The only French ski village classified as a historic monument, Samoëns is all stone houses and stonemason heritage around a market square. A big gondola lifts you straight onto the 265 km Grand Massif.
Samoëns is a ski resort with genuine ski-in/ski-out hotels in France, in the French Alps. The village sits at 720 m and the lifts top out at 2480 m, with 265 km of pistes and 60 lifts. Its BestSnowHotels snow score is 80/100, and the season usually runs Dec 14 → Apr 14.
How we score and classify resortsRun counts and piste kilometres are indicative. Green runs only exist in France, Spain, Andorra, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Lesotho, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Chile; Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany start at blue. Indicative average snow depth near the top of the resort, in cm.
A handful of well-rated hotels in and around the resort. Pick one, then compare live prices across Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Very good · 1.5k reviews
Strong value for Samoëns, with a high guest rating that punches above its nightly price.
Guests rate this hotel as very good (4.4/5 from 1,548 reviews). It sits about 3.6 km from the slopes. A mid-range option for Samoëns, with live nightly rates shown for your exact dates so you always see the best price.
Excellent · 306 reviews
One of the highest-rated places to stay in Samoëns, with guests singling out the service and comfort.
Very good · 377 reviews
Strong value for Samoëns, with a high guest rating that punches above its nightly price.
Excellent · 202 reviews
Moments from the lifts in Samoëns, so you can ski back to the door and skip the morning queues.
Great · 204 reviews
A dependable, well-reviewed choice for a stay in Samoëns.
Ratings from Google, prices indicative per night. Live availability and rates via our booking partners.
A historic stone village at 720 m, reached by a big gondola to the Grand Massif plateau. True ski-in/ski-out lives up at Samoëns 1600, not in the village itself.
Samoëns is the characterful, valley-floor alternative to concrete Flaine, sharing the same Grand Massif slopes but keeping its own Renaissance-era heart. The catch is the low altitude, so you ride the gondola up and down rather than ski home, but the village life, the Friday market and the alpine-garden charm more than make up for it.
Hotels and apartments around the lifts. Compare prices on Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Everything on our site connected to Samoëns: its area, the lists it makes, head-to-heads and trip guides.
Samoëns offers 265 km of pistes across 60 lifts, from 720 m to 2480 m. Whether it suits beginners depends on the dedicated learner zones at the base of the slopes, so check the local ski-school options for green and blue run access.
The season runs from Dec 14 to Apr 14, with a snow score of 80/100. The best conditions are usually from late January through February, while spring skiing in March and April brings longer days and softer afternoons.
A historic stone village at 720 m, reached by a big gondola to the Grand Massif plateau. True ski-in/ski-out lives up at Samoëns 1600, not in the village itself.
Samoëns has 265 km of marked pistes served by 60 lifts, between 720 m and 2480 m of altitude.
Samoëns counts about 100 marked runs in total. The colour breakdown above shows how they split by difficulty, a good guide to whether the resort fits your level.
The closest alternatives, an easy switch if dates or hotels are tight.
French Alps
French Alps
French Alps
French Alps
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French Alps
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