Courchevel 1850 was designed on an empty mountainside after the Second World War and became the Alps' most exclusive address. Here is the village, the slopes, the palaces and the tables – in facts.
Courchevel 1850 is not an old mountain village that happened to become fashionable. The highest situated of Courchevel's villages in Savoie was planned from scratch after the Second World War, on the initiative of the department, and the architect and town planner Laurent Chappis was given the task of placing houses, lifts and slopes so that one could ski right up to the door. It was a new idea in 1946. Today it is a given – and Courchevel remains the benchmark for what a luxury ski resort looks like.
This guide covers the village, the slopes, the palaces and the tables, and what VERA PI's data says about the resort. The entire property market, address by address, can be found on VERA PI's page about Courchevel.
Villages at various altitudes, one municipality
Since 1 January 2017, Courchevel has been its own municipality, formed when Saint-Bon-Tarentaise and La Perrière were merged. The resort consists of several villages at different altitudes. In 2011, they were given names instead of just numbers: Le Praz (formerly 1300), Courchevel Village (1550) and Courchevel Moriond (1650), with La Tania in the forest towards Méribel. Only the topmost one kept its altitude in the name – 1850 – and that is where most of the palaces, most of the shops and most of the stars are found.
The centre point is La Croisette, the spot where the gondolas up to Verdons and La Saulire depart and where the ski schools gather in the morning. Around it lie the shops, and up in the forest, around Jardin Alpin, are the large hotels with their own runs down to the pistes. It is in this area, and along the road towards the altiport, that Courchevel's most sought-after chalets are found.
Les 3 Vallées: 600 kilometres of slopes from your doorstep
Courchevel is the easternmost valley in Les 3 Vallées, the area that connects Courchevel, Méribel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens. According to Les 3 Vallées, it comprises around 600 kilometres of interconnected pistes, one of the largest lift systems in the world. A day that starts in Courchevel can thus end on a sun terrace in Méribel or at over 3,000 metres above Val Thorens, without having to take off your skis.
Courchevel's own side is known for wide, carefully groomed pistes through the forest and for the summit of La Saulire, 2,738 metres above sea level, where the steep couloirs begin. During the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, the ski jumping and Nordic combined events were held in Le Praz, where the ski jumps still stand and are used to this day.
The altiport – landing uphill
Above 1850 lies one of the most talked-about runways in the world. Courchevel's altiport sits at an altitude of 2,008 metres, and the runway is 537 metres long with a gradient of 18.6 per cent. It is used by small propeller planes and helicopters and requires special certification from pilots. For most guests, it is more of a viewpoint: on a clear winter morning you can watch the planes land uphill and come to a stop almost immediately, and along the road there lie some of the resort's most expensive addresses.
Courchevel's five palace hotels
No destination in France outside Paris has as many hotels with the Palace distinction. Atout France, the French tourism development agency, awards it to five-star hotels that also meet requirements regarding, among other things, service, location and history. In the 2026 list, there are five hotels in Courchevel: Airelles Courchevel (Les Airelles), Cheval Blanc Courchevel, Fouquet's Courchevel, L'Apogée Courchevel and Le K2 Palace.
These are five of the seven alpine palaces in the country. The other two are Four Seasons Resort Megève and Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva. The hotels differ greatly from one another: Les Airelles with its fairytale castle façade, Cheval Blanc as the LVMH group's minimalist ski hotel, L'Apogée on the site where an Olympic ski jump once stood. What they have in common is that most of them are only open during the winter season.
Michelin-starred restaurants in Courchevel
Courchevel is also one of the resorts in the Alps with the most restaurants holding stars in the Guide Michelin. The highest accolade, three stars, goes to Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc, Yannick Alléno's restaurant at the hotel. Two stars are held by Sylvestre Wahid – Les Grandes Alpes and Slalom 1850. One star is held by Le Chabichou by Stéphane Buron, which in the 2026 guide went from two to one star, L'Altitude at Le K2 Altitude, which received its first star this year, as well as Alpage and Le Farçon down in Le Praz.
The information is taken from the Michelin Guide's own listing on 25 October 2026. The stars are awarded every spring, and several of the restaurants are only open during the winter – book well in advance and check the opening hours before you travel.
Property prices according to VERA PI
VERA PI's data shows how special Courchevel is. Of the municipality's 7,832 properties, 84 per cent are second homes, and 2,295 people live there year-round. From January 2021 to June 2026, 895 properties have been sold according to the French tax authority's register of property transactions (DVF). The median price for flats stands at 10,862 euros per square metre, and for villas and houses at 10,224 euros.
The figures apply to the entire municipality, from Le Praz to 1850, and conceal significant differences. The highest street medians are found in 1850, along Route de l'Altiport and Rue du Jardin-Alpin. Those comparing with the neighbours in Méribel can read VERA PI's page on Les Allues, or see the entire department on VERA PI's map of Savoie.
Courchevel in numbers
| Task | Value |
|---|---|
| Highest point in Courchevel | La Saulire, 2,738 m |
| Pistes in Les 3 Vallées | approximately 600 km |
| Palace Hotel (Atout France 2026) | 5 |
| Holiday homes | 84 per cent of 7,832 |
| Flats, median per m² | 10,862 euros |
| Altiport's runway | 537 m, 18.6% gradient |
When you're travelling to Courchevel
The season in Courchevel starts in December and ends in April. Christmas, the New Year week and February, when French and British schools are on holiday, are the most sought-after weeks – and the most expensive. January and March usually bring quieter slopes, and in March the sun sits higher and the terraces get warmer. Exact dates for the start and end of the season are set each year by the lift company and published on the resort's official website.
More destinations can be found among metromode.co's destinations, and anyone who wants the guide in their pocket on location can use Metro Mode Kamera.
Monaco, every street of it
Every MICHELIN table and the grand hotels – Metro Mode with VERA PI.