Do you live in Marseille? How about trading the beach for skiing in winter? Discover a selection of ski resorts easily reachable by car from the Phocaean city. It’s fairly easy to find affordable accommodation or hotels, even during school holidays.
Val d’Allos, Pra Loup, Ancelle… it all depends on what you’re looking for. Family-friendly resorts? Ski trips combined with visits to Mercantour National Park? Destinations designed for snowboarding? Cultural sightseeing? Trying zip-lining, paragliding, or swincar rides? Relaxing after skiing? There’s surely one or more resorts to match your preferences, and Sport 2000 helps you choose your ski resort for a day, a weekend, or a full week.
Mont Ventoux ski resort: the closest to Marseille
This is the closest ski resort to Marseille (146.6 km), located at 1,400 meters altitude, less than 2 hours by car. Opened in the 1930s, it’s also famous for being next to Mont Ventoux, an iconic mountain stretching up to 25 km in some areas. A family-friendly resort, it offers many options: skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing… suitable for all levels, from green to black slopes.
Val d’Allos ski resort: under 3 hours’ drive
Comprising the villages of Val d’Allos, La Foux d’Allos, and Le Seignus, these villages maintain traditional architecture with wooden chalets and stone houses. With the forested areas of Valdemars and Vallaou, the Vacheresse forest, and the nearby Mercantour National Park, you’ll discover incredible, untouched nature.
This Marseille-accessible ski resort in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence features a ski area with 65 slopes and safe freeride zones. There are plenty of opportunities for both piste skiing and off-piste adventures.
Pra Loup ski resort: 2h45 by car
With a ski area of 180 km (connected to La Foux d’Allos via Espace Diamant), this Southern Alps resort is popular with people from Marseille. It includes a snowpark, 4 boardercross courses, and 3 fun zones. For families, in addition to ski lessons, the resort has a daycare and offers multiple family-friendly activities, such as the Snake Gliss Pra Loup.
Relaxed and also attracting young adults, Pra Loup keeps visitors entertained in winter: ice skating, snowmobiling, Praloops sledding (1,000 m slide), or lively evening events.
Serre-Chevalier Vallée Briançon: 3h15 drive
A ski resort near Marseille, Serre-Chevalier Vallée Briançon has many advantages.
Its exceptional ski area of 250 km with 60 lifts and excellent snow coverage appeals to beginners and advanced skiers alike.
In addition to ski lessons, everything is designed so parents and children can enjoy their stay together or separately.
Serre-Chevalier is also famous for its many quality restaurants. Unlike some mountain resorts with uncontrolled urbanization, Vauban fortified the town with splendid ramparts, now part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
Risoul: La Forêt Blanche, 3h by car
In addition to its 180 km of slopes in the forest, Risoul, a ski resort near Marseille, offers many activities: snowshoeing, sledding, ice skating, water and relaxation center, and even dog sledding.
Beyond skiing, Risoul offers thrill-seeking activities like zip-lining, paragliding, or snow adventures in a swincar (electric off-road vehicle).
Vars: 20 minutes from Risoul
Connected to Risoul’s ski area, Vars is also part of the La Forêt Blanche ski domain (the largest in the Southern Alps). The village is popular with snowboarders, with 7 snowparks and 1 boardercross. This Marseille-accessible resort combines sport and fun, with packages like Gliss & Mix (3 days/3 nights lift pass and accommodation, plus free concert access).
You can also try unique activities like exploring an ice cave, electric scooter rides, or sledding areas. Vars offers a complete après-ski experience: baths, spas, restaurants, bars…
Le Grand Puy: family resort about 2h from Marseille
Le Grand Puy features a beginner area, a snow garden, and a sledding slope. This small resort in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has 2 green slopes, 3 blue slopes, 5 red slopes, and 3 black slopes.
It’s also a place to discover snowshoeing, yooner sledding, or telemark skiing. The resort offers telemark skiing initiation.
An association provides a free ski chair for people with reduced mobility or disabilities.
Ancelle: cross-country and alpine skiing, 2h15 by car
A family-friendly resort at 1,807 meters altitude, Ancelle promises pristine nature and a taste of local culinary specialties from Champsaur: tourton, ravioles, oreilles d’âne…
The ski area is enjoyable and popular with cross-country skiing and Nordic skiing enthusiasts. Night cross-country skiing is possible, and alpine skiing is also available, with mostly green and blue slopes, plus 2 red and 1 black slope.
This list is not exhaustive: other destinations are quickly accessible from Marseille (less than 3 hours), such as Les Orres, Orcières-Merlette, Le Dévoluy, Montclar, Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes, Puy-Saint-Vincent, etc.
For other resorts in the Northern Alps, consider taking the train.