Ultimate Guide to Alpe d’Huez Après Ski Bars & Nightlife

We need to talk about Alpe d’Huez après ski, because honestly, this place can get quite wild. And I mean that in the best possible way.

I’ve been coming here for years, watching La Folie Douce grow from a decent mountain restaurant into an absolute circus at 2,000m. Seen grown men utterly defeated trying to get a table at Smithy’s on a Thursday. Watched millionaires and seasonaires become best mates over €6 beers at 2am. This resort… it just does something to people. Like so many SNO clients, I absolutely love Alpe d’Huez ski holidays.

Here’s the thing about Alpe d’Huez – it doesn’t try to be Val d’Isère. Instead, you get this brilliant mess of French mountain culture crashed into by waves of Brits, Dutch and even French who really, REALLY know how to party. Chuck in 300 days of sunshine (yes, actually 300), and lifts that run late enough to keep the mountain venues pumping? Recipe for chaos. Beautiful, beautiful chaos.

The lay of the land (because this place is confusing as hell)

Alpe d’Huez sprawls. Properly sprawls. Not like those neat little resorts where everything’s on one street.

You’ve got the old town – Vieil Alpe – where the magic happens. Smithy’s, L’Igloo, Les Caves… all within stumbling distance. Then there’s the main drag with its weird mix of sports bars and posh hotels. But here’s what most people miss: the villages. Vaujany, Oz, Auris, Villard-Reculas. Each one’s got its own thing going on. Some brilliant, some… well, let’s just say Villard-Reculas isn’t where you go to rage.

The Brits basically own Thursday nights. The Dutch go hard all week. The Scandinavians? They’re the ones still standing at 5am, smiling. And the French locals just shake their heads and pour another wine, occasionally joining in when they think nobody’s watching.

Mountain mayhem: Where sensible skiing goes to die

La Folie Douce – the beautiful disaster

Jesus Christ, where do I even start with La Folie Douce? Top of the Marmottes 1 lift. Opens at 9am if you’re one of those who wants breakfast with a view, but let’s be real… you come here for the madness from 2:30pm.

Picture 3,000 people… on a mountain… in ski boots… drinking champagne (or beer for most of us) like it’s water. Professional dancers do backflips over your head while you’re trying not to spill your €15 cocktail or €10 almost-pint. DJs who wouldn’t look out of place in Ibiza. And everyone – EVERYONE – ends up on the tables.

When a 70-year-old Swiss banker sprays a €400 bottle of champagne over a hen party from Newcastle, nobody will bat an eyelid. That’s just Tuesday at La Folie Douce.

My SNO Pro Tip is to book a VIP table if you’re flush or arrive by 2pm. By 3pm it’s carnage trying to get served. And watching people ski down after is comedy gold. That blue run under Marmottes has seen some things, let me tell you.

The other mountain spots in Alpe d’Huez

La Cabane – now this is clever. Smaller, more chilled, but here’s the kicker: they’ll drag you back up the mountain in a piste basher for dinner. Costs a fortune but sitting under the stars, half-cut, eating fondue? Worth every centime.

Sporting Bar – forget the mountain location, this sits by the ice rink in town but you can ski to it. Sort of. Used to be where the French ski team hung out. Now it’s all leather chairs and 70s vibes, which sounds like a weird combination but it works. The owner seems to be mates with half the celebrities in France, so you might spot someone famous. Or at least someone who thinks they’re famous.

Old town is where dignity goes to die

Smithy’s Tavern – the institution

25 years. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS this place has been destroying livers (and marriages?). Walk in on a dead Tuesday and you’d think “nice little pub” but, come Thursday night, it’s a different animal.

6pm: decent covers band starts
8pm: food’s still edible, crowd’s warming up
10pm: the table dancing starts (yes, ON the tables you’re eating from)
Midnight: absolute bedlam
2am: stumble downstairs to L’Igloo

I once saw an exec and a lifty have a dance-off on the bar. The lifty won. Obviously.

Another SNO Pro Tip is to book dinner for 6:30pm, claim your table, and then never leave. The Tex-Mex is actually decent (not guaranteed in the Alps) and soaks up the damage.

Going underground

Zoo Bar – connected to Smithy’s, tiny, sweaty, brilliant. Where the seasonaires go when they can’t face the madness upstairs. Pool table’s wonky, speakers crackle, drinks are strong. Perfect.

Underground Bar – different place, despite the name. They’ve gone full London Transport theme. Bit naff? Sure (so am I?) but on a snowy Tuesday when there’s a reggae band playing and you’re on your fourth pint, surrounded by Mind the Gap signs? Somehow it works. Plus their terrace gets sun all afternoon and beers are almost reasonable.

When midnight isn’t late enough

L’Igloo – opens at midnight, right when Smithy’s is kicking out. A proper nightclub with foam parties, R&B nights, drinks that’ll make your eyes water (€12 for vodka Red Bull? You’re having a laugh). But when it’s 2am and you’re in a foam-covered mess with 500 other idiots? Magic.

Les Caves de l’Alpe – free entry. FREE ENTRY. In a ski resort. Mental. Opens midnight, closes when the last person crawls out (usually around 5am). More electronic, younger crowd, zero pretension. Just people who really, really don’t want the night to end.

Main street nightlife madness in Alpe d’Huez

FreeRide Bar is capitalism gone wild

Stock market prices for drinks. Sounds stupid. IS stupid. But also genius. Screens everywhere showing real-time prices based on what people are ordering.

I’ve seen Kronenbourg hit €2. I’ve also seen some muppet pay €200 for champagne because everyone ordered it at once. The toilet slide’s a lawsuit waiting to happen but watching drunk people attempt it? Priceless.

Open every single day. Locals love it and there’s a mix of everyone. Pool tables that actually work. Sports on big screens. What more do you want?

The posh bits

Sphere Bar – does live music, karaoke Thursdays (do you like hearing “Sweet Caroline” murdered?), decent terrace. Not trying too hard, which is refreshing.

Hotel Daria-I-Nor – this is where you take a date you’re trying to impress. Or where you go when Smithy’s has broken you. Proper cocktails, jazz some nights, prices that’ll make you cry. But sometimes you need a martini made by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Le Pic Blanc and Les Grandes Rousses – hotel bars for people who ski in fur coats. You know the type. Good for one expensive drink while pretending you belong.

Village escapes where the A-d’H locals actually drink

Vaujany for me is the surprise package

The 20-minute cable car ride is called the James Bond Gondola because, well, James Bond. Suddenly you’re in a proper French village that happens to have cracking nightlife.

The HQ – newish, but already the heart of the village. 4pm onwards, everyone piles in. Ski instructors, locals, confused tourists who took the wrong lift. Good beer selection, sports on, atmosphere building from 7pm when the instructors have had a couple of hours supping after teaching little Tarquin how to pizza.

IDA’s Bar – in the V hotel but lets outsiders in. Happy hour at 5pm, cocktails that don’t taste like sugar water. Opens 8am for proper coffee, bless them.

Stief’s – Austrian-run, meat-heavy, beer-focused. So I would ask “what’s not to love?”

Oz-en-Oisans is small and really sweet but more limited

Family resort vibes. Ozzie Bar on the slopes stays open till 1am. Le Perce Neige in the village has a very local flavour. They’ve got their own Underground Bar but it’s not the same. Still, better than nothing.

Auris-en-Oisans is actually quite good

Pump and Drink – self-service beer taps. Load money on a card, pour your own. A disaster? Yes, potentially. Is it brilliant? Absolutely, especially during the Six Nations rugby.

Bar Bichette – a proper local favourite with a sunny terrace, aperitif boards that aren’t just supermarket cheese, and occasionally locals who’ll chat (if you make a really big effort with your French).

Villard-Reculas – ermm…

Look, it’s lovely. Traditional. Authentic. But nightlife? Le Comptoir du Villard is basically a shop with a bar. La Bergerie does drinks till 5pm. That’s your lot. Come here for the skiing and the views, not the parties.

Alpe d’Huez nightlife survival guide and how not to die

Getting around late at night worse for wear

The shuttle bus stops early and taxis are rare and expensive, but old town to new town involves icy paths after midnight. I’ve seen too many people stack it. Just pay for the bloody taxi. Your ankles will thank you.

The timeline of destruction

3-5pm: Mountain venues or sunny terraces
5-7pm: Happy hours in town, eat something for god’s sake
7-10pm: Dinner, bar hopping, building momentum
10pm-midnight: Peak carnage at Smithy’s etc
Midnight-3am: Nightclub territory
3-5am: Les Caves, home or hospital

What it actually costs

Let’s be honest:

• Tight budget: €30-50 (happy hours, FreeRide crashes, free-entry venues)
• Normal: €60-100 (you’re buying rounds, aren’t you?)
• Showing off: €150+ (champagne at altitude, hotel bars, “I’ll get this one”)

Mountain prices hurt. Beer’s €5-8 in town, €7-11 up high. Cocktails €10-18. Club entry €10-20 with a drink. It adds up fast. It always does.

When to come

December: quiet start, weekends only
January: mayhem, but great snow so not everyone’s out until dawn
February: half-term is kids everywhere daytime, parents going mental at night
March: sweet spot – weather, crowds, atmosphere
April: spring vibes, shorter hours some places but sun terraces make up for it

Your Alpe d’Huez night out, sorted

Classic carnage route

La Folie Douce at 2:30pm. Ski down (carefully) around 4pm. Sphere for happy hour recovery. Dinner at Bar l’Indiana (sports on, food’s decent). Smithy’s by 9pm for the band. Stay till you’re on the tables. Zoo Bar for contrast. L’Igloo till whenever then kebab and Club Bed.

Classy version

Sunset cocktails at Daria-I-Nor. Dinner at Le Pic Blanc (book ahead, wear actual clothes). La Bamboche for wine and chat. Midnight appearance at Les Caves because you’re not THAT classy. Home by 2am feeling smug.

Local’s special

Skip the obvious. Cable car to Vaujany. HQ for beers and chat. Dinner at Shred (burgers AND ski tuning, I kid you not). Back to Alpe d’Huez for Underground Bar’s live music. FreeRide when prices crash. Bed before 3am like a responsible adult.

Broke but keen

Underground terrace afternoon (cheapest pints). Hunt happy hours like your life depends on it. Smithy’s before 9pm for deals. Nurse beers at Zoo. Les Caves with one drink. Make friends, hope they’re buying.

Why Alpe d’Huez après and nightlife hits different

Look, it’s not Val Thorens consistent messiness. Not Courchevel’s champagne-soaked showing off. It’s weirder than that. More varied. You can have a €4 beer with a liftie then bump into a celebrity at the hotel bar. You can party on a mountain then find yourself in a traditional village pub an hour later.

Yeah, it’s spread out but when it all clicks – sun shining, drinks flowing, tables being danced on, mountains glowing pink at sunset – there’s nowhere like it.

Just pace yourself. Those 300 days of sunshine can mean brutal hangovers. The altitude doesn’t help and that fourth tequila at 2,000m? It’s a poor choice, but you’ll choose it anyway…

Because that’s what Alpe d’Huez does to people. It takes perfectly sensible adults and turns them into altitude-drunk idiots dancing on tables to “Mr. Brightside” at 3am.

And honestly, would we have it any other way?

Learn more about Alpe d’Huez ski holidays, or browse the best package deals and call our friendly experts 020 7770 6888 for help finding your perfect trip to the sunniest après ski resort in the Alpes.