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Vars Accommodation
Book Vars ski accommodation direct with owners chalet apartment or hotel.
Vars is a sizeable resort, most of which has been purpose-built. It is bigger and has far more in the way of shops, restaurants, hotels, nightlife and other amenities such as squash, saunas and the like than Risoul, and it is equally ski-convenient and reasonably priced. The village is surrounded by woodland. There are two centres: the original and geographic one, which has most of the accommodation and shopping, where the main gondola starts, and Point Show - a collection of bars, restaurants and shops, surrounding a main lift station, 10 minutes' walk from central Vars. Neighbouring Ste-Marie is a hamlet well linked to the skiing; being a popular summer resort, it actually has more hotels than Vars.
Vars has the larger and more varied section of the ski area's 170km of piste, with many more options for better skiers. There is also a good mix of open and wooded skiing on mountains either side of the village. The Peynier area is much the smaller and reaches only 2275m. The main skiing is the other side of the valley, with direct links to the skiing of Risoul. The two local areas are linked via a shortish walk across Ste-Marie, or by a two-stage gondola that rises up both mountains from just outside the village. The link to Risoul can be made in two places - near the top of the ski area, above 2500m, and lower down at the Col de Valbelle. Vars has very little skiing above 2500m and its slopes get a lot of sun, but there is virtually no skiing below village level (1850m), and the main pistes down to the village have artificial snow - so snow reliability is not bad.
