The second in our series spotlighting some of our beautiful resorts in France, today we’re looking at Mottaret. Found within the resort of Meribel, Mottaret has great links to the Three Valleys. This means fantastic skiing, brilliant hiking, and a whole host of other reasons to visit. Here are our top ten.
1. Go for a spot of fishing
Lac Tueda sits an hour’s walk from the resort, in the nature reserve. Hire a rod and a fishing pass, take yourself off for a little relaxation. Enjoy a lazy afternoon waiting for the rainbow and brown trout to turn up. Bliss.
2. Swing through the trees
Visiting Mottaret in the summer? Make a beeline for Parc Aventura in Meribel. A treetop adventure course, there are climbing, swing, and zip wire courses. The courses segment in levels of difficulty, like the slopes. Green is best for children, while blue, red and black courses are better for teens and adults.
3. Engage your inner skiing daredevil
The village of Mottaret sits within the resort of Meribel. Meribel can be found in the Three Valleys ski domain. This is the largest ski area in the world. The piste breakdown is as follows:
51 green pistes
132 blue pistes
106 red pistes
32 black pistes
169 ski lifts
Meribel itself has roughly 45 ski lifts, and 150km of pistes, with a good spread of difficulties.
4. Practise your tee
Right in the centre of Mottaret itself is a 12-hole crazy golf course. It’s open between 10am and 12pm, and 2pm and 7pm. Equipment hire and a round costs €4. It’s quite a small course, but for an early afternoon’s activity to entertain the family, it’s well worth a visit.
5. Experience the hiking
Come snow or sunshine, the Meribel and Mottaret areas are lovely for hiking. Start with the local trails, and branch out into the Three Valleys area. There’s plenty of choice, from easy strolls with kiddies to lengthy hikes that need a serious packed lunch (see point 3). the Gran Paradiso National Park is a great place to get started. And its trails are some of the most beautiful around.
6. Dive right in
Hop from Mottaret to Meribel and make a splash in the Parc Olmpique. There’s a huge swimming pool that’s open through the winter and summer. It costs €4.50 for adults, €3.50 for 5-13 year olds, and free for under fives. There’s also a gym and a spa, where you can treat yourself to a relaxing massage or a steam.
7. Cycle to your heart’s content
Being in such a fantastic location, Mottaret is ideal to explore the fantastic cycling and mountain biking trails in the area. Each year the prestigious Tour de France flies through the hairpin bends of the area, making it a very popular activity. Luckily, there’s loads of bike hire in Meribel and Mottaret, so it’s easy to pick up some wheels when you get there.
8. Go out on the ice like Bambi
If you can’t get enough of winter sports, head to the indoor ice rink in Meribel after a day of skiing and spend an hour or two spinning and twirling. The ice rink stays open in the summer, so if you fancy a chilled break from the summer sunshine, this is the ideal place. For something really cool, come on a Thursday evening and watch an ice hockey match.
9. Visit the Hôtel Le Mottaret
Of course, we’re biased! But this one is really special. Our Hôtel Le Mottaret is a 3-star hotel with a brilliant ski-in, ski-out location. It’s our flagship hotel, and with an altitude of 1750m, just picture the views! Rooms are spacious and yet cosy, there’s a lounge bar that hosts DJs, and there’s a Jacuzzi deck. A week’s accommodation starts from £311 – come and check it out!
10. Hiring ski gear is so easy
Hiring ski gear in Mottaret is made really easy with the Sport 2000 Meribel Mottaret shop. The shop sits at the bottom of our hotel, giving easy access to all the equipment you’ll need. If you’re unsure as to what you need to pack…look no further than our essential ski packing list!