tignes terrain park, back in the days when the resort hosted the event. Snowboarding and Bob Dylan! Killer.

The growing number of independent ski and snowboard schools.

The gathering pace of architectural renewal. In 20 years time no-one will believe this place was once such an eyesore.

The good-value accommodation. In fact, studio apartments here are free January 2-9, 2010, if you buy four six-day Tignes adult lift passes. Visit www.tignesreservation.net for details.

The open-minded and progressive attitude of the resort authorities.

Le Brasero, our new favourite bar, which is in Le Lavachet.

The lush and totally un-Tignes-like world of the Hotel Les Suites du Nevada. But then why shouldn't Tignes have a hotel as swanky as this?

The treelessness of it. Low-visibility days are pretty much a write-off.

The underwhelming nightlife - with the exception of Le Brasero. Piste Addict, our Tignes Snogger begs to differ, but we still think the resort deserves something a bit more full-throttle.

The crowded pistes in high season.

Big, mixed ability groups on a limited budget

Off-pisters

Intermediates

Snowboarders

Early or late-season trips

Summer skiing in July and August on the glacier at Grand Motte

Anyone looking for a cute, old-fashioned mountain village

Anyone looking for a quiet, low-key week away from the world

Weekend skiing. It's fine for a four-day break, but for anything less than that, forget it - by the time you get up here from Geneva, it's time to go home again

Brits looking for a taste of abroad. These days, Tignes is only slightly less British than Val d'Isère

barneyrubble

9/1/2009 22:19

just read your comments about lavachet , scottys had nothing going on at all , just the staff all very drunk , we prefered the bar opposite

barneyrubble

9/1/2009 22:15

we stayed in lavachet and had a cool time in le brasero , good value in todays climate and with tons of live bands etc it made our holiday ..hoping to be back in april (cheap deal !)

jairey

9/10/2008 16:01

Age:

Favourite Resort:

Tignes

Favourite Skis:

Freeride

Last Skied:

March 2007

Tignes is my favourite resort by far. Pity about the night-life (or lack of) but on the snow you can't do much better!

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Resort reviews

Tignes, France

Tignes, France review