Which should I choose: Avoriaz Prodains or Top Station?
Avoriaz ski village is a pedestrianised town which means there are two options to be dropped off at /collected from: Avoriaz Top station or Avoriaz Prodains Telecabine.
(From where ever you choose to get dropped/collected, then you have 3 options of getting to your accommodation:
– walk and hire a luggage sleigh
– take a snow taxi (like a people carrier on tank tracks)
– take a horse and sleigh
The last two options you have to pay for them, with the snow taxi being the cheapest option and the horse and sleigh being the most romantic 🙂 You can check if your hotel provides this as part of their service to you.)
1) Avoriaz Top Station (1800m altitude): The transfer from Geneva to Top Station takes about 1hour 40/50mins to top station on a clear run (no snow, no traffic etc).
Or,
2) Avoriaz Prodains Express Telecabine (1200m altitude ascending to 1800m in 3mins): The transfer time to Prodains Express Telecabine is about 1hour 15/25mins on a clear run (no snow, no traffic etc).
So which should I choose? The decision for where to go may depend on several factors such as where your accommodation is located in Avoriaz, your budget, your flexibility, how well you or youngsters travel on mountain roads, the opening hours of the telecabine etc. Furthermore, sometimes on busy Saturdays our availability is limited to Top Station and we may only be able to offer services to Prodains at certain times of the day.
Practical information to help your decision: The transfer to the Prodains Express telecabine is shorter, quicker, cheaper and a much more comfortable one as we avoid 19 hairpin bends going up the 12km mountain road to Avoriaz Top Station. So if you or fellow passengers don’t travel well then Prodains is the best option for you.
You take the Prodains telecabine up as a foot passenger (including your luggage as they are enclosed bubbles specifically for foot passengers and skiers alike) and it only takes 3minutes (its incredible!!). If you are skiing on the day of your travel then the price of taking the telecabine as a foot passenger is included in the days ski pass and youngsters travel for free. A single ticket for an adult is 8.50Euro and a return is 13.90Euro. It opens at 07:00 every morning and closes Mon – Thurs at 21:00, Sat – Fri at 00:00 and on Sun at 22:00.
If you are staying at the Amara complex or in the Falaise area, they are located right next to the Top Station Welcome centre, so in this case Top Station is your best option.
In times of heavy snow then the Prodains Telecabine may be the only option on the day anyway for everyone’s safety, due to police directives or in conjunction with our Ts & Cs.
Please click on this map of Avoriaz to help make further sense of the ski resort
From the map, the top of the Prodains Telecabine is where the E3 and F3 bottom corners meet. The Top Station ‘Welcome Centre/Accueil Entre Station’ is in the middle of B2.
We hope this information helps and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.