Val d'Isère Ski Pass: Local or Tignes–Val d'Isère Coverage
Compare the Val d'Isère local pass with the Tignes–Val d'Isère pass, plus duration products, reduced and free age bands, beginner options and buying methods.
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Val d'Isère sits at the centre of two different lift-pass products, and the difference between them decides how your week works. The local pass keeps you on the resort's own slopes, while the wider Tignes–Val d'Isère product opens the neighbouring valley and its higher terrain. Everything else — how many days you buy, which age band you fall into, where you collect the card — follows from that first choice.
This guide sets out the coverage boundary, the duration products on sale, the reduced and free age bands, and the beginner pathways that let new skiers start without a full-area ticket. Tariffs quoted here are the winter 2026/27 figures published by the resort and its local partners; confirm them again before you pay, because published rates and season dates can change.
Local Pass or Tignes–Val d'Isère: The Decision That Comes First
The Val d'Isère local pass covers the resort's own side of the mountain — the Solaise, Bellevarde, Le Fornet and La Daille sectors — and is marketed as around 150km of pistes. The Tignes–Val d'Isère pass covers both resorts and is published as roughly 300km. If your week stays inside Val d'Isère's own lifts, the local ticket is the cheaper match; if you intend to ski into Tignes, even for a couple of days, the wider pass is the one to compare. For a similar pass comparison at another major resort, see the Alpe d'Huez Ski Pass guide.
The hard boundary is the Tommeuses chairlift, which is the crossing between the two domains. A local Val d'Isère pass does not permit that lift, so a Tignes day trip is not an option on the cheaper ticket. Check which lifts your planned routes actually require before buying; a full-area pass is not automatically better value.
What the Local Pass Covers and Where It Stops
On the Val d'Isère side, the local product reaches the Solaise gondola, the Olympique cable car above the village and the Fornet cable car toward the Col de l'Iseran. La Daille, at the eastern end of the resort, is served by its own gondola and the Funival, giving another way onto the Bellevarde sector. Read the piste map alongside the pass description so you can match the lifts you expect to ride with the ticket in your hand.
The local ticket is published as a four-consecutive-hour product, a one-day product and a season pass rather than as an off-the-shelf six-day ticket. Local advice sometimes quotes a six-day local figure by adding six one-day passes together, which is an illustration of daily pricing and not a product you can buy as a bundle. If your stay is longer than a day or two, price the full-area six-day product against the local daily rate before committing.
Duration Products and How to Compare Them
The full Tignes–Val d'Isère pass is sold from one day upward, with a six-day purchase giving seven days of validity — the 6=7 structure. That extra day changes the effective daily cost rather than being a free add-on, so compare the per-day rate against a shorter ticket rather than against the headline total. Afternoon tickets starting from 12:45pm are also published for skiers arriving mid-day.
Early and late season windows carry lower tariffs: 28 November to 11 December 2026 and 24 April to 2 May 2027, against the main winter band from 12 December 2026 to 23 April 2027. Not every lift or piste is guaranteed to run at the shoulders of the season, so treat the cheaper rate as a trade-off against reduced terrain rather than a straight saving.
Reduced Rates, Free Passes and the Card Fee
Reduced tariffs apply to skiers aged 8 to 18 and 65 to 74. Children under eight and adults aged 75 and over qualify for a free pass on production of proof of age at a sales point; a photo is required for the under-eight pass issued at the skipass office. The ten-euro administration fee attaches to free season passes and to replacing a lost reusable card, not to every free pass issued.
A family offer cuts 330 euros from the total order when four or more passes of the same duration are bought together, starting from the 6=7 product, with at least two adults aged 19 to 64 and at least two skiers aged 8 to 18, paid in a single transaction and excluding season passes. Reusable cards are issued free with a pass, so there is no need to buy a card separately unless you have lost one.
Beginner and Lesson-Linked Pass Options
Three lifts run free of charge: the Savonnette ski tow and Village chairlift on the snow front, and the Lanches ski tow from La Daille. These give access to beginner slopes without a pass but do not open up the wider area. On Solaise, the Pim Pam Poum beginner pass bundles one ride on the Solaise gondola with unlimited use of the Pim Pam and Poum magic carpets, which suits a first day or two.
Ski-school lessons require a lift pass, and the level you have reached determines which one. For Ourson to Flocon children, the instructor confirms the day before whether a pass is needed; from 2ème Étoile for children and Class 2 for teenagers and adults, the Tignes–Val d'Isère pass becomes compulsory. A discounted 6=7 beginner pass is available to skiers booking five or six consecutive lesson days, sold at the school offices and no longer authorised for sale from Tuesday.
Buying, Reloading and Adding Insurance
Passes can be bought or reloaded online through the official shop, or collected from lift-pass offices around the resort, including points near the village centre, inside the Le Fornet cable-car building, and at La Daille close to the Funival and bus stop. Reusing an existing card and topping it up online avoids the ticket window, while staffed offices help with beginner, free, pedestrian and other assisted purchases.
Carré Neige insurance is sold alongside the pass, not included in it, and must be bought at the same time and for the same duration as the pass for daily cover. The resort lists 3.50 euros per day for one to seven days, 28 euros for eight to fifteen days, and 49 euros for a single-season policy, with a family price available at the point of sale. Cover for mountain rescue in France is not something to assume from a bank card, so read the policy terms before deciding.
Choosing Your Val d'Isère Pass
Decide on coverage before anything else: a week spent entirely on the Solaise, Bellevarde, Fornet and La Daille sectors can stay on the local product, while any plan to cross into Tignes through the Tommeuses chairlift requires the full-area pass. Only then compare duration products, because the 6=7 structure and the afternoon rate change the effective daily cost rather than adding a free extra.
Check the published winter 2026/27 tariff and season dates again before paying, confirm whether your dates fall in the cheaper early or late windows, and confirm the current rate and age rules with the lift-pass office if anyone in your group qualifies for a free or reduced pass. Buying online or reloading an existing card is the quickest route to the slopes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Val d'Isère local pass enough, or do I need the Tignes–Val d'Isère pass?
It depends on whether your week crosses the Tommeuses chairlift into Tignes. The local pass covers Val d'Isère's own sectors — Solaise, Bellevarde, Le Fornet and La Daille — and does not permit the Tommeuses crossing. If you plan to ski into Tignes at all during your stay, the wider Tignes–Val d'Isère product is the one to compare against the local option.
What age bands get reduced or free ski passes in Val d'Isère?
Reduced rates apply to skiers aged 8 to 18 and 65 to 74. Children under eight and adults aged 75 and over qualify for a free pass on presentation of proof of age at a sales point, and a photo is required for the under-eight pass. The administration fee applies to free season passes and to replacing a lost reusable card.
How does the six-day Tignes–Val d'Isère pass work?
The full-area pass is sold with a 6=7 structure, meaning you pay for six days of skiing and receive seven days of validity. That extra day changes the effective daily rate rather than being a free add-on, so compare the per-day cost against a shorter ticket. Afternoon tickets starting at 12:45pm are also published for late arrivals.
Do beginners need a full ski pass in Val d'Isère?
Not to start with. Three lifts run free of charge — the Savonnette tow and Village chairlift on the snow front, and the Lanches tow from La Daille — and the Pim Pam Poum beginner pass covers one Solaise gondola ride plus the Pim Pam and Poum magic carpets. Ski-school lessons require a pass, and from 2ème Étoile level the Tignes–Val d'Isère pass is compulsory.
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