Tignes Val Claret is the highest of the five villages that make up the Tignes Ski resort, sitting at 2,100 metres. It is the resort's newest village, built mainly in the 1960s as demand grew for skiing in the resort of Tignes. Like many resorts built at this time, Tignes Val Claret was constructed primarily as a ski resort. The resort also offers tourism-based activities in the Summer, notably glacial skiing,

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

Overview

After deliberate flooding to prepare for a new damn, Tignes Val Claret was the last of the newly-built villages to be erected. It sits at the farthest end of Tignes and is also the highest of the five villages. Like the other towns that make up Tignes, Val Claret also consists of different hamlets; the skiing hub Val Claret Grande Motte, Val Claret Centre and the stand-alone

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-su ...

s in the Les Chartreux area, adjacent to the main town.

Skiing

The town, due to its purpose-built nature, offers quick access to the mountains from

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

s, most of which are centered in the 'Ronde Point' area. The town is also the gateway to the glacial skiing offered by the Tignes resort, reached via the

Funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

and the

Grande Motte Grande Motte is a mountain of Savoie, France. It lies in the Massif de la Vanoise range. It has an elevation of 3,653 metres above sea level. One side of it is in the Tignes ski area. There is a cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the fo ...

cable car, the only cable car in the world to offer an outdoor viewing platform. Val Claret is linked directly to the ski area of

Val D'Isere Val may refer to: Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Soviet assault rifle Music *''Val'', album by Val Doonican * VAL (band), Belarusian pop duo People * Val (g ...

by two lifts, Tuffs and Fresse.

Town

Architecture

The town, like much of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, was subject extensive remodelling in the post-war ski boom throughout the 1960s to the 1980s. In comparison to the neighbouring Tignes Le Lac, however, by the time Val Claret was built, greater consideration was given during the resort's planning stages, which resulted in a greater level of functionality than that of its neighbour.

Accommodation

Most accommodations offered are apartment-style or in hotel format, though a few chalets are available around the edge of the town beside the golf course in the summer.

Apres-Ski

'Cocorico' is a popular destination for

après-ski A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

recreation. The Bollin restaurant located on the mountain is increasingly an après-ski destination.

Bars/Restaurants

Val Claret has a variety of bars, pubs and restaurants, many of which are situated along the high street that runs through the town centre.

Future Development

Val Claret is set to be the home of Ski Line, which will be the largest indoor ski slope in Europe, in a bid to combat climate change. In the winter months, the indoor slope will use real snow, while snow-making will provide artificial snow in the summer. The development will also add a 1,050-bedroom Club Med hotel. The development had been planned for completion in 2018 but remains under construction as of 2021.

References

{{Reflist Savoie