Les 3 Vallées
Les 3 Vallées is one lift-linked ski area of 600 km shared by seven resorts — Courchevel, Méribel, Brides-les-Bains, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and Orelle. You buy one pass and you can ski all of it, so the decision that actually matters is which valley you sleep in. There is also one pricing quirk worth knowing before you book: a six-day pass costs the same as a five-day pass.
The area in numbers
The number that matters most for snow reliability is not the 600 km — it is that 85% of the area sits above 1,800 m, and 25 lift-served summits reach above that, ten of them above 2,500 m. This is why the 3 Vallées still skis in a poor season when lower resorts are running on snowmakers. There are over 2,800 snowmakers covering 56.4% of the area as backup.
Pass prices, and the six-for-five quirk
These are the full-area 3 Vallées prices from the operator for 2026/27. The headline oddity: the operator prices a six-day pass identically to a five-day one.
| Pass | Adult 18–74 | Child 5–17 | Veteran 75+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day, full area | €84.20 | €69.00 | €21.00 |
| 6 days, full areaSix for five | €421.00 | €345.00 | €105.00 |
Our read: never buy five days here
The operator states plainly that the six-day pass is priced as the five-day pass. At €421 for six adult days, that works out at €70.17 a day against the €84.20 walk-up day rate — and the sixth day is effectively free. If your trip gives you five skiable days, buy six anyway: it costs the same and covers you if a storm shuts the top lifts on one of them. The only people who should buy day passes are those skiing three days or fewer.
Families
The Family Flex pass covers a group of three or more with a maximum of two adults aged 18–74 and at least one child aged 5–17.
| Family Flex | Price per person | vs individual adult |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days | €345.00 | — |
| 6 days | €335.00 | saves €86 per adult |
Note the Family Flex six-day rate is lower than its five-day rate. For two adults and two children over six days, Family Flex costs €1,340 against €1,532 buying two adult and two child passes individually — a saving of €192. Check the group composition rules apply to you before booking.
Which valley should you stay in?
Every one of these is on the same pass and connected by lift, so this is not about terrain access — it is about altitude, character and what your evenings look like.
Four villages by altitude, from Le Praz at 1300 m up to 1850. The upper village is the most expensive address in the area and the reason the 3 Vallées has a luxury reputation; the lower villages are wooded, quieter and much cheaper. Best for: strong intermediates, and anyone who wants tree-lined runs for bad-visibility days.
Courchevel accommodationGeographically the middle valley, which makes it the shortest hop to both ends of the area on a single day. Chalet-style rather than high-rise, and the traditional British base. Best for: groups who want to ski the whole area without long afternoon commutes home.
Méribel accommodationEurope's highest ski resort, and the most snow-sure bet in the area at either end of the season. Purpose-built and above the treeline, so it is bleak in a whiteout. Best for: early-December and late-April trips, and keen skiers who want to ski from the door.
Val Thorens accommodationThe value option, and the one that gets unfairly dismissed. High enough to be reliable, with the same pass and the same 600 km as Courchevel at a fraction of the accommodation cost. Some of the original architecture is uncharming. Best for: getting the most skiing per pound.
Les Menuires accommodationAlso on the pass and worth knowing about: Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, an actual old village rather than a built resort, and Brides-les-Bains, the cheapest bed in the area — it sits at 600 m down in the valley and connects by a long gondola, which is a real trade-off in time each morning. Orelle is the fourth-valley back door, usually the quietest way in.
Ski and board hire
Pre-booking online is the one dependable saving in a ski budget, and it means your kit is waiting rather than queued for on the first morning.
Skiset has shops across the 3 Vallées resorts and quotes up to 45% off its own walk-in rates for bookings of seven days or more. Book in the resort you are actually staying in — hauling skis between valleys to save a few euros is a poor trade.
Check 3 Vallées hire pricesWhat we have not put on this page
- Single-valley (sector) pass prices. Vallée de Méribel and the other sector-only passes exist and are cheaper than the full area, but the operator's booking page returns no price for them at the time of checking. We would rather link you to it than print a number we cannot stand behind.
- Season pass prices. Not published on the pages we checked.
- Accommodation costs per valley. These swing by more than 3× between January and February half-term, so a single "from" figure would mislead more than it helps.
- Bar, restaurant and ski school prices. Set independently by hundreds of businesses and by each ski school per week. We previously published precise figures for these; they were not sourced and have been removed.
- Lift count caveat. The operator states 161 lifts and 334 runs. Third-party databases variously list 156, 159 or 183 lifts and 328 runs. We use the operator's own figures and flag that they are not universally agreed.
Sources
Six-day and Family Flex prices — Les 3 Vallées official week passes, checked 3 August 2026.
Pistes, runs, lifts, altitude, snowmaking — Les 3 Vallées official ski area page.