Vars Ski Resort Review 2026
Vars is the best big ski area in France that most foreign skiers have never priced, around 180 km of sunny, larch lined pistes shared with Risoul for noticeably less than the famous names charge. Book it if you want a full size intermediate week, southern sunshine and bills that stay polite. Skip it if you need a postcard village or a serious apres scene, because Vars les Claux is functional rather than beautiful and the nights are quiet.
Northern Alps mileage at southern Alps prices, with sunshine thrown in free and almost no international crowds competing for it.
Vars anchors the Foret Blanche, the linked area it shares with Risoul, with skiing between roughly 1,650 and 2,750 m through open bowls and beautiful larch forest. The skiing suits intermediates and families perfectly, the light is pure Provence, and a week here costs hundreds less per person than the mega areas further north. The village is a plain purpose built strip; the mountain is the reason you come.
How it scores for your group
Families. Excellent on substance. High altitude lodging means snow at the door, the slopes roll gently enough for mixed abilities to meet for lunch, children's pass deals are generous, and February here costs what January costs in the Tarentaise. The village will not enchant anyone, but children famously do not care about architecture.
Beginners. Very good. Wide nursery zones sit at village level in both Vars and Risoul, green runs descend from the ridgelines rather than hiding in corners, and the southern light makes learning more pleasant than squinting through northern murk. Lesson prices undercut the famous resorts comfortably.
Intermediates. The target customer. The Foret Blanche is a 180 km intermediate carousel, long reds through the larches, open blues above the treeline, and the crossing to Risoul and back makes every day feel like a journey. Confident cruisers will fill six days without repeating themselves, which very few areas at this price can claim.
Experts. Decent, quietly. There is a handful of genuine blacks, good tree skiing after storms, and accessible off piste from the high lifts that stays untracked longer than anything in the famous resorts because nobody is here to fight you for it. Vars also hosts the Chabrieres speed skiing track, where the world record has been set, lapped by mortals as a very fast groomed run. It is a strong week for an expert who values space over steepness rankings.
Non skiers. Limited. There is a leisure center, winter walking and snowshoe trails through lovely forest, and sunshine on the terraces, but the village itself offers little strolling pleasure. Non skiers attached to the group will manage; non skiers seeking a destination should look elsewhere.
Terrain by ability
The Foret Blanche skis as one big horseshoe around the Vars and Risoul valleys, between roughly 1,650 and 2,750 m. The signature is the larch forest, open, evenly spaced trees that turn storm days into the best low visibility skiing in the southern Alps and turn sunny days into something close to skiing through a painting. Above the trees, wide bowls and ridgeline runs give the area its mileage.
The snow story is honest: this is the sunny south, so expect cold dry snow in January and February, spring conditions arriving earlier than in the northern Alps, and well managed snowmaking on the spine runs. The Eyssina and Chabrieres sectors hold the best steeps and the speed track; the crossing to Risoul is an easy blue journey that even nervous intermediates enjoy. Off piste after a southern storm, with a guide, is the area's best kept secret.
Photos via Google, contributed by Luca Garnerone, Damien Noblecourt and Albert Dewas.
Charm, convenience and the evening
Vars is really four hamlets strung up the mountain road, and the skiing one is Vars les Claux, a 1970s purpose built strip of apartment blocks and shops at around 1,850 m. It is convenient, sleeps you close to the lifts, and wins no beauty contests. Lower down, old Vars Sainte Marie offers stone and slate charm with a connecting lift, the smart base for travelers who want both character and skiing.
Evenings are low key French family resort: creperies, pizzerias, a few proper Alpine restaurants, a couple of bars with live music in peak weeks. The clientele is overwhelmingly French families, which keeps prices grounded and means the village empties by ten. Anyone whose trip depends on nightlife should read our Praloup vs Vars comparison and then book somewhere else entirely.
Lodging and chalet quotes
Apartments dominate, from dated bargains to newer residences with pools, and even the good ones cost a fraction of Tarentaise equivalents. Vars les Claux puts you on the snow; Sainte Marie trades a lift ride for charm and even lower rates. Catered chalets are rare birds here, another sign this is a French family resort rather than an international one, but a few exist and book out early.
Get chalet quotes
Tell us your resort, dates and group size and we will pass your brief to chalet specialists for tailored quotes. No fee to you.
Prices, lessons and ski hire
The full Foret Blanche pass runs around $60 a day, with multi day and family rates that bring it down further, for 180 km of linked skiing that would cost half as much again under a famous logo. Vars only passes exist but the area pass is the right buy. Lessons and hire price for French families, not international tourists; book ahead anyway, February fills with exactly those families.
Book the extras and save
Lift passes, lessons and ski hire are where a trip quietly leaks money. Booking ahead almost always beats the resort window price.
Compare lift passesFind lessonsReserve ski hireTravel insuranceTransfers and access
The southern address shows in the logistics. Turin is the nearest major airport at around 2h 30m, Marseille around 3h, Grenoble around 2h 45m, all real transfers rather than the quick hops the northern resorts enjoy. The night train from Paris to nearby Briancon, then a bus or taxi, is the classic budget route and a minor adventure in itself. A car is genuinely useful here, both for the transfer math and for exploring the Queyras valleys on a rest day.
Sort the transfer
A smooth airport to resort transfer sets the tone for the week. Book ahead, especially over peak weeks.
Book a transferThe best weeks to ski Vars
January and February are prime: cold snow, full lift operation and the southern sun taking the edge off midwinter. The 2026 to 2027 season dates should run mid December to mid April as usual. March brings glorious spring skiing up high with softer afternoons below, and prices that drop faster than the snow quality does.
Avoid nothing except complacency about the French February school holidays, when the area fills with domestic families and apartment prices peak. January is the smart money week here, the same skiing for the winter's lowest rates, and you will share the larch forest with almost nobody.
Vars FAQs
Is Vars a big ski area?
Yes, genuinely. Linked with Risoul as the Foret Blanche it offers around 180 km of pistes between roughly 1,650 and 2,750 m, which puts it in the same size class as famous areas charging much more. It is the largest ski area in the southern French Alps.
Is Vars good value?
It is one of the best value big areas in France. Day passes around $60, apartments well below northern Alps rates and French family pricing on food and lessons mean a week typically lands in the $2,000 to $4,000 band per person, with careful January trips pressing under $2,000.
Vars or Risoul, which base is better?
Same mountain, so choose by village. Vars les Claux is bigger, higher and has more facilities; Risoul 1850 is smaller, slightly cheaper and feels cozier. Families with young children often prefer Risoul's compactness; everyone else gets a bit more from Vars. See our Les Orres vs Risoul comparison for the wider southern Alps picture.
Is the snow reliable in the sunny southern Alps?
Better than the latitude suggests. The skiing sits high, mostly above 1,850 m, the area catches Mediterranean storm cycles that can dump heavily, and snowmaking covers the spine runs. January and February are dependable; late March trades snow quality for sunshine.
What is the Chabrieres speed track?
The kilometre lance, the speed skiing track where world records have been set at over 250 km per hour. Outside competition weeks the lower track is sometimes open to the public as a steep groomed run, and watching the pros in race week is free theatre.
How do you get to Vars?
Turin is around 2h 30m by road, Marseille around 3h, Grenoble around 2h 45m. The night train from Paris to Briancon followed by a short bus ride is the classic budget approach. A hire car makes the southern valleys easier and is worth pricing against transfers for groups.
Nearby alternatives
The southern Alps reward shopping around. These three neighbors each undercut or outgun Vars in one dimension.
Risoul
The other half of the Foret Blanche, same skiing from a smaller, cozier, slightly cheaper purpose built base.
Serre Chevalier
The southern Alps heavyweight, bigger terrain and real villages along the valley, at prices a step up from Vars.
Les Orres
Smaller, cheaper and even quieter, a fine family alternative when the budget is the headline number.
Where should you stay and when should you go?
Tell us the dates. We price the trip.
If you want a Vars week priced by specialists, the right hamlet, passes and transfers bundled at the southern Alps rates that make this place special, tell us your dates and budget and we will route your brief to the right operators.
Every brief is read by a real planner. You will hear back within two working days, in season.
By the Ski Resorts for Kings editorial team · Last reviewed May 2026.