Le Tour and Vallorcine ski area:

Open and sunny at the top of the valley, Le Tour is a great place for begin­ners and inter­me­di­ates with its wide reds and blues. The exhil­a­rat­ing rolling pistes of the front are only half the story — the wide gullies here form natural halfpipes. Ride next to the Swiss border and down to Vallorcine for some great tree runs - another good spot when the visibil­ity is down. Vallorcine is gener­ally much quieter than the other areas, so it’s a good place to head for on busy days.

When not to go: Le Tour can get very windy and cold, so it’s a good idea to check for strong winds before heading up. The wide, open pistes can be very disori­en­tat­ing in a white-out — I would gener­ally keep Le Tour for sunny days. The Vallorcine side has tree runs which are a better option in thick snow.

Where to eat in Vallorcine:

The unassum­ing looking station café — the Arrete Bougnete — is in fact a superb place to eat, with lots of unusual Savoyarde special­i­ties like Sarrazin (Buckwheat) crepes as well as an excel­lent tarti­flette. Highly recom­mended, and not far from the Vallorcine lift. There is a new place called the Café Comptoir at the end of the Vallorcine home run, which seems very nice

Where to eat in Le Tour:

If you’re lucky, the mountain refuges will be open, and these are fun places to eat. At the base, the small Pcheu, the second from the lift, is much nicer. The Olympique, right beside the lift, has a lovely terrace but lousy service, so I wouldn’t recom­mend it for anything other than a quick apres drink (and not really even for that, unless it’s a partic­u­larly beauti­ful day on the terrace.)

Access to Le Tour:
By car: 15 minutes from the chalet. Plenty of free parking
By bus: Regular bus services from the road near the chalet (check the times) or from the Flegere lift (more frequent)
By train: Le Tour is a very, very steep walk from Montroc station — not recom­mended
Access to Vallorcine:
By car: 20 minutes from the chalet. Plenty of free parking
By bus: Regular bus services from the road near the chalet (check the times) or from the Flegere lift (more frequent)
By train: Regular train services from Les Praz, this is the best way to get there. Take a timetable with you for the return journey.