Nine venues · four valleys · February 2030
The French Alps host the winter of the century
From 1 to 17 February 2030, nine venues in France and the Netherlands will host the Winter Games. This independent guide exists for one reason: to help you be there, without overpaying and without picking the wrong valley.
Why start now
Three and a half years sounds like plenty. In practice, the decisions that cost money are made long before tickets go on sale.
Accommodation goes first
The Alps have no reserve of beds. At previous Winter Games, most of the capacity in host valleys was locked up more than a year ahead by organisers, delegations, broadcasters and sponsors. What is left for the public disappears fast, and expensively.
The valley matters more than the resort
Staying forty minutes from a venue can halve or third your bill. But you have to pick the right valley: Annecy, Moûtiers, Briançon and Lyon give access to completely different events.
Prices settle early
Owners and agencies raise rates as demand becomes visible. Booking before the event is in everyone's conversation means booking at ordinary winter rates.
The nine competition venues
Official allocation of disciplines, as published by the organising committee.
Courchevel
Savoie, France · Tarentaise · Les 3 Vallées
The only venue combining alpine speed events, ski jumping and nordic combined. It is also the gateway to the largest linked ski area on earth.
TarentaiseVal d'Isère
Savoie, France · Tarentaise · Espace Killy
The Face de Bellevarde, which staged the 1992 downhill, hosts the technical events this time. Few French resorts carry a racing culture this deeply rooted.
TarentaiseLa Plagne
Savoie, France · Tarentaise · Paradiski
The bobsleigh track built for 1992 is the only one in France. It is being reused, making La Plagne one of the most history-laden venues of these Games.
AravisLe Grand-Bornand
Haute-Savoie, France · Aravis
The Sylvie-Becaert stadium hosts a Biathlon World Cup round every year. The venue is well drilled, and biathlon remains the most-watched winter discipline in France.
AravisLa Clusaz
Haute-Savoie, France · Aravis
Next door to Le Grand-Bornand, La Clusaz hosts cross-country skiing and all the paralympic nordic events. The two villages will function as a single hub during the Games.
BriançonnaisSerre Chevalier
Hautes-Alpes, France · Briançonnais
The Briançonnais area hosts close to a third of the medals at these Games. Serre Chevalier takes freestyle skiing, moguls and big air.
BriançonnaisMontgenèvre
Hautes-Alpes, France · Briançonnais · Milky Way
Montgenèvre hosts snowboard, freestyle skiing and ski mountaineering — the last of these a recent addition to the olympic programme.
LyonLyon
Rhône, France · Rhône valley
Every ice event is held in Lyon. It is the only urban venue of these Games and by far the easiest to reach: two hours from Paris by high-speed train, an international airport, a metro system.
FrieslandHeerenveen
Friesland, Netherlands · Netherlands
Speed skating takes place at Thialf, the world's benchmark indoor oval, for want of an equivalent venue in France. It is a first: an olympic venue in a country other than the host.
Which valley for which events
This is the first decision to make, and the only one you cannot really undo.
| Valley | Venues | Suggested base |
|---|---|---|
| Aravis Haute-Savoie |
Le Grand-Bornand, La Clusaz
Two neighbouring villages, one obvious fallback base. The nordic hub of these Games. |
Annecy |
| Tarentaise Savoie |
Courchevel, Val d'Isère, La Plagne
The alpine heart of these Games: speed, technical, jumping, sliding. The densest valley for events. |
Moûtiers / Bourg-Saint-Maurice |
| Briançonnais Hautes-Alpes |
Serre Chevalier, Montgenèvre
Close to a third of all medals. The freestyle hub, still little known to the wider public. |
Briançon |
| Lyon Rhône |
Lyon
Every ice event, in a city, reachable by high-speed train. |
Lyon |
| Friesland Friesland |
Heerenveen
Speed skating, at Thialf. |
Heerenveen |
What this guide gives you
Three things that exist nowhere else, free and with no sign-up.
The trip planner
Tick the events you care about and it returns the valley to aim for, a base to sleep in, a budget range and a plan to download as a PDF.
The area comparison
For every venue, all the possible places to stay, with real travel times, price level and who each one suits.
An honest budget
What a week actually costs, item by item, based on an ordinary alpine winter — and why nobody can promise you 2030 prices.
What this site is not
It is not official, it does not sell tickets, and it does not pretend to know what has not been published. The detailed competition schedule, ticketing arrangements and transport plans will be announced by the organisers over the coming months and years. When they are, these pages will be updated — and anything still speculative is flagged as such.
In the meantime, everything here — geography, access, the logic of the valleys, how prices move through the season — is true today and will stay true.