When to go to Les Deux Alpes?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: January to March and July to August
At a glance
Why go to Les Deux Alpes?
Les Deux Alpes lives through two seasons that have almost nothing in common, and that is what you need to understand before booking. In winter, from late November to early May, the resort is a large ski area spread between 1,650 and 3,600 metres, with a glacier that guarantees snow at the top until spring. In summer, the high-altitude area stays open for skiing only in the mornings, from May to early July, mainly for clubs and national teams, and the resort switches to mountain biking, hiking and high-altitude sightseeing.
In between, the shoulder seasons are dead: in May-June and September-October, many hotels, restaurants and lifts close, and the resort takes on the look of a building site. For a summer holiday, aim for the window when all the lifts are open, from mid-June to the end of August; for skiing, the period from mid-December to mid-April. Autumn has its appeal for mountain bikers, with a reopening during the All Saints' school holidays.
The real treasure lies below. Venosc and the Vénéon valley lead into the heart of the Écrins National Park, along trails to the Muzelle or the Lauvitel, through gorges and villages of mountain guides. Since the flood of June 2024 that devastated La Bérarde, the upper valley comes with more constraints, but it remains one of the wildest gateways to the massif, an hour and a half from Grenoble.
Map of Les Deux Alpes: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Mont-de-Lans glacier
- Belvédère des Écrins
- 2 Alpes Bike Park
- Venosc
- Vénéon valley
- Lac de la Muzelle
How much does a trip to Les Deux Alpes cost?
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €60-90 per day | camping or a gîte in Venosc, supermarket shopping, free hikes to the lakes, one paid high-altitude outing during the stay. |
| Comfort | €120-180 per day | three-star hotel or apartment in the resort, pedestrian or bike pass, ice cave, one restaurant meal a day. |
| Premium | €250 and up per day | chalet hotel with spa, six-day ski pass in February, private lessons, dinners at high-altitude restaurants. February and Christmas rates are the highest of the year. |
Passes are cheaper bought online in advance, and family deals cut the bill in summer. Cash machines are in the resort; in Venosc and down the valley, keep some cash on you, especially for the ice cave, where cards are not always accepted.
Is Les Deux Alpes safe?
At 3,400 metres the sun burns even through haze and the cold catches you off guard as you leave the funicular: category 4 sunglasses, sunscreen and warm clothes are essential, and high altitude is not advised for very young children. Never leave the marked paths on the glacier, where crevasses remain a danger. In the bike park, wear a full-face helmet and walk the technical sections first. When hiking to the Muzelle or the Lauvitel, set off early, as summer storms build quickly in the afternoon. The upper Vénéon valley suffered a devastating flood in 2024: respect the exclusion zone at La Bérarde and check conditions before any outing. In an emergency, dial 112.
What to see and do in Les Deux Alpes
- Mont-de-Lans glacier and summer skiing
- Ice cave
- Belvédère des Écrins
- 2 Alpes Bike Park
- Venosc
- Vénéon valley and Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans
- Lac de la Muzelle
- Lac du Lauvitel
Mont-de-Lans glacier and summer skiing
The Mont-de-Lans glacier is the foundation of Les Deux Alpes' story. Its 100 or so hectares rise in tiers between 2,900 and 3,568 metres, on a steady, barely crevassed slope that made skiing possible in the height of summer from the 1980s onwards. In 1989 the resort dug an underground funicular beneath the ice, the Dôme Express, which still climbs to 3,400 metres. Global warming has shortened the season: the lifts used to stay open until the end of August, but now close in early July, and the tourist office speaks of spring skiing open first and foremost to athletes, clubs and schools, with a few runs and the snowpark left to the public. In 2026 the high-altitude area ran from 4 May to 5 July, from 8am to 12.30pm, for €52 a day. In winter the glacier becomes the top of a ski area that runs down to the resort via the long blue Jandri run. The Jandri 3S cable car, 6.4 kilometres long and opened in December 2024, is the one you take to reach the foot of the glacier and the funicular. New for 2026, a freestyle training area with two kickers and a giant 53-by-22-metre airbag has been set up at the foot of the Jandri.
Belvédère des Écrins
The Belvédère des Écrins is a metal walkway jutting out over a 1,500-metre drop, at an altitude of 3,400 metres, a ten-minute walk from the funicular station. It looks straight towards the heart of the Écrins National Park and its glaciers. Three viewpoint indicators help you read the panorama, which on a clear day stretches as far as the Aiguilles d'Arves and Mont Blanc. The pedestrian pass that gives access cost €33 for an adult in the 2026 high season, from 13 June to 30 August, and €26 in the early season; it also opens up around ten waymarked walks across the area, from the flat Vallée Blanche loop at 2,100 metres to balcony trails above the Vénéon at 2,400 metres. New for 2026 at the top of Vallée Blanche, the Défi des Fayots is a 2-kilometre family trail where you guide a giant wooden marble across six modules, inspired by the Fayots, the mischievous little elves of Oisans legend.
2 Alpes Bike Park
2 Alpes Bike Park is the official name for the resort's entire mountain-biking area, renowned across Europe. From 3,200 metres, where you ride on snow early in the season, down to 900 metres in the valley, the vertical drop reaches 2,300 metres in a single descent. The tourist office lists 29 trails from green to elite level, including the Black Garden, six routes for e-bikes, an enlarged beginners' area at Vallée Blanche and a free zone in the resort. Six shapers and eight patrollers maintain the trails, and four air-pressure bike-wash stations wait at the foot of the lifts. The 2026 season opened on 11 April at Venosc, then fully from 13 June to 30 August, with an extension planned from 17 October to 1 November. A day pass costs €33, €26 for children, and a family pass brings the price down to €24 per person. The Mountain of Hell remains one of the season's flagship events, along with the Urban DH and the Girls Shredding Days.
Venosc
Venosc is the historic half of the resort: Les Deux Alpes grew up in the 20th century on the summer pastures of Venosc and Mont-de-Lans, which merged in 2017 into the new municipality of Les Deux Alpes. The main village, at around 1,000 metres, overlooks the Vénéon at the foot of the national park. The village's pedlars sold flower seeds and bulbs across France and sometimes abroad, making Venosc, along with Mont-de-Lans, a capital of the flower-peddling trade. The church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul in Le Courtil keeps a 14th-century Gothic bell tower, a bell from 1622 and a 17th-century Baroque altarpiece. Tufa chapels and wayside shrines dot the hamlets, and the lanes house craft workshops. The 1972 cable car to the resort was replaced in 1995 by the current gondola, €6.70 return, which spares you the hairpin road. In July and August, a market is held on Tuesday mornings, a guided tour leaves on Mondays at 10am, and the Vénéon below can be run by raft or hydrospeed with the village's outdoor centres.
Vénéon valley and Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans
Beyond Venosc, the Vénéon valley pushes deep into the heart of the Écrins along the D530. In the 19th century Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans became a cradle of mountain guides: Pierre Gaspard, who was born there, made the first ascent of the Meije in 1877 with his client Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau. Higher up, La Bérarde, at 1,727 metres, was nicknamed the Mecca of mountaineering. On 21 June 2024, a flood of the Étançons torrent, linked in particular to the emptying of a lake on the Bonne Pierre glacier, buried a large part of the hamlet; 97 people were evacuated by helicopter and the chapel from 1892 was swept away. The hamlet remains closed to visitors, and the State has said that no rebuilding will be considered before 2027 at the earliest. The trails and mountain huts can still be reached by diversion routes. Since 1 September 2026, cars can drive up as far as Les Étages; in summer 2026, from 4 July to 31 August, access beyond Pré Clot was restricted to shuttles booked in advance and to authorised residents.
Lac de la Muzelle
The Lac de la Muzelle lies in a glacial basin at 2,105 metres, at the foot of the Roche de la Muzelle, the mountain the tourist office presents as the icon of Les Deux Alpes. Its 9 hectares and surroundings have been a protected natural site since 1 March 1941, and the Muzelle hut sits on its shore. The trail starts from Bourg d'Arud, a hamlet of Venosc on the banks of the Vénéon, and climbs the Muzelle valley over about 1,200 metres of ascent: it is a proper day's walk, steep in its first half, and the lake has to be earned. The flip side of its fame on social media is that the lake sees an average of 140 tents on summer evenings, up to 200 at peak times: if you want to sleep there, book the hut, and if you are going up for the day, set off early to enjoy the lake before the groups arrive. On the edge of the Écrins National Park, respect the regulations posted at the trailheads.
How many days, and which itinerary?
A weekend is enough for the glacier, the ice cave and Venosc. Allow four to five days in summer to add mountain biking and a hike to the Muzelle or the Lauvitel, and a classic week's skiing in winter.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Les Deux Alpes guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of France
weekend (2 days)
Day 1: an early ride up on the Jandri cable car and the funicular to 3,400 metres, the Belvédère des Écrins walkway and the ice cave, lunch in the resort, then down by gondola to Venosc to wander the lanes and see the church in Le Courtil. Day 2: a morning hike to the Lac du Lauvitel from La Danchère, a picnic by the water, back via the Vénéon valley to Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans.
4-5 days
Day 1: glacier, belvedere and ice cave. Day 2: a day of mountain biking, a beginners' session at Vallée Blanche or descents towards Venosc, or walks across the area with the Fayots trail. Day 3: the Lac de la Muzelle from Bourg d'Arud, a night at the hut if you have booked. Day 4: the walk down, rafting on the Vénéon in the afternoon, an evening in Venosc. Day 5: the Lauvitel, or a drive up to Les Étages and the upper valley trails, depending on access conditions.
one week
Days 1 to 5 as above. Day 6: head east on the Col du Lautaret road, stopping at La Grave for the Meije glaciers cable car, then at the Lautaret alpine garden. Day 7: drive to Alpe d'Huez via Le Bourg-d'Oisans, or a quiet day at the resort's lake and Venosc market before heading home. In winter, a week's skiing with a rest day in Venosc or at the Grands Bains du Monêtier.
Getting there and getting around
The TGV links Paris-Gare de Lyon to Grenoble in about 3 hours; from the station, regional coaches climb to Les Deux Alpes via Le Bourg-d'Oisans, with extra departures in winter from Grenoble station and airport. By car, you reach the resort on the D213, which leaves the RD1091 at the Chambon dam.
From 7 September to 30 October 2026, safety works on the Commères and Infernet tunnels, on the RD1091 between Le Clapier and Le Freney-d'Oisans, mean alternating one-way traffic, with a closure from 08.30 to 17.00 on weekdays from 14 September to 2 October; the road stays open at weekends: check itinisere.fr before setting off. Once there, a free shuttle runs around the resort, and the Venosc gondola spares you the hairpin bends.
Snow tyres or chains are compulsory in the mountain areas of Isère from 1 November to 31 March. For the upper Vénéon valley, cars stop at Les Étages, and in summer part of the access is by shuttle, booked in advance.
Where to stay in Les Deux Alpes?
Budget: the resort has a few simple hotels, including the Serre Palas and Les Lutins, and above all a very large stock of residences and apartments, often cheaper by the week. Venosc and Bourg d'Arud offer B&Bs, gîtes and campsites by the Vénéon, with the gondola to get up to the resort.
Comfort: three-star hotels such as the Ibiza, Les Mélèzes or the Base Camp Lodge are in the heart of the resort, close to the lifts. In summer, many establishments open only from late June to late August: check the dates before booking.
Our pick: one of the resort's chalet hotels, with a spa and a view of the Muzelle, for a week's skiing; or, in summer, a night at the Muzelle hut on the lakeshore, booked well in advance, to watch the north face light up at sunrise.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Les Deux Alpes?
Mountain food here is that of all the Alpine resorts: fondues, raclettes and tartiflettes in the high-altitude and slope-side restaurants, but also gratin dauphinois, the pride of Isère, served with grilled meat or a diot sausage.
On Tuesday mornings in July and August, the small Venosc market brings together alpine cheeses, charcuterie and Oisans honeys. Tommes and blue cheeses from farms in the neighbouring valleys can also be found in the resort's grocery shops.
Génépi, a liqueur made from glacier wormwood, is drunk as a digestif; bilberry tarts appear on menus at the end of summer. Expect €18-30 for a main course in a resort restaurant, more on the high-altitude terraces.
Entry requirements
Schengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Les Deux Alpes
Can you still ski in summer at Les Deux Alpes?
Yes, but only in the mornings and for a short period: in 2026 the high-altitude area was open from 4 May to 5 July, from 8am to 12.30pm, mainly for clubs and athletes, with a few runs and the snowpark open to the public. The day pass cost €52. The dates depend each year on snow cover.
When is the resort open?
The 2026-2027 winter season runs from 28 November 2026 to 2 May 2027. In summer, the pedestrian lifts and the bike park run fully from mid-June to the end of August, with a pre-opening in spring and a mountain-bike reopening during the All Saints' school holidays. Outside these periods, many businesses are closed.
Do you need a pass to go up to the ice cave?
Yes. You need a pedestrian pass up to 3,400 metres, €33 for an adult in the 2026 high season, plus the cave entry fee of €7. The pass also gives access to the Belvédère des Écrins and the area's waymarked walks.
Can you go to La Bérarde?
No, the hamlet has been closed to visitors since the flood of 21 June 2024. The road lets you drive up as far as Les Étages; beyond that, diversion routes lead to the trails and mountain huts. In summer, part of the access is by shuttle, booked in advance.
Is Les Deux Alpes good for families in summer?
Yes, as long as you choose the right window, from mid-June to the end of August. Family bike and pedestrian passes, the Fayots trail, the ice cave, easy walks at 2,100 metres and the resort's lake keep children busy, and Venosc offers a quieter base in the valley.
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