Courchevel in season: chalets, arrivals and tables

A stay in Courchevel is prepared in a set order. The dates come first, because a handful of weeks carry most of the winter’s demand; then the chalet, chosen for what it includes; then the arrival, which is settled down in the valley; and finally the tables, instructors and treatments, which are booked well before the first run.

We prepare Courchevel stays in that order. For the 2026-27 season, some of the lead times are already running.

The 2026-27 season dates and the peak weeks

The tourist office gives the opening of the Courchevel ski area as 4 December 2026 and its closing as 18 April 2027. Courchevel Village, Moriond and La Tania open a day later, on 5 December, and Moriond and La Tania close early, on 11 April. The links to the rest of the 3 Vallées run from 5 December to 18 April. From February, the lifts stay open half an hour longer.

The week between Christmas and New Year is the busiest of the winter. February follows, with the school holidays, British half term among them; in 2027, the American Presidents’ Day falls on Monday 15 February, within the same period. January after New Year, March outside the school holidays, and April, Easter aside, are quieter.

Chalet lets turn over on Saturdays. On that day the house is emptied and made ready between 10am and 4pm, so a Saturday arrival is timed around that window, and the hour at which you can move in is confirmed before you travel.

Courchevel, formerly 1850, and the other villages

Courchevel is made up of five villages set at different altitudes. The highest, at 1,850 metres, has dropped the number from its name and is now simply Courchevel, although ‘Courchevel 1850’ remains in everyday use. Below it lie Courchevel Moriond (1650), Courchevel Village (1550) and Le Praz, at 1,300 metres, the lowest and the oldest, which still has the feel of an Alpine hamlet. La Tania completes the set.

The village is chosen together with the chalet, and the calendar plays its part: Moriond and La Tania close a week before the rest of the ski area. For a stay in mid-April, that is worth settling before you sign.

Renting a catered chalet in Courchevel: what the service includes

A chalet at this level runs with a team. As a rule there is a chalet manager, a chef, a butler whom listings call a ‘ski butler’, a driver and daily housekeeping; the most fully staffed houses add security, a maître d’hôtel or a barman.

The ski butler keeps the list of boot sizes and lift pass numbers, prepares and warms the boots, and has rental equipment fitted at the chalet rather than in a shop on the day you arrive. The driver matters most in the peak weeks, when traffic in the resort slows in the late afternoon.

What is included varies from one house to the next, and the listing is what counts. Some include three meals a day, others two, others a chef ‘on request’, with food then charged at cost. In some houses one meal a day is included outside the school holidays but not during them. Almost everywhere, lift passes, instructors, equipment, massages and childcare are charged separately.

We therefore read a chalet by its staff list and its included meals before looking at the photographs, and we do so before the deposit is paid. Two houses of similar size can offer two entirely different stays.

For the Christmas, New Year, February and Easter weeks, some agencies advise starting the search for accommodation nine to twelve months ahead. We select the chalet around your habits and pass on your preferences before you arrive, as we do for every stay in our Travel & Stays service.

Getting to Courchevel: Chambéry, Geneva, by road or by helicopter

Arriving in Courchevel happens in two stages: an airport or a railway station in the valley, then the road or a helicopter.

By road, allow about an hour and a half from Chambéry (109 kilometres), a little over two hours from Lyon or Grenoble, and roughly two and a half hours from Geneva (190 kilometres). Chambéry is the closest airport, but it has fewer scheduled flights. The train takes you to Moûtiers, from where the road climbs a further 25 kilometres up the valley, about forty minutes.

A helicopter shortens the final leg: about fifteen minutes from Chambéry, half an hour to three quarters of an hour from Geneva, and forty to forty-five minutes from Lyon. It lands at the altiport.

The Courchevel altiport

According to AOPA, the American pilots’ association, the runway is just over 500 metres long with a gradient of nearly 19 per cent, one end sitting some 62 metres higher than the other. Aircraft always land uphill and always take off downhill, whatever the wind; beyond a certain point on the approach there is no go-around, and the pilot is committed to landing. The altiport operates in visual conditions and by day only, with no instrument approach and no runway lighting: in fog or under a low cloud base, landing there is practically impossible. It mainly receives small propeller aircraft and helicopters, and pilots must hold a mountain rating or an authorisation specific to the site.

For your arrival, the road is therefore always planned as well. The transfer by car stands ready at the airport whatever the sky does: the driver has the chalet’s address, and if the altiport is closed, the journey up is made by road without your having to ask.

Booking tables and ski instructors in Courchevel in season

Tables are booked at the same time as the chalet. For a table at a starred restaurant at Christmas, New Year or in February, allow four to six weeks at the very least. Mountain restaurants are booked the week before, and in February the 1pm terrace sittings are full by 12.30pm.

Private instructors for the peak weeks are reserved from November; during the holidays, morning slots with an English-speaking instructor are taken by mid-January. A spa treatment in a peak week is booked the week before, not on the morning itself.

We book these tables, lessons and treatments before you leave, alongside the house, and move them when your plans change. Dining and experiences are handled like the rest of the stay, confirmed before you arrive.

Conclusion

In Courchevel the season is short and its peak weeks are booked well in advance. Choose the chalet for what it includes, plan the arrival with the road ready whatever the weather, and book tables, instructors and treatments at the same time as the chalet.

Once you are there, one number is enough.