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Avoriaz Reviews
19 reviews of Avoriaz in France.
Voted 5th out of 29 reviewed ski resorts in France
- Superb(12)
- Good(5)
- O.K.(2)
- Poor(0)
- Awful(0)
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Group of different level skiers
Reviewed 10 Jun 2016
My son used to race, I’m a happy off piste skier, my wife’s an intermediate and my nephew was a beginner. We all skied together which Avoriaz is great for as on some of the runs you can ski down the piste or ski off piste between the trees – and all meet at the bottom. It’s a nice ski area linked to Switzerland and we went across the border a couple of times.
The resort has no vehicles and it’s quite nice using horses and sleighs. One reason we chose Avoriaz is that it has the extra height that Morzine doesn’t. We were very lucky as there had been a massive lack of snow for a month beforehand but when we arrived there was a big dump – so we got the timing just right.
In all it was a good week and I’d go back.
Loads to ski, needs better lifts & signage
Reviewed 23 May 2016
We had loads of snow halfway through the week which was needed. the ski area was perfectly skiable, and even more enjoyable with fresh snow (we had about half a metre there). I would say that it’s a resort for beginner and mid-range skiers. If you want to get the best out of the area you probably need to be a bit more than an intermediate. The area is mostly reds and there are some testing blacks, but you can do the circuit without going near them if you want to.
I had previously visited 13 odd years ago, and I think the lifts need a lot of updating. If the weather’s bad the lifts are all open to the elements, with no cover. There are a couple of cable cars and bubbles but it’s really all chair lifts. The signage was awful too. It really needs updating!
Avoriaz in March
Reviewed 23 May 2016
I spent a week in Avoriaz with my other half in Chalet Perce Neige at the end of March. The resort always divides opinions but I believe the architecture is quite striking. The large complexes are built in dark wood, designed to blend into the background and look like a snow covered cliff from afar. If you prefer “chocolate box” resorts but would still like to ski the Porte du Soleil ski area, you would probably prefer to stay in Morzine or Les Gets as these are less purpose built and have more chalet accommodation.
It’s really snow sure- when we stayed it was 24th March and Avoriaz had 160cm of snow, with a lot more forecast for during the week. It was the Easter holidays and I could see why the resort was so great for families. You can ski through the centre on blue and green runs as the whole resort benefits from being traffic free, most of the accommodation is ski in, ski out or very close to the pistes. It has a lot of shops, restaurants and a decent sized supermarket for self-catered guests and there’s a cinema, bowling alley, horse-drawn sleigh rides and the Aquariaz water park for non-skiing activities. The skiing area itself is varied and extensive and offers something for everyone. There’s also the most ridiculous number of mountain restaurants to choose from if you enjoy your lunch with great views. I’d recommend “Les Lindarets” area of the ski map, everywhere we stopped there was lovely and “Le Yeti”, just above the town, was great as well.
Brilliant week in Avoriaz
Reviewed 20 May 2016
We thought Avoriaz was brilliant, it’s a love it or hate it place in terms of the look, but we loved it – it is what it is. The ski area is perfect for kids with some amazing blue runs. Some were more like reds being quite steep in parts, but that was perfect for our boys who love a challenge. The French were so friendly and the guys on the ski lifts were amazing. The whole place is very child friendly – you can hire a sledge and go sledging, ice skate etc. The Evolution 2 ski school was brilliant and their instructors are fantastic, we will definitely use them again.
Nice ski resort
Reviewed 12 May 2016
Avoriaz is a very nice resort, we were quite unlucky with the weather this year (pretty much a white out) and the week coincided with the French school holidays so it was busy – but we still enjoyed it!
Amazing family resort
Reviewed 6 May 2016
Amazing resort. Perfect weather, perfect snow. The ski school we used, Evolution 2, were very good and I would highly recommend them. Everyone progressed and had a good time.
Great resort for children
Reviewed 19 Apr 2016
When we stayed in Les Menuires last February, we visited Avoriaz then and liked it. This February we were won over by Austria over French ski holidays, but we still had a great New Years in Avoriaz. I would recommend skiing here, especially for families as it’s very good if you have kids.
The only thing is we couldn’t find a single clothes shop when our luggage got lost by the airline. But overall it’s a great resort, with a very good lift system and lots of nice restaurants.
Been many times
Reviewed 6 May 2015
Avoriaz is great, it’s a fantastic area to ski with a good mix of slopes and lots of off piste. This year aside, it’s usually pretty snow sure – despite the snow conditions (Morzine was pretty much closed) we still managed to ski on the higher runs. Although I come here to ski all week, there are plenty of other things to do. It’s also very accessible. Highly recommended.
A traffic free resort with short transfers & doorstep skiing
Reviewed 9 Apr 2015
We’ve been to Avoriaz a couple of times, I like the idea that you can ski to the door of all the accommodation and the transfers from Geneva aren’t too long which is great. This time we flew from Exeter and because it’s such a small airport the whole process was very quick. I also like the fact that there’s no traffic in the resort so you can walk everywhere. The area is good for intermediate skiers, probably not so good for advanced skiers and obviously very good for families which they advertise a lot. The restaurant scene is good, the only thing is that you do need to book a table in advance for evening meals. Considering it was half term, I didn’t find Avoriaz to be excessively busy – I’ve been to other resorts at half term that have been a lot busier.
Tips from a seasonaire
Reviewed 17 Jun 2014
It’s an acquired taste (Avoriaz is purpose built) but I definitely prefer the area to the 3 Valleys; I think the Portes du Soleil is the best ski area in Europe. It has several distinct advantages over the 3 Valleys too – it’s only about an hour from Geneva which is a much shorter transfer, and the lift pass is also much cheaper. The skiing is generally quieter and easier, so it’s better for families. The skiing is all natural as well, the pistes haven’t been bashed into place, they exist naturally. There is loads of off-piste, but there isn’t so much challenging stuff, you have to go looking for it.
Of course it’s not as high as Val Thorens, but Avoriaz has the best snow record of anywhere at 1800m. I saw 9 seasons of good snow here – not one year did we have bad snow, even early and late in the season. It’s mainly north-facing slopes, so the snow doesn’t melt or get slushy when it’s sunny. The runs on Arare-Hauts Forts area all face the buildings and are northerly, so the snow is always good here, even in late April. There is a great snow park and a fantastic ski cross. The Fornet area is very good too. Go up the Floret lift and go left – there’s a fantastic run which is usually unpisted with jumps and ridges and moguls to play on.
For the best views go to the Mossette area. From here you have 360 degree views of the whole area, and you can ski along the ridge. All the mountains you can see from the other side of Mossette are named after teeth… Dents du Midi, Dents Blanches... You can see over to Switzerland.
The French part of the Portes du Soleil is much better than the Swiss side. The French have spent more on their lifts, some of the lifts on the Swiss side seem to be from the 1960s! There are lots of T-bars too. You can do a ski safari over to Switzerland from Morzine/Avoriaz, it’s about 75km all the way. Just be warned there is a mile and a half on a flat T-bar, not much fun for snowboarders.
Avoriaz is brilliant for snowboarders, you can ski the whole area without having to get any drag lifts at all. Linga on the Châtel side is a favourite. There is a brilliant mountain hut called “the Bear” which has 1000 stuffed bears, it’s a nice place to stop with the family for a 10 o’clock hot chocolate. It’s quite expensive of course. There is also another novel restaurant on the Linga run which has a tree growing through the roof and tables made of slate, that’s a place definitely worth visiting.
The best run in the whole Portes du Soleil area is near Linga and Les Lindarets, on Cornebois. Go up with the Cornebois chairlift, then turn left and ski along the ridge. Then you can go down a stunning red run which goes through a series of gullies and catches the sun beautifully. It’s wide and you can sweep from side to side. When I guided I used to take clients here and it was one of those runs that people wanted to do over and over again.
If you look carefully at Avoriaz from above, you’ll notice that Avoriaz town has been built to mirror the shape of the mountains behind it. It’s worth going up high and seeing if you can spot this.
Lovely place!
Reviewed 12 Jun 2014
It was my first time here and I thought it was lovely! There’s no traffic which is really good. It was the end of the season but there was still plenty of slopes open and we had some lovely days of sunshine, we were really lucky with the weather.
I’m a novice so I stuck to one area but the rest of the people in my chalet could go all the way over to Switzerland, there’s loads to do as it’s such a big area.
In the village there’s a cinema, spa place and outdoor pool.
Better snow than Morzine (which had none!) & nice friendly resort
Reviewed 11 Jun 2014
I’m glad that we went to Avoriaz over Morzine as there wasn’t any snow in Morzine, it was all green! Avoriaz is a really nice, friendly place and it’s easy to get around. There are no cars or taxis so you have to get the horse and carriage to get around which is quite cool. There are also loads of pedestrian stairways and escalators to get around as everything is on snow.
The Portes du Soleil ski area is massive, one of the largest in the world. If we’d gone in Jan-Feb rather than April, we would have done off-piste but as it was we had a good time anyway and skied over to places like Chatel.
Great week, would definitely go back
Reviewed 3 Jun 2014
I’d definitely recommend Avoriaz, it’s a really good resort. There’s one resort half way up the hill that you can ski down to (the one that the bus stops off at on the way). You can also ski up another valley but we didnt find it very good, the lifts were really busy. Everything on the Avoriaz side is really good but it’s a bit of a long haul to go over to the other bit, you end up spending more time in lifts than on the slopes.
The snow conditions were really good and we had no issues at all.
Lots of powder
Reviewed 2 Jun 2014
This was my first time in Avoriaz. It’s fantastic! We went in early Feb and we had a lot of snow, almost too much, and it was very powdery. Can’t complain about that really! The temperature rose while we were skiing so all the powder that had got into our jackets melted into water which wasn’t very nice. I loved it though. It’s beautiful. It’s damn expensive - £8 for a beer (although apparently that was in the most expensive bar in resort). I would definitely go back, we’ve been talking about going again this coming season. It would be a lovely place to take my niece and nephew, there’s a bowl in the middle of town with drag lifts which is great for children.
There was a hell of a wind on some days while we were there, I think it might get channelled up from Morzine. They didn’t shut the lifts though.
Big and high ski area - just what we like
Reviewed 20 May 2014
Avoriaz is a big ski resort and you can go so high and so far, which is what we look for as a group as we like lots of variety. The snow was brilliant, we had sunshine and blue skies as well as good conditions. We met some people who go back to Avoriaz every year because it’s so good.
Second to none
Reviewed 24 Apr 2014
Avoriaz is second to none, it’s fantastic!
There is such a vast expanse and you can get over to Switzerland and just ski through the valleys.
Recommended.
Fresh powder
Reviewed 7 Apr 2014
I would definitely go back to Avoriaz! It’s a quite compact resort, small compared to places like Tignes and Val d’Isere and very quaint. Unlike other places that have lots of English people, Avoriaz had mainly Belgians and lots of French.
The snow was amazing at the beginning of Feb and we had fresh powder every day – maybe one bad afternoon where we couldn’t ride but that was it.
I’d definitely recommend it for snowboarding, it’s a huge area with a big range for all levels and in particular the backcountry is fantastic.
Cool resort, friendly people, charming area
Reviewed 13 Mar 2014
We would definitely ski Avoriaz again. We only took the pass for Avoriaz when we stayed here but if we went back we would take the full area pass (my husband is a competent boarder and was a bit bored by the middle of the week).
The area is so charming and lovely, with little shops and restaurants in the village. Avoriaz is a really cool resort, with friendly people. It’s a real family place but if you want to do nightlife and go out you can, although it’s a bit sleepy and most places are closed after 12.
We did our homework and booked outside UK school holidays but we didn’t think about the French schools and on the last week of February it was very busy- the queues for the lifts were full on so we’ll definitely check both UK and French school holidays next time. I hadn’t seen those queues before but it’s just a popular place because it’s so great.
Dream to learn in Portes du Soleil
Reviewed 3 Oct 2013
Learning to ski in Avoriaz was a dream; we stayed in the Portes du Soleil studio apartments so the ski in and ski out was fantastic, and the fact that you could ski through most of the town made getting around fun and easy. The huge beginners’ area also helped enormously, and the variety of blues and easy reds meant that you could progress at any speed during the week and you would be constantly tested. All in all, a great resort for families with members looking to learn.
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