The best places to stay, eat, drink and ski in France's convenient family-friendly resort. Copy link. twitter. facebook. whatsapp. The largest of five French resorts in the Grand Massif ski area, Flaine offers family-friendly convenience, with pretty tree-lined runs and traditional villages just a few minutes away. The 265km ski area suits all abilities from beginner to expert and snow reliability is good, with 80 per cent of pistes facing north and a fair amount of snowmaking.

Flaine was born in 1969, when big concrete blocks of apartments were considered stylish, even in the mountains. These original blocks designed in the 1960s still form the core of the resort village and have the big advantage of mainly ski-in/ski-out convenience. Liking the architecture is a matter of taste – many find it ugly, but some admire its Bauhaus heritage and the outdoor sculptures by Picasso, Vasarely and Dubuffet.

Stay on track with the essential facts from the resort below, and scroll down for our insider guide to a day on the pistes, expert ratings and advice. For further Flaine inspiration, see our guides to the resort's best accommodation, restaurants and après ski. Flaine is split into two main parts. Flaine Forum is based around a big traffic-free square with the slopes and main gondola forming one side. Above that is Flaine Forêt with its own pistes and chairlifts. Both have a few restaurants and bars, and they’re linked by two funicular-type lifts which run 24/7. In addition, Front de Neige and Les Gérats count as two more lesser-known sections of the resort.

Most of Flaine’s accommodation is in apartments, but there is an increasing number of smart hotels. For those who prefer chalet style, in the 1980s a Norwegian developer built the Hameau de Flaine – an attractive collection of Scandinavian-style wooden chalets, 2km from the original Flaine. Officially, the slopes are reached by a free shuttle bus, but crossing the road and sliding through the forest to a piste is an option if snow conditions allow.

Just outside Flaine and on the way to the Hameau,  Pierre et Vacances Premium apartments occupy chalet-style buildings, constructed in the 2000s and have a piste running right behind them. While Flaine has a number of good value restaurants serving reasonable food to a largely family clientele, there’s little in the way of haute cuisine. This is a resort which has more apartment accommodation than hotels and largely geared towards self-caterers who prefer to eat in. The same goes for nightlife, while Flaine Forum and Flaine Forêt offer a few bars, it’s not party-central.

Much of the ski area in the big bowl above Flaine is above the trees, but it shares the large and varied Grand Massif ski area with four lower and very contrasting resorts, which have some lovely tree‑lined runs above them. Les Carroz is a traditional mountain village with chalet-style buildings that has grown across a wide valley floor but retains the feel of a real lived-in village, not just a ski resort. Some of the accommodation is near the gondola but some is a bus ride away.

The ancient alpine village of Samoëns has a medieval church, pedestrianised high street and covered market. The area around has an increasing number of attractive modern chalet‑style apartment developments. But from most of these – and from the resort centre – it’s a bus ride or a long walk to the lifts. Morillon is much smaller and quieter than the other resorts, again based on an old village with newer developments. Most lodgings, including a three-star hotel, are a short walk from the gondola. Sixt Fer à Cheval is another base option, a traditional village with local slopes suiting beginners, and free buses to the Grand Massif lifts, 10 minutes away.

The Grand Massif’s 265km ski area is nicely varied and big enough to keep even the keenest intermediate happy for a week. For experts, there is plenty of excellent off-piste terrain to be explored with a guide. For beginners, Flaine has two dedicated nursery areas served by four free lifts, including three magic carpets. After that there are a couple of short greens and a long gentle blue to move onto. There are beginner areas in the ski area’s lower villages of Les Carroz, Samoëns, Morillon and Sixt Fer à Cheval too, though in Samoëns reaching it entails catching the gondola both up and down.

Above Flaine is a wide north-facing bowl, mostly above the treeline and tremendous in good weather as it reaches almost 2,500m and keeps its snow in great condition. It’s accessed by two gondolas and a fast chairlift which all leave from Flaine Forum or Flaine Front de Neige – in one of the resort’s two main sectors. Nearly all the pistes here suit intermediates best – a few easy cruising blues, but mostly reds which deserve their grading mainly because of short steep sections.