Flaine reviews

Two friends and I have spent long weekends in Flaine several times and cannot recommend it enough. It is unbelievable that more people don't go here or even hear about the place. The village was planned and built in the 1960s and is entirely made of concrete. Unlike other similar resorts (Cervinia's Cielo Alto complex), it has not fallen into disrepair but has been carefully refined without being overly conservative. The village has no flashy or expensive shops and generally feels homely and friendly. All accommodation in the village is a short distance from the slopes and two gondolas take you directly from the village high up the mountain. In this bowl in which the system is located, there is just under 900 metres of elevation gain to work with and that is plenty. The fact that it is a bowl you are skiing in also means that you can choose which side of the system to get the best conditions. The grading of the slopes is a bit misleading as it is a bit steeper than stated (in a positive way). We had sunny weekends without fresh snow, but when there is snow there is a lot of available off-piste directly next to the lifts.

Next to the Flaine bowl there is a very own large valley called "Gers" with 640 meters of altitude, in it there is only one button lift and there is never any skiing here. When that lift opens after a snowfall, this is where the skiing is (say the locals).

Flaine is part of the larger Grand-Massif system and if I were to spend more than a weekend here I would buy a lift pass for the entire system even though I think the best skiing is in Flaine. In addition to all the French, there were some English, Dutch and Belgians in the village but no Swedes, despite the fact that UCPA travels here. We arrived by plane from Geneva and took a transfer taxi that took about 1.20 hours. I will definitely go here again.

The village is on two floors, at the top Flaine Forèt and further down Flaine Forum (the center). On both floors there is a grocery store etc. It doesn't really matter which of these two floors you live on as it is easy to get between them and the walking distance to the lift is comparable.

Plus:
- Fast lifts and no queues
- Chill atmosphere
- Very large and accessible areas for off-piste

Minus:
- No party / partying

For us, Scandinavians must be one of the most underrated ski resorts in the Alps!
We have just completed a "minitour" where Megeve, Avoriaz (Port Du Solei) and Flaine (Grand Massif) were visited in 4 days. We all agreed that Flaine was the best. We make no reviews regarding accommodation or après-ski, but for skiing we give Flaine high marks. This is especially true of those who like to drive actively in the slopes. The slopes lie mainly in the fall line, which gives the opportunity for fine rides.

Snow-proof and top-fine skiing both in the slopes and outside

Firstly, the village is awful. The houses are in gray concrete. However, there are nice and nice cabins to rent (via www.ski-france.com for example).

The off-piste skiing really has potential and the surfaces big. However, there are rarely any longer scratches. In good snow conditions, however, there is much to go on and the competition for off-piste snow seems to be non-existent.

After-ski is just forgetting as it is the most families in the area. The outposts in the hill became crowded at 17 and closed shortly after.

The lower village "Carros " is really nice and is defenetift an option to live in and then you get up in the Flaine section with the cabin.

After five skiing days in Flaine last week, it landed in a surprisingly high grade. Our expectations were extremely low after having been intensive watching the webcam the week before departure. This showed birthmark at 1600 m ...

One of the major advantages of the Grand Massif system is the proximity to Geneva. Short transfer, about 1h means that at 4h from Sthlm you are in the apartment, difficult to talk, especially when Norwegian and EasyJet fly directly to Geneva and the euro is low.

The ride is varied and above all easily accessible. You get really good off-piste with up to 1000 fallmeters from the lift, there is a good snow base and on a little new you have a lot to do; easy or difficult entry under the Les Grand Platieres gondola, slope and drive under Col De Plaine, hike a bit or tame around in the nice backcountry behind Tetes de Lindars.

The village Flaine itself is on the verge of disgusting in its exterior, but the food around the lifts is quite alright (especially La Grange, near the bottom of the Grand Platières gondola. Tignes is an architectural highlight and as charming in comparison, we chose accommodation in Samoens, which proved to be a cozy city, but nothing for party cheers. Okay, the restaurant offering, La Louisiana pizzeria stands out as particularly good, an absolutely ok Sherpa shop and the obligatory bakeries often worth the effort (a strategically placed near the bottom of the gondola).

The availability of both the Geneva system and the off-piste makes this a very good destination, especially for short trips when you want to adjust your pillow hammers.

Flaine is a good ski area.
No lift queue, no people and you can go to the powder in the Gers valley a week after the last snowfall when nobody else does it ;-)

Stay in Hamaue de Flaine or Samoëns.

Flaine or Le Grand Massif with the villages Flaine, Les Carroz, Morillon, Samoens and Sixt is perhaps France's most underrated ski resort.
I found here in the mid 80's when Snöresor had the resort of his program for a couple of years. The last 5 years I have been there and this year for 6 weeks. During the whole period I did not meet a single Swedish (pretty nice)
So some + and -
+ Proximity to Geneva (slightly closer than Avoriaz)
+ A lot of snow (partly because the weather is slightly worse than the southern terrain)
+ Large and quiet ski area for all types of riders
+ Les Cascades and Partly Off-piste stretch through a nature reserve, fall height 2480-to Sixt 800 meters. Get the best February-March.
+ Flaine Super Ski Alps Best Ski School http://www.flainesuperski.com/supersk1.htm
+ Relatively cheap. You can purchase an annual card for the entire system for around 2500 SEK if you order it in December.
- Pretty ugly and boring city
- Bad evening life (however, I prefer to have a good meal in front of the staff at Dico).
- A little worse weather than in the Three Dalarna
Summary
Would you like a good skiing at a reasonable price and a minal hangover and prefer to spend time with Frenchmen. English and Dutch, then you choose Flaine next time.

France's third largest ski area where Flaine is one of the cities. Flaine is built in concrete and there are lifts on rails between the city's levels. Pretty ugly. The skiing is okay but does not have the world's best offpiste. There is a lot to discover. This is something of a family place.