Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Val Cenis
Planning a ski trip to Val Cenis? Browse our collection of visitor-generated reviews that rank the mountain and ski town on a scale of one to five stars in the following categories: Overall Rating, All-Mountain Terrain, Nightlife, Terrain Park and Family Friendly. See how Val Cenis stacks up to others in terms of skiing and après, and read up on pros, cons and comments from fellow skiers and snowboarders. Don't forget to submit your own Val Cenis review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your ski area experience.
Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Val Cenis
Total (3.8)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
Great unspoilt French village, uncrowded slopes, good food very scenic, great off piste if conditions allow it.
Steve Dance
We started Skiiing here & came back 8 years running, always have good snow and blue sky days. Other resorts near accessible via buses. Good walking trails with stunning views. A full range of runs from black to green to keep everyone happy
Iain Patterson
New Year trip staying Termignon where my beginner wife and children had their lessons. Chosen due to L'Escargot over on Val Cenis side which is a 10k green run (billed as longest in Europe) and great to cement learning. ESF at Termignon was great and super friendly/accommodating. Slight issue on Termignon side with transition slope from top to nursery slopes being slightly undergraded as blue when actually a red. Unfortunately the windy green one didnt have enough snow so was closed which made for a slighlty anxious wife! Top of Termignon lovely - then onto Val Cenis where the main area is. Unfortunately had to chair it down as linking slope closed but once there Val Cenis was good and relatively expansive with a lot of options. Real treat which I skied solo was Bonneville at far end of the linked villages. Days high alpine skiing which was quite exhilarating. Other aspect I liked was mainly french with few and far between Brits, Dutch and Italians
In resort food options so so as not a great fondue / raclette fan. Overall a great intro to Alpine skiing for wife and kids.
ocastanton
Have just left Lanslevillard after a 4 day trip, our first in the Alps. As beginners (2nd season), we were very lucky to experience what we consider to be ideal conditions for March. Lots of snow in the week before we arrived and a mix of sunshine and snow during our stay. Pistes kept in great condition. Marvellous choice of slopes, connected with each other by very easy to use chairlifts (sometimes called 'scarelifts' by us from experience of other resorts!) and Gondolas/button lifts. We didn't experience the whole resort as we are novices but there seems to be a lot on offer for all abilities. Saw some tiny tots barely at walking level having lessons and other 'Franz Klammer wannabees' thoroughly enjoying themselves. We were in our campervan but thinking of taking a chalet next season, though accommodation seems to be limited to 'Residences' rather than individual chalets. Having visited after the main season ie outside school holidays, evening 'buzz' was perhaps a little lacking but compensated by relatively quiet slopes. Needless to say, the famous 10k L'Escargot green run is a experience not to be missed. We stayed at Lanslevillard campsite and I would say that this end of the valley probably has more charm/style than the Lanslebourg end. The connection via lifts makes each resort equally accessible from the other. In short, loved it! Can't wait to go back.
Nick Bowen
Val Cenis is an attractive ski area with varied pistes, a good range in height and lack of crowds. The wooded pistes are lovely; there are rather a lot of them descending the steep valley sides into the villages. The more open slopes above are fabulous and offer varied terrain and incredible views. The pistes are very well kept and we found very few moguls or bad ice, despite a lack of snowfall and high valley temperatures during our stay; they managed the snow very well to keep all the runs open. Some of the lifts are on the slow side; tows are relied upon especially above Termignon, which can slow things up when the ski schools are using them. But the wilderness feel of these slopes compensates. There are only a few cafes on the slopes and so they get very busy; but the food is good and their terraces nice places to be. Bonneval is an incredible day out and well worth the hour on the bus.
Simon
We did the half term week. Overall, we had a nice family break. We are average skiers but like to explore. On the positives, there is a good range of slopes and an option to visit another town in the valley for a day with your ski pass (Bonneval was a good day trip to get up to 3000m). Up high, the slopes are broad and slide well. It’s north facing, so you need to expect some ice in the mornings. The queues are manageable as well, and you can plot a path to avoid the busy areas. On the negatives, as others have said, really hard to even find a cafe for a morning coffee, everyone converges on Solent restaurant for lunch (expect queues) and in Lanseburg, where we were, the main problem is that to get down everyone converges down the left hand red run. This is very cut up by the afternoon and the slower skiers get attacked by lots of fast skiers. Overall, we had some of the more negative experiences we’ve seen from teenage local school groups being very inconsiderate and actually quite dangerous on some of the narrow ‘road’ runs back down from the top. Overall, we enjoyed it, but I’m not sure we’d put it on our ‘again list’, mainly due to that people experience
Victoria
We have just came back from our ski trip. We try different resorts every year and I must admit this resort is not going to be on our 'let's visit one more time' list. We are not a party animals but we do like having a beer or two after a whole day of skiing. There were only two bars that they were open - one of which - the Bowling place - was nothing like a typical Austrian après ski bar.
Restaurants - all of them mostly serve pizza only. Nothing is open during the day - getting a coffee from a cozy looking café is impossible. No places to dance or social.
Slopes are hardly groomed if at all. Beginners slopes are narrow and icy which make turning almost impossible. We are strong intermediates if not advanced group but most of accidents happened on blue or green slopes. Place worth visiting is La Bergerie restaurant :) we have some great memories from there!
Karen Richardson
We have been coming for 12 years and seen the resort grow from only a few lifts to 28 lifts joining several villages. All have something different to offer. Termignon has beautiful forest trails down the mountain and a fab snow park at the summit.
Lanslebourg has three ski lifts to access the pistes at termignon and lanslevillard. There are fabulous views from the mountain tops and you can walk along the top of the mountain from the ski lift to the lake of Mont Cenis. A lovely restaurant hotel for refreshments as a reward for bracing the elements. There is a dog sled centre up there too.
Lanslevillard has a great beginners snow field with many lifts to various heights. A beautiful broad snow field with pistes for beginners to advanced.
We love it here and always stay in Les Valmonts. Fresh bread delivered to reception daily, and a swimming pool with steam room and sauna to relax. Good value with everything we need for our self catering holiday.
Brianna Byrne
Have been going here with my family for years and could not recommend it enough. we usually stay at the youth hostel (CIS) in Lanslebourg which is great for families and has a great atmosphere and great food at really good value. the skiing is amazing for all skill levels and the free shuttle bus that travels between the villages is so handy. going back this year.
anonymous
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