Flaine is an all-or-nothing proposition: either you take to this purpose-built, concrete-and-steel, French resort in the Haute Savoie, or you search deeper into the Alps for quaint chalets and sleighs as backdrop to your downhill adventures.

You may or may not like Flaine’s exterior appearance, but its skiing, which is overwhelmingly in-termediate, is bountiful and good. And this car-free resort is great for families.

Here is the interactive Flaine Resort Map.

Let’s face it: to anyone expecting an Alpine village, Flaine is an odd sight. The rectangular, flat-topped buildings – reputedly designed by Marcel Breuer – clinging to the slopes of this narrow valley, appear to have all been poured from the same grey cement in an effort to spare time and expense. However, in terms of practicality, they seem to serve the purpose. Cars are unnecessary, and housing and services are clustered to provide maximum convenience for skiers. There is also a cluster of Scandinavian-style chalets. Le Hameau de Flaine, is only a kilometer from the base area and served by a regular, free shuttlebus.

Everything here is designed with winter sports in mind, and at 5,183 feet (almost a mile high), snow is practically guaranteed from December to May. When the blue piste of la Cascade is open, Flaine is connected by a system of lifts to the more traditional lower-altitude towns of Les Carroz, Morillon and Samoens, and by bus to Sixt. Together they form a wide-ranging ski circus of 78 lifts and more than a hundred marked trails totalling 257 km. of downhill adventure. Marked runs are predominantly intermediate and upper intermediate, but adventurous experts will find numerous possibilities just off-piste.

Office du Tourisme Flaine, F-74300 Flaine, France
Country code: 0033
Telephone: 450 90 80 01
Fax: 450 90 86 26
Email: welcome@flaine.com
Internet: www.flaine.com

Note: All prices are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

For more information on skiing and staying in the country of France, click the map.