Le Grand-Bornand – the family village in the Aravis where farmers still make the cheese

Le Grand-Bornand is first and foremost a farming village. The farms are scattered across the slopes, and on Wednesday mornings the farmers come down to the market with crates of reblochon, the soft cheese made twice a day on the farms of the Aravis. Skiing came later and had to adapt to the village, not the other way round.

For a family, that means a resort where everyday life carries on around you. There's a bakery, cheese shops and a church in the middle of the village. The ski area is just the right size for children skiing greens and blues – almost two thirds of the pistes are easy – and smaller than at neighbouring La Clusaz on the other side of Saint-Jean-de-Sixt. Le Grand-Bornand is one of the most authentic family villages in the French Alps.

Two resorts in one – the village or Le Chinaillon?

The municipality has two bases, and your choice of base shapes the whole week.

• The village, at 1,000 metres. Here you stay among old farmhouses and shops. The Rosay gondola takes you up to the Rosay plateau, with a beginner area and the ESF meeting point. The second gondola, La Joyère, heads towards easy slopes above the village. Choose the village if you want to go to the market, eat out without a car and have a bit of life in the evenings.
• Le Chinaillon, at 1,300 metres. A small ski village further up the valley, with an old village core and newer buildings closer to the slopes. This is where you'll find the service centre at Charmieux, with the lift ticket office, ESF, childcare and beginner slopes. Choose Le Chinaillon if the children are going to ski school every morning and you want to walk straight out onto the snow.

The free Aravis Bus ski shuttle runs between them during the season. Line A runs from the bus station in the village up to Le Chinaillon.

Children's areas and free lifts

Le Grand-Bornand has three beginner areas, and three lifts that are free for everyone:

• Alpage Express on the Rosay plateau. A covered 230-metre magic carpet right by the gondola's top station. Two beginner slopes, a fenced-off sledging slope, a picnic area and free lockers for rucksacks. The magic carpet is free, but you'll need a gondola ticket.
• Charmieux in Le Chinaillon. A wide magic carpet with two beginner slopes, right in the service centre. Good for the youngest, as toilets, warmth and the ski school are only a few metres away.
• Castor at Floria. A free rope tow at the foot of the Floria chairlift in Le Chinaillon, for the very first glide.

Once the children can snowplough, there's a dedicated one-day discovery pass valid on 13 easy lifts, including both gondolas, three chairlifts and several button lifts. For children who have started turning, there's Môm’Park, a playful freestyle area for little ones in the snowpark.

Parents who want to ski on their own for a while have Dénivel’ Maxx: a three-kilometre run with 1,100 metres of descent and no stops. It's not one for the youngest.

ESF and age limits

ESF Le Grand-Bornand has meeting points at the Rosay top station in the village and at Charmieux and Floria in Le Chinaillon. Always check which meeting point applies when you book. Children's lessons run from 20 December 2026 to 9 April 2027, but not on Saturdays.

• Piou-Piou, age three. First steps and first glides in groups of six to seven children.
• Ourson, age four. Children learn to turn and ride the button lift, and the week ends with a test.
• Group lessons from age five. Children are grouped by level and get a medal on the last day.
• Lessons and childcare. The ESF has packages combining lessons with lunch and supervision, both for three- and four-year-olds and for older children.

For children under three, there's a municipal childcare centre in the village from six months and a childcare service by the slope at Charmieux. Book early, especially for French school holidays. First ski trip with children has more tips on how to plan the first week.

Lift passes – free under five, and under twelve at the end of March

The whole area is run by a local lift company part-owned by the municipality. Children under five ski free, and you can collect their pass at the ticket office on showing ID. Children aged five up to and including eleven pay the child rate, and the youth rate applies all the way up to 25.

The best tip for winter 2026/27: from 20 March 2027, children under twelve ski free on passes from four hours up to fourteen days. For a family with school-age children who can travel late in the season, that makes a big difference. Other ways to keep costs down are gathered in the budget guide.

The snow – the honest answer

Le Grand-Bornand is low-lying. The village is at 1,000 metres and the highest point at 2,100 metres, which is not much compared with resorts such as Les Contamines. A mild spell in December or a warm week in April shows straight away on the lower slopes.

What keeps the season going is around 300 snow cannons, covering almost half of the groomed pistes. Le Chinaillon and the Rosay plateau are higher than the village and usually have the best snow for beginners. If you want to be sure of good conditions, January, February and early March are the safest time. Compare Le Grand-Bornand with other family resorts in ski holiday in the Alps with children if snow matters most.

The slopes open on the weekend of 5–6 December 2026 if there's enough snow, and the whole area is scheduled to be open from 12 December 2026 to 11 April 2027.

Reblochon, the market and days off skis

• The Wednesday market under La Grenette, 8.00–12.30, all year round. This is where the farmers hand over their crates of reblochon to the wholesalers, and you can buy direct.
• Maison du Patrimoine, a 19th-century farmhouse that has been a listed historic monument since 2007. People and animals lived here under the same roof. The tourist office runs guided tours, and over the Christmas holidays evening walks too.
• Farm visits where children can see how reblochon is made and have a taste. Check the tourist office's programme for which farms welcome visitors in winter.
• Cross-country skiing and biathlon. The village is a centre for biathlon, and the ESF has cross-country lessons for young children and biathlon courses for older ones.
• Sledging on the fenced-off slope on the Rosay plateau.
• Annecy and its lake are half an hour away by car.

A ski holiday without skiing has more ideas for days off skis.

Getting to Le Grand-Bornand

• From Geneva by car: the airport is about 50 kilometres away. Take the A40 to exit 16 at Bonneville and follow the signs for the Aravis, about 20 kilometres. The Col de la Colombière, the pass road from Cluses, is closed in winter.
• From Annecy: take the A41 to the Annecy Nord exit, then the road via Thônes, about 30 kilometres.
• Train and bus: take the train to Annecy and continue on bus Y62 or Y63, which runs all year round via Thônes to Le Grand-Bornand and on towards La Clusaz. Expect queues on the road down towards Annecy in the afternoon.
• Winter equipment: in Haute-Savoie, winter tyres – or snow chains or snow socks in the car – are required during the winter months.

The whole journey by train from Sweden is described in train to the Alps, and the choice between car, train and plane in getting to the ski resort.

Le Grand-Bornand or La Clusaz?

The neighbours share a valley, a cheese and bus routes, but not lift passes. La Clusaz is bigger and higher, with more steep slopes for parents who want to ski a lot. Le Grand-Bornand is smaller, quieter and more of a farming village, with better children's areas in two places. With young children and a wish to experience French village life, Le Grand-Bornand is the easier choice. Other family villages in the same spirit are Samoëns and Megève. It's worth going through the ski trip packing list a few days before you leave.