| For the pdf version please click on: Welcomepack.pdf
Location
To get to the apartment you need to follow signs to the Bec Rouge Area of Tignes.
This map will aid you Tignes-town-plan.pdf (print it off but if you have to ask then it is opposite the Terrachu Hotel).
You need to look at apartment G26 ‘Le Sabaudia’ on the map. This is situated at the bottom of Roux Le Crux and at the confluence of Roux Le Crux and the main Road between Le Lac, Tignes and Val Claret, Tignes .
On finding the apartment block the flat is located through the right hand side door and on entering go all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. Here you will find the front door to the apartment and the key cabinet for which we will give you a code. After this point we usually use the back door as our front door and there is a padlock to use inside.
The box that you pass on the right hand side we usually use for our boots as is warm and keeps the clutter out of the apartment.
The Apartment
As we are in a communal block there is no hot water limit so go for broke. The flat can sometimes get warm at night and in this case turn the radiators down. To move the blinds in the lounge up and down use the rod provided.
Sheets can be found in the room located opposite the front door across the corridor and under the bed. There is a padlock for the door out into the garden which we use as the front door which will be the same code as for the front door for your stay. On the right hand side there is a rack and chain that will also have the same code for your skis and boards.
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Nights Out
We usually go to the Loop (Le Rosset, Tignes ), the Colleur Bar (Val Claret), Fuzzys Bar (Val Clare), Hotel Lavenne (Le Rosset, Tignes), or Harry’s Bar (Le Lavachet) for après ski but there are a plethora of other drinking holes that might take your fancy.
To go out for a drink the Alpaca (Le Rosset, Tignes), is chilled, the Blue Girl (Val Claret) messy and the Crowded House (Val Claret) well one of us is banned but we usually go to out to the Loop(Tignes Le Rosset). The only night club as such is the Blue Girl.
In all areas of the resort of Tignes, bars are plentiful in supply. In Le Lavachet The Cavern, is a lively place popular with English-speaking visitors, whilst Harri’s Bar, which has historically been popular with British skiers. In Le Lac The Red Lion frequently has live music, but unfortunately is often very busy as a result! The Cafe de la Poste is a fun place and is open until 2.00am. L’Embuscade plays Blues music on CD that is generally packed with locals.
In Val Claret by far the most exciting place is the newish Grizzly’s Bar. It has lots of huge light wooden beams, an open fireplace and good middle-of-the-road CD music. The Crowded House recently rennovated is very popular with English seasonnaires and as such is often very busy, (especially Tuesday evenings!). Le Caveau is a kind of bar/restaurant with live music.
The late-night dancing venues are Les Caves du Lac and Jack’s Club in Le Lac. In Val Claret, Le Blue Girl and Le Subzero are popular venues.
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Food
There are loads of good restaurants but for a smart dinner Le Caveu in Val Claret and Clan D’ Oueil in Tignes Le Rosset are excellent, however you probably have to book these.
There is a curry house/ take away next to the Loop which is pretty good and a bakery near there as well.
The nearest supermarket is near the centre of Le Lac, Tignes which is if you are leaving the premises out of the garden door turn right and walk to the centre. Furthermore if you wish to go to the gym/ Jacuzzi wellbeing centre you will also find this in Le Lac, Tignes. This is awesome and highly recommended.
What are the local specialities to try?
Apart from the fondue, there are several typical Savoyarde dishes worth trying. Tartiflette is a rich mixture of potatoes and bacon baked with melted cheese, and a raclette is grilled cheese served with potatoes, charcuterie, pickles and salad. All of these should provide plenty of calories for all your sporting needs (if you can move afterwards)!
You can also try pierre-chaud (hot rock) or braserade (table-top BBQ) on which you are given cuts of meats to cook yourself and is accompanied with potatoes and sauces. Beef, cheese and cream are staples of the traditional savoyard diet and dishes based on them can be found on all restaurant menus.
To wash your meal down you might try the local Savoie wines, the better ones include Mondeuse, Chignin, and Apremont. The local liqueur, Genépi, is made with a plant found at high altitude, and you’ll either love it or loath it. Meals are traditionally finished off with a Grolla, a wooden dish with pouring spouts to drink from, filled with hot coffee and alcohol - watch out as it’s lethally strong!
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Lift Pass
To get a lift pass either get the bus up from just outside the apartment to Val Claret and to the Funicular Station where there is a ticket office or at the Maison Du Tignes in Le Lac, Tignes.
However you might find it cheaper to get your tickets before you go online.
Maison Du Tignes
If you have to move out but want to have the days skiing you can leave your bags free of charge at the Maison du Tignes where there are showers.
How to get around town
Tignes committed to preserving the countryside and improving the air quality, and is proud that is has reduced the volume of car traffic in resort. Tignes operates a bus service that is FREE of charge and runs from Le Lavachet to Val Claret 24 hours a day.
Le Lavachet-Grande Motte: A continuous bus service operates from 08.30 to 20.30, with buses every 30 minutes from 06.30 to 08.30 and 20.30 p.m. to 00.00, then hourly from 12.30 to 06.30
Les Boisses-Tignes le Lac: Buses run every 30 minutes between 08.45 and 18.45#
Back to Top Where can I change money?
There are four banks and a Post Office in Tignes various villages where you can change money during banking hours Monday to Friday. (note: French banks will frequently close for lunch between 12.00 - 14.00.)
Cash machines can often be one of the easiest ways to obtain Euros using a credit or debit card.
NB American dollars may not be accepted by local banks, especially 100 dollar bills, due to the large number of forgeries in circulation
Where can I pick up my emails?
There are various cafés offering internet access across town. Both Powder Blue, and Tignespace have internet facilities.
Back to Top I've never been to Tignes before - what's it like?
The old village of Tignes disappeared beneath the waters of the Lac du Chevril when the valley was dammed in 1952. The ski resort of Tignes 2100, is now made up of many smaller villages at varying altitudes. Tignes Les Brévières (1550m), Tignes Les Boisses (1850m), Tignes Le Lavachet (2100m) and Val Claret (2100). Tignes-Le-Lac is generally classed as the main village of Tignes.
Although having spent millions in improving its visual appearance, the architecture of Tignes is some what synonymous with a collection of high rise housing estates, than your typical traditional Savoyard chalet village. There's few trees at this altitude so Tignes isn't the most visually appealling of resorts. However, beauty is only skin deep, so if you’re there for the skiing, and not fussed about your outside appearance of your accommodation, then Tignes is the place to go.
Tignes and its neighbouring resort of Val d’Isere make up the ski area known as the Espace Killy, (so named after France’s Olympic downhill skiing champion Jean Claude Killy); and offers over 300kms of pisted skiing and some of Europe’s most spectacular scenery.
Tignes is approximately equivalent in size to Val d’Isere. During the winter months, it offers 47 ski lifts which include a funicular railway, a cable car, 24 chairlifts and 19 drag lifts, enabling you to ski round the 150 kilometres of pisted terrain. There is also a board park at Val Claret giving riders the chance to try their hand at some freestyle jumping, rails and ‘big air’! For the more adventurous, Tignes has access to some of the worlds best off-piste in the French Alps.
Tignes is also very much a summer resort with host of outdoor activities to keep the sporting enthusiast entertained. Water, Aerial, Motor, Golf and Mountain biking sports are all available during the summer months. Lovers of snow-covered slopes need not be disappointed though, as the Grande Motte Glacier is open during the summer months and allows freestylers to practice in the snowpark, or watch the professionals and champions complete their summer training. The soft summer snow is ideal for beginners too. With so much variety and activity, Tignes is a very popular destination with many British and French tourists alike.
There is skiing to suit all abilities in Tignes, from beginner to advanced, there will be a run that offers a challenge. The skiing is split into four areas, La Grande Motte Massif, Le Palet, Le Toviere and Les Brévières/L’Aiguille Percée; see Ski Areas for further details.
There are many bars and restaurants in each of the Tignes villages and four nightclubs; two in Val Claret and two in Le Lac. From the 75 restaurants, you can sample the traditional Savoyard delicacies or Gourmet cuisine delights. There is also a 24hour free bus service between Val Claret, Le Lac and Le Lavachet making it especially easy to experience each village by night! Tignes offers much more modest prices than its neighbour Val d'Isere.
Back to Top History
Historically, Tignes was made up of two villages – Les Brevieres, and Tignes itself. Rumours started circulating in the late 1920s that a dam was to be built in the valley covering the original old town of Tignes. This was met with strong opposition from the locals (Tignards) who fought bitterly to keep their original village. Unfortunately, rumours became reality in 1952, when the original old village of Tignes was flooded as part of a hydro-electric power scheme which created the new "Lac du Chevril" over the old site. It has been said that locals tried for many years to disrupt building works using a "resistance" style movement. Today in Tignes, it is still possible to meet with some of the old Tignard characters who were sent to jail for their part attempting to blow up the dam that caused their homes to be flooded!!
The Tignes dam which depicts a giant figure of Hercules on the front, had been designed to generate power for up to 10% of France. However, France developed nuclear power a few years later, and ironically the Tignes dam which has never been used became redundant. It now serves as a huge 'battery' with the ability to supply power to the ski resort in the winter if required, and in the summer if the resources are low. (Every 10 years the lake is emptied for maintenance work to be carried out on the dam and it is possible to see, and even walk around the remains of the old village. - Since the lake was emptied in the spring of 2000 there’s a long wait to do this again.)
The new Tignes was created at an altitude of 2100m, with the main settlement at Le Lac, Tignes . There are a number of smaller resorts that make up Tignes and these include: Val Claret, Le Lavachet, Tignes and Le Boisses, Tignes . Monies paid to the local community from the government in damages for the loss of the original village of Tignes helped to build the first ski lifts and buildings in the new villages of Les Boisses, Le Lac, Val Claret and Lavachet.
Les Brevieres, Tignes went back to sleep after recovering from the 5000 workers who had been housed in and around the valley in a series of pre-fab army style huts. The village remained largely intact and was successful in maintaining is traditional Savoyard style. In the early 1970's, the first chair lift links were put in place, connecting Les Brevieres with its larger sister skiing and snowboarding resorts and putting the village on the map for skiers.
The resorts of Val Claret, Le Lac, Le Lavachet and Le Boisses were built in the late 1950s, early 1960s, and the French architecture is wholly alien in comparison to the spectacular mountain setting at the foot of the Grand Motte and Grande Casse.
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When is the best snow?
This is very much a matter of personal preference.
Snow-wise, early December can be fantastic or a flop. If you can book last-minute then come when, and if, the snow falls. (Keep checking our snow report and last-minute deals.) Empty pistes are guaranteed and bargains can be easily snapped up - even the lift pass is cheaper.
Christmas and New Year are very popular so the resort and pistes will be busy, and prices much higher. Christmas in the snow can be magical.
January is much underrated. The French tend not to take their holidays at this time of year, and the pistes are virtually empty with no lift queues. The weather can be very cold, but often the Alps enjoy blue skies and sunshine as well as low temperatures for much of the month. The snow can be excellent in January.
February is the month the French school holidays start - check dates below. The resort is always extremely busy and children’s ski school places are booked up months in advance. Avoid if you don’t like being out-skied by 7 year olds.
March is when the sun starts to shine for longer and longer each day, and temperatures are usually kinder to lunching out-of-doors. The snow quality may start to decline - hard in the morning and slushy in the afternoons. A popular month with the British and other nationalities.
April is often the snowiest month of the season as April showers land as fresh snow in the mountains. In fine weather it is perfect for lazy long lunches in the sun, and the pistes are once again quiet. Perhaps time for a last-minute break?
The resort will go quiet for the beginning weeks of May but towards the end of the month and the beginning of June there are lots of bank holidays and the village starts to get busy again. Be warned though, it can be rainy in May too!
June, July and August are the busiest summer months whilst there are loads of activities particularly outdoors to do including golf, tennis and mountain biking. The climate during the daytime will be much as for the rest of France but the evenings will be cooler - so you can sleep well after the day's exploits. Glacier skiing is still possible at the top of the Grande Motte during August.
Late September and during October things cool downagain, and life is much calmer. These are generally the months when many places close and take a holiday or are setting up for winter, so the village is quieter than ususal. Depending on what you want to do this is probably the time to get up the mountain for serious events, as you won't be missing much in town! Come November everything starts gearing up towards the winter again.
We hope you enjoy Tignes as much as we do!
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