The best après-ski bars and activities in Courchevel
Courchevel is France’s smartest and most expensive resort, now unquestionably playing second fiddle to the more aristocratic Megève. As in the restaurants, where you choose to party may determine your future relationship with your bank manager.
But it’s not all overly expensive. You can while away the off-slope hours over a (relatively) low-cost beer in a pub or quaff a decent glass of C?tes du Rh?ne in a busy bar. Alternatively, you can sink flutes of champagne and tumblers of vodka in exotic nightclubs. There’s also a whole world of more healthy après-ski activities.
For further Courchevel inspiration, see our guides to the resort's best accommodation and restaurants.
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Bars in Courchevel
Le Planté de Baton
This noisy, colourful outdoor bar on the piste at 1850 is lined with skis and converted gondolas for a handful of guests to sit in and enjoy their drinks. Others crowd together on the snow, trying to hear themselves above the cacophony of hits from the Eighties – it’s the sort of place where Madonna meets Michael Jackson and Vanessa Paradis (remember, we are in France) over pints, shots and cocktails. The DJ action kicks off at 3pm and lasts until 8.30pm, when it is probably time to stagger back to where you are staying and change for dinner.
Contact: pdb-courchevel.ski
Price: ￡￡
L’Eléphant
This is a late-night sports bar and restaurant with live music in Le Praz (1300). It opens at 3pm, and the action continues until 2am. By Courchevel standards, it is relatively inexpensive, which makes it a popular hang-out with travailleurs saisonniers and guests from all over the resort. The menu features chicken wings, salads, burgers and great pizzas – the house speciality. There’s live music a couple of times each week. The dozen beers on tap include Mützig and, of course, Carlsberg’s potent Elephant. The signature spirit is Vodka Freeze – slush puppy and vodka. It may taste like a refreshing soft drink – but beware, it’s not.
Contact: elephant-courchevel.com
Price: ￡ to ￡￡
Le Bar de Madame
Located in the five-star boutique H?tel La Sivolière, it is a cool, quiet and sophisticated place to sink into a chair and enjoy an après-ski drink and a snack in front of the river rock fireplace. Cocktails include La Sivolière’s take on a pisco sour infused with coriander seeds, Lillet blanc, lime, bitters and egg white. Your next skiing trip has to be in the Andes.
Cocktails for pets are also on the menu. If you have your dog with you, they might enjoy a Google – a mix of pumpkin, coconut milk and cinnamon designed to improve their digestion and reduce moulting.
Contact: hotel-la-sivoliere.com
Price: ￡￡￡
Les Caves de Courchevel
This is one of 1850’s original and most exclusive nightclubs for wealthy Parisiens and other visitors who don’t need to enquire about the cost of a magnum of champagne or a litre of vodka. It’s a fun place with famous DJs and themed nights throughout the week dedicated to hip-hop or urban rhythms, or any other excuse for a party that lasts until 5am. Usually, it’s packed to the rafters and you need to book a table, if you’re not prepared to stand all night.
Contact: lescavesdecourchevel.com
Price: ￡￡￡
Funky Fox
The Fox is a major rendezvous point in Moriond (1650) that kicks off the afternoon as a child-friendly après-ski and sports bar that slowly transforms into a late-night adult venue with reasonable prices, making it popular with travailleurs saisonniers. The opening hours – 3pm to 2am – make it hard to avoid for an après-ski or early evening pizza, and a pint of one of its 10 beers on tap or a cocktail. The house negroni (red and white Martini, Campari and a load of gin) is a potent pick-me-up after a hard day on the slopes. DJ sets are supplemented by live music from local bands on weekends. Altogether, it’s a fun place with late-night dancing and a lively atmosphere.
Contact: funkyfox-courchevel.com
Price: ￡￡
Bar Le Catérail
Courchevel Village, still largely known by its original name of Courchevel 1550, is one of the smallest satellite hamlets that make up the resort and is short on late-night venues. Le Catérail (formerly Baroeuf) does an excellent job of cornering the market. It’s a sports bar by the roundabout with big screens, but there’s also an extensive cocktail menu and a wide choice of unusual vodkas. There’s live music on Thursdays from 10pm, and the bar stays open every night until 2am.
Contact: seecourchevel.com
Price: ￡￡
Le Tremplin
This expensive restaurant lies on the edge of the piste, at the foot of a green slope that brings you into the heart of 1850. What’s unusual is that you can stop here at virtually any hour for a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a snack, or a full-blown Courchevel meal with lobster and caviar. It’s open from 8am to 11pm, and if you drop in as the sun sets and the lifts close for the day, there’s live music or a DJ and the place rocks. Friendly staff keep the Grey Goose-and-caviar or Bollinger-and-oysters flowing. But watch what you order – this can be a costly experience.
Contact: tremplin-courchevel.com
Prices: ￡￡ to ￡￡￡
The Gatekeeper
This is Courchevel 1850’s take on a proper British boozer. Prices are a fair bit higher than in your local, but then back home you can’t ski almost to the door. It’s got a wooden bar, wooden bar-stools and a scrubbed wooden floor – you almost feel they could have added a sprinkling of sawdust. If you fancy supping a few pints (the Guinness is particularly authentic, and the pub goes wild on St Patrick’s Day) and a game of darts, this is the place for you. There are quiz nights and other themed events. Surprisingly, the clientele is by no means mainly Britons. Check out Facebook (facebook.com/TheGatekeeperPub) for live music and forthcoming events.
Contact: facebook.com/TheGatekeeperPub
Prices: ￡￡
Le Pélican
This used to be La Boulotte, much loved by travailleurs saisonniers and visitors alike. Fortunately, a change of ownership and name has not disappointed regulars. It’s known for its raucous après-ski that carries on late into the evening, with three live-music sessions per week. Once you arrive on skis at the bottom of Moriond (1650), it’s a short walk down into town (turn left, and you’re there). Live music is on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5pm. There’s a friendly British pub atmosphere – apart from table dancing: this may be frowned upon at home, but not here.
Contact: pelican-courchevel.com
Price: ￡ to ￡￡
Pub Le Ski Lodge
This is the kind of lively après-ski bar and restaurant that you will be hard pushed to find in the other more sophisticated and expensive villages of Courchevel. It is located by the Folyères piste that brings you into La Tania. There is a comfortable heated terrace and a cosy pub interior. Live bands play and the range of beers is unmatched elsewhere in the Trois Vallées.
It’s extremely popular with British visitors and chalet staff – indicating that prices are more friendly than in the higher resorts. Pub Le Ski Lodge has been a rendezvous spot for skiers since La Tania was built (and never used) as a dormitory village for athletes at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. After the lifts close, you can take a free bus to Le Praz (1300), ride a bus to the other villages, or hop on a gondola.
Contact: publeskilodge.com
Prices: ￡ to ￡￡
Fire and Ice
Ski down to the bottom of the gondola in Moriond (1650), unclip your skis and fall on to an outdoor sofa in Fire and Ice, the après-ski bar of the four-star Portetta hotel. If you happen to do so between 4pm and 6.30pm, then you’ve hit the Happy Hour. Flaming torches, log-burning fires, faux fur throws, heated bar seating, and the finest vin chaud in the resort take the chill off a cold afternoon and replace it with a warm glow.
Contact: portetta.com
Price: ￡￡
Other activities
Toboggan racing
This is sledging like you’ve never done before – the Formula One of family toboggan runs. It’s a 3km track with hairpin bends, eight tunnels and a vertical drop of 450m. You can race your friends, or take a more leisurely descent with children.
If you go easy on the braking, you can reach sensational speeds. At various places, the track is divided into two parts: do you choose the road bridges, or is it faster through the tunnels?
Book your ride and pay a deposit for a luge at the top of the Ariondaz gondola. The track takes you all the way down to Moriond (1650). You are strongly advised to wear a helmet. Little ones have to be at least 110cm tall; those up to 125cm can ride in tandem with an adult. For a slightly more sedate experience, there’s a 2km track from 1850 down to Courchevel Village (1550).
Contact: courchevel.com/en
Price: ￡
Aquamotion
This is possibly the finest swim and spa complex in the Alps. When the weather closes in, it’s an ideal family alternative to floundering around on skis in a whiteout. Aqualudique is home to pools, a climbing wall and other activities. There’s a salt water pool, sauna, steam room and caldarium, plus an indoor and outdoor pool heated to 32C, along with slides, diving pools, a wild river and indoor surfing.
The kids-free Aquawellness zone offers spa treatments and is where you can chill away from the crowds. The complex can easily be reached by bus – it is located on the main road between Village (1550) and Moriond (1650). From Village, it’s a five-minute walk. From 1650, take the triple escalator from the middle of the village and stroll 500m downhill.
Contact: aquamotioncourchevel.com
Price: ￡
Learn to drive a piste basher
Preparing the pistes of any resort is a Sisyphean task that begins when the lifts close for the day. In the Trois Vallées some 80 drivers spend the night alone in the cabs of their ￡250,000 machines while preparing the pistes. In the Courchevel area alone, 40 drivers groom 140km of runs.
If you want to understand why your lift pass is so expensive, sign up for a snowcat-driving lesson. Getting a job yourself may be more difficult, particularly for women – most are passed down the male line of local families from generation to generation. Lessons for visitors take place near the Altiport above 1850, beside the Cap Horn restaurant.
After 10 minutes of instruction, you take the controls and drive the machine around a 1.2km track with bends and bumps that need to be smoothed. You’ll find it rather more difficult than it looks. You must be 18, hold a driving licence, and bring normal driving shoes.
Contact: courchevelaventure.com
Price: ￡￡
Bowling 3000
This bowling alley has a split personality. One part of it is what you would expect from an afternoon of family fun: eight lanes, pool, table football and pinball machines. The other half is much more what you’d expect of nightlife in Courchevel 1850: a restaurant with an international menu (burgers, Asian wok dishes and a range of tapas) served at wooden tables in relaxed contemporary surroundings until 1am. The DJ then cranks up the music, and the drinking and dancing continue until 3am.
Contact: bowling-courchevel.com
Prices: ￡￡ to ￡￡￡
How we choose
Every bar, venue or activity in this curated list has been expertly chosen by our ski expert, who has visited the resort to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from casual pubs on the piste to exquisite cocktail bars – to best suit every type of skier – and consider the drinks, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. Non-ski activities are chosen to provide an alternative to traditional aprés, whether for families or adrenaline junkies looking to enjoy the mountains in winter away from the slopes. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
