Skiing
business in France arrived as late as in the mid-60's, whereas
the other alpine countries have been building their mountain
resorts for almost 20 years. However, very fast and well-planned
development allowed French sportsmen to win some of skiing competitions
and improve sports popularity among the nation.
Skiing in France takes place in two parts of
the country: the Alps and the 5 times smaller Pyrenees. Although
as many as 400 fully equipped mountain resorts are situated
in the Alps range, they only cover 6% of its total area, so
that the mountains have not lost any part of their natural beauty.
Due to location at the height of up to 3300 meters above sea
level, French resorts are busy for a very long part of the year.
The skiing season in these starts in late autumn and ends in
the first days of May.
Similar to other Alpine countries, the policy of one ski pass
accepted by many resorts greatly improves quality of services
and provides the skier with incredible choice of skiing trails
everyday during their holiday.
The accommodation options awaiting travellers vary from old,
traditional villages similar to Megeve, through modest resorts
getting full only for the weekend to absolutely artificial structures
like La Plagne or Val-Thorens. Tourists visiting French Alps
for holiday can choose among many various accommodation options,
from simple non-serviced apartments to high-end 4- and 5-star
hotels, depending on one's needs and spending possibilities.
Only 80 biggest French ski resorts can accommodate
almost 1 Million tourists, what allows France to be a cut above
its main competitor in this area - Austria. On the other hand,
5 Million French citizens choose mountains for their winter
holidays (Christmas, School holidays in February and Easter)
every year. This leads to high prices and lower attractiveness
of French resorts among other nations. Only 15% of all visitors
come from abroad, whereas Austrian resorts are visited by around
70% of foreign tourists.
Spending winter holiday in France is quite expensive in comparison
to Austria or Italy, but skiing possibilities and service quality
offered here will let you forget the cost.
