Brides Les Bains - village
Brides les Bains
Selected Packages
View and book ski packages from tour operators with rail travel and transfers included.
Overview
Brides-les-Bains is a little Savoyard village that revolves around spas as much as skiing (there’s a spa season and a ski season here). For this reason, it’s a great destination in the summer too.
It’s a lot less ‘ski touristy’ and a lot less crowded than some of the other resorts at higher altitude in the Three Valleys.
On Wednesdays, shops, bars and restaurants tend to offer extra discounts. On Mondays, there’s music and mulled wine round the ice rink.
Wellbeing is a priority here, and most hotels and apartment complexes have got wellbeing facilities.
There are many special events throughout the year, including a ladies’ week in March with pampering and free beauty workshops, and the Little World festival in Méribel http://www.littleworldfestival.com/ (also March).
The Olympe gondola lift has been connecting Brides-les-Bains to the rest of the Three Valleys for 20 years, and celebrations are planned for February 2012 to mark this.
Accommodation types
The main two accommodation options here are apartment or hotel. Accommodation in the resort is generally spacious. Accommodation prices here can be up to 50% cheaper than in high altitude resorts, but you don’t have to compromise on quality.
Ski/snowboard equipment hire
There are a number of ski hire shops in the village. Ski Set is open 8am to 7pm at the Telecabine de l’Olympe (Tel: 04 79 55 24 63). Other hire shops include Happy Mountains (Tel: 04 79 08 72 17) and Intersport (04 79 55 10 59).
Non-ski activities
There is a major non-ski side to Brides-les-Bains, in the form of its spas. Le Grand Spa des Alpes is the largest in the Tarantaise region. It offers more than 40 types of treatment, including plant reflexology, Chinese massage, and seaweed wraps. There are many detox packages on offer in the village, and as well as pampering, there is a focus on slimming treatments.
Childcare
Most of the independent childcare companies are based in Méribel. Two of these are Kids etc http://www.kidsetc.co.uk and SnowBugs http://www.snowbugs.co.uk/index.html
The long lift transfer makes a more complicated start than to your average ski day, so perhaps think twice before trying Brides with small children new to skiing.
