Meribel, Les Allues Village - Ski Blanc Review

Overall Rating

Fantastic ski area. Great apres ski bar at the Rond Point.No queues (Apart from New Year & French School Holidays.Good restaurants.English spoken everywhere.Great friendly Chalet company with very handy minibuses to town and back.

Overcrowded in Feb French holidays.High bar prices.Bad parking facilities.Awful municipal bus service.

Ski Blanc: Meribel is a fantastic ski & Snowboard resort with
Perfect links to the Courchevel & Val Thorens
Valleys. The snow generally was excellent and no lift queues for most of the time. Try to avoid 9.30-10.30 as this is when the ski schools all set off and they have lift priority.
APRES SKI.
A bit limited but one bar stood out. The Rond Point, on the way down from Saulire was the party venue every day with excellent rocking live bands playing 5pm-7pm.But get your beers in before 5pm and save approx 25%.Also buy a big jug because it gets very busy once the band starts. Ski there and take the free bus back to town if it's dark when you leave. Restaurants were really good value but we had the help of a free local guide book written by seasonaires. Be sure to seek out a copy when you arrive. It's called Meribel-Unlugged and we took our copy home with us. We usually paid about 20 euros each for lovely 2 course mountain lunches including wine. Others were complaining about high prices but we did not get ripped off once.
SKIING:
Beginners: Don't buy the 3 valley pass. You can practice free at the Altiport area and then buy a Meribel Valley Pass with a one day extension if you leave the valley.
Intermediates: Use your 3 valley pass and enjoy the largest linked ski area in the world. Courchevel has wonderful snow conditions as has Val Thorens.Les Menuires is the ugly duckling but has fantastic skiing on the far side(La Masse)
RESTAURANTS:
Make sure you visit the old village of St Martin de Belleville. It has 2 of the best restaurants in the Valley. (La Voute & La Montagnard)
In Couchevel 1650(the main street) try the Petit Savoyard. Wonderful French friendly owners who love to practice their English.
In Val Thorens try the Chaumiere near the Tourist Office. Again Superb.
In Le Menuires try the La Ferme. really friendly and delicious food.
We ate in all these and the average price was under 15- 20 euros each including wine and the food was top notch.
Dinner restaurants in Meribel range from ordinary to superb and quality is not always reflected in the Price. Ask around or find that guide we mentioned as there are too many to list here. However if you like Cheese then you MUST go to the Fromagarie. A cellar restaurant in Meribel centre.Incredible place!!
Night life centres around the Pub (Live Music)The Taverne & Barometer (More quiet)and later all the Brit party animals descend on Dicks Tea Bar which is the most popular Disco for the younger set. The Loft is more international.
So I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect here. You can have a really wonderful holiday but make sure you arm yourself with as much information as possible before you go. Have a great holiday. We are certainly back again next season...