The 11 best après-ski spots in Europe

For: a small-but-mighty aprés scene

Somewhat overshadowed by Verbier and Val D’Isere’s raucous après scene, Tignes knows how to let its hair down, just in less pretentious fashion and on a more manageable scale. The form tends to be (for those in the table thudding ranks), to start the party at the Folie Douce with a high-octane cabaret lunch at La Fruitière from midday, followed by DJs, singers, and flamboyant dancers from 2pm (with more low-key lunch options at their canteen-style cafe). There’s typically a mad scramble for the last lifts towards Tignes, (and some unsavoury skiing over the late afternoon lumps and bumps en route to Val Claret), and, from hereon in, après spots very much depend on the village your hotel or chalet is based in (Tignes is fragmented into multiple villages: Tignes Le Lac, Tignes Le Lavachet, Tignes Val Claret, then further down the mountain, Tignes 1800 (Les Boisses) and Tignes Les Brevieres). Undoubtedly the liveliest, Val Claret now brings the après scene with open-air, always hopping Cocorico (which Val D’Isere skiers will be familiar with) right by the Lanches chair lift. An indoor stone-baked pizza restaurant goes hand-in-hand with happy hour from 2-4 followed by live music and a DJ set till 8, though those after a more traditional dinner with good wine and live music should book a table at Le Caveau then shift across to its bar area. Grizzly’s Bar is a Tignes legend with your classic Alpine formula: woodcarvings, cowhide, roaring fires, faux reindeer blankets and a large firepit to coalesce around (less fist pumping, more sitting soft). Party folk then make their way to Val Claret’s two main nightclubs: Melting Pot and Blue Girl As well as sharing Val Claret’s energy levels, Le Lac is Tignes central hub, and keeps the goggle-marked punters happy with live music drinking dens such as the Loop Bar (replete with its slippy dance floor and nachos for mopping up the glühwein), Jack’s Club for bowling and 80’s bangers and, more recently, the cavernous Strike Tignes (officially the Alps’ biggest club) with an impressive rotation of international artists and sets. Family-friendly Brasero can be found in laid back La Lavachet, where smalls can master the art of bopping to live music in the sunshine, or at Le Queue de Cochon, another low-key après spot (the charcuterie boards and pulled-pork burgers are a great way to round off happy hour).