New Year in Courchevel 1850 with the family: the full spectacle

Of the resorts families ask us about for New Year, Courchevel 1850 is the prestige choice. The resort takes New Year seriously in the way it takes most things seriously: the village is lit, the mountain buzzes with an energy that builds across the week, and the 31st itself has a particular atmosphere that starts with children and ends, much later, with everyone else. It's genuinely celebratory, a resort that knows how to mark an occasion.

The skiing over New Year

Courchevel 1850 enjoys skiing up to 2,738m at the peak of Saulire, while due to its location within the Three Valleys ski area, lift served pistes reach up to 3,230m over above Val Thorens. The snowmaking infrastructure here is as good as anywhere in the Alps, which keeps conditions strong through the festive period in most years. As with any major resort over this week, expect the lifts busy and the popular pistes crowded by mid-morning, so families will appreciate getting out onto the slope eary to make the most of quieter moments (before returning back to the wellness facilities in their chalet for a relaxed afternoon together).

The evening of the 31st

The Front de Neige comes alive from the afternoon onwards, which is part of what makes Courchevel work so well for families at New Year: the day doesn't end at the lifts. Children drift between the snow front and the village, there's face-painting and music, a Santa photo that younger children take more seriously than they'll admit to later, and a general sense that something is building.

The torchlight descent is a magical moment for children, when ESF instructors ski down through the dark carrying flares; it's genuinely theatrical for adults to watch, and simply awe-inspiring for children.  Fireworks above the Croisette follow at midnight, and they are long enough that you're satisfied, dramatic enough that you're glad you stayed up.

La Folie Douce takes things in a different direction after that, and does so with some energy. For families with young children, this is largely academic: most are back at the chalet well before midnight, which with the torchlight descent and the general build of the evening doesn't feel like missing out. The evening is full enough before it turns adult.

Where to stay

A catered chalet works particularly well for this week given the shape of the evening: an early children's element you can walk to and dip into, then a retreat back to the chalet for dinner and downtime before deciding whether to head out again for the fireworks. Shuttle buses and the main lifts run with extended hours specifically on New Year's Eve to get guests back to chalets and hotels safely once the night winds down, worth knowing if your chalet isn't within easy walking distance of the Croisette.

Booking timeline

For the New Year period, the best ski-in/ski-out properties in Courchevel 1850 are typically booked six to nine months in advance, and the same applies more broadly: restaurants, private ski lessons and the better dinner reservations all fill early. Treat this the way you would any premium festive week. Book the chalet first, then build everything else around it as soon as possible, and you'll have a meaningfully better choice than leaving it until the autumn.

So, is New Year in Courchevel 1850 right for your family?

If you want New Year to feel like a genuine event, with a clear, family-inclusive early evening before things shift into a livelier adult register later on, Courchevel 1850 does this as well as anywhere in the Alps. For families who'd rather avoid the crowds entirely and want something quieter, our comparison of New Year in Verbier and Zermatt covers the more low-key Swiss alternatives.

If you'd like help finding the right chalet for this week, or working out how the evening would actually unfold for your family, tell us what you're planning and we'll point you in the right direction. More on Courchevel 1850 on the resort page.