What to do in Avoriaz in summer?

Avoriaz is a mountain resort in Haute-Savoie, perched at 1,800 metres in the Chablais massif, looking out over the Aulps valley. Best known in winter for its skiing, it is just as much a summer destination, particularly for families. Avoriaz sits within the commune of Morzine and opens up a full summer programme outdoors, for grown-ups as much as for the youngest. Which leaves one question, if you have never been. What is there to do in Avoriaz in summer?

What sets the resort apart is obvious the moment you arrive, because you leave your car at the entrance car park and do not need it again until you head home. High-altitude walks, the bike park, a golf course on an alpine plateau and a tropical pool are all reachable on foot from your accommodation.

Altitude also works on the thermometer. At 1,800 metres you sit roughly ten degrees below the valley floor, which keeps August afternoons workable and the nights cool. That is often the first reason people head uphill in summer, ahead of any list of activities.

A car-free resort, in summer too

The first thing that strikes you in Avoriaz is not a view, it is the absence of engine noise. Designed without cars from the outset, you get around the resort on foot, by scooter or by bike in summer. Shortcuts and public lifts mean you can cross it on foot in under fifteen minutes, and every building sits within ten minutes of the centre.

That same distinctiveness extends to the buildings themselves. The timber facades that follow the slope are the work of architect Jacques Labro and his practice, in what is known as an organic approach, where the architecture mirrors the terrain rather than sitting on top of it. That architecture is now officially recognised under the French heritage listing Grande réalisation du XXe siècle, which protects landmark twentieth-century buildings. From the valley floor, the Prodains cable car brings you up in four minutes, which means you can come up for the day from Morzine without staying in the resort.

Two practical points before you book. You come up either by road, which stops at the covered car parks at the entrance where you leave the car, or by cable car from the valley. As for timing, you will find the resort fully running from mid-June to mid-September, lifts included. Outside that window, most of what follows is closed.

Walking and hiking

At the heart of the Chablais massif, Avoriaz has more than forty walking routes to suit every age. The Super-Morzine ridges are among the ones not to miss. The climb asks for a reasonable level of fitness, but you are rewarded with valley views the whole way up. At the viewpoint you look straight down onto Lac de Montriond, and you will come across marmots along the way. To get back down, you can take the gondola or follow a Nordic walking trail.

The Morzinette loop, which takes you to 2,460 metres at the highest point of the Chablais massif, remains one of the most popular routes in Avoriaz. If you are walking with youngsters, start from Les Grandes Sutes. The path linking the Lappiaz mine to the Séraussaix farm is a good choice if you are new to mountain walking, and it takes you across the slopes where Morzine slate is quarried.

Two destinations are worth setting time aside for. Lac Vert, at 1,980 metres near the Swiss border, can only be reached on foot or by mountain bike, which is what keeps it quiet. The Brochaux waterfall is an hour's walk from the resort. If you run, the same terrain doubles as trail running ground, with waymarked routes and lifts on hand to pick how much climbing you take on. You will find all five, with distances and ascent, in our guide to hiking in Avoriaz.

Mountain biking and cycling

The mountain bike trails across the area range from gentle to demanding, so there is something for every level, with 650 km of waymarked routes. Whether you ride cross-country, bike park, trials or four-cross, Avoriaz has trails to match, from tracks used for World Championship rounds to narrow paths following a river. The resort also has this going for it, that the bike parks of Avoriaz, Châtel, Les Gets, Morzine and Champéry-Morgins connect by lift, with no shuttle bus, which spares you the van transfers that shape a lot of riding holidays. You are on your bike from the first lift of the day and you ride back the same way.

To place the level, the bike park runs 19 downhill trails across four linked sectors, with a useful split between flow lines, machine-built and smooth, and tech lines left natural with their roots and rocks. Les Lindarets is the most technical sector, clay soil and rock slabs up to the black Coupe de France. Super Morzine holds the most trails and the best-known jumps, including the Grosse Bert' under the Zore chairlift. Seraussaix stays rolling for building confidence, and Proclou, closest to the village, has the learning area and the airbag.

For family outings, Avoriaz also waymarks longer touring loops:

• the Portes du Soleil loop, 58 km long, mixing descent, built trail and flat sections, with plenty of jumps along the way. Trails are graded by colour according to ability
• Avoriaz to Crête de Zore, under 10 km, following the ridge between the Morzine and Montriond valleys

For something more immersive, sign up for the Pass'Portes du Soleil MTB. Despite its reputation, it is not a race but an 89 km ride that you complete in a single day, starting from eight French and Swiss resorts, using eleven lifts and passing six feed stations. If the subject interests you beyond Avoriaz, our article on Les Gets as a mountain biking destination covers the other major cycling hub in the massif.

Avoriaz golf course

Just outside the resort, on a plateau at 1,600 metres, the Avoriaz golf course is one of the highlights of a summer here. Laid out across forest and alpine pasture, it is a 9-hole, par-36 course, a short walk from the centre.

You play facing the peaks of the Chablais and the Aravis range, on ground that the gradient makes far more rolling than a lowland course. The club also has a driving range, a golf school and a restaurant serving regional dishes with the mountains in front of you.

Paragliding and adrenaline sports

A summer holiday in Avoriaz means green landscapes and clean mountain air. Several adrenaline sports run from the resort itself:

• paragliding, where a tandem flight with an instructor takes off from the slopes above the resort and soars out over the Aulps valley. Several operators on site hire out equipment and offer different flight options
• climbing, tackling the face of your choice with a qualified guide
• rafting, taking on the currents of the Chablais rivers with friends
• the zip lines built into adventure courses that carry you over the waterfalls from tree to tree
• the summer toboggan run, with separate tracks for beginners and for the more experienced
• the via ferrata, canyoning and the Avokart, an off-road kart descent of the resort's slopes

A word on cost, because it changes how you plan a stay. The resort runs the Multi Pass, which covers more than 70 things to do in Avoriaz and across the wider area, often unlimited or at a reduced rate, and some of what is on offer stays free to use. You put your week together without having to choose between two outings every morning.

Spa and wellbeing

You still have to recover from all of it. Massages, a hammam or hot tub session, or a few lengths in the pool all help you unwind at the end of an active day.

The Aquariaz water park stays open on summer afternoons. Under tropical planting you will find a lazy river, the Slidewinder flume, a children's area with a paddling pool heated to 32°C, and an outdoor hot tub at 33°C looking out at the peaks. Aqua fitness classes run there as well.

Put end to end, those same ingredients also make up a week for two, without children. You walk in the morning, play eighteen holes on the plateau in the afternoon, take in the spa and then a table in the evening, without touching the car in between. Going everywhere on foot mostly changes the end of the evening, since neither of you has to drive back.

Culture and local traditions

Summer in Avoriaz also means discovering the culture and traditions of the Portes du Soleil. Several festivals run through the season:

• the Avoriaz Danse Festival, which runs for a week each August, with dance classes in the resort during the day and themed evenings where you put the steps into practice
• the 1861 Mountain Film Festival, held a few minutes from Avoriaz, built around mountain sports film screenings and live music
• visits to alpine farms, usually ending with a tasting of mountain cheeses

Things to do with the family

To fill your summer days in Avoriaz, several options work well with children:

• the Village des Enfants, which runs day camps for 3- to 16-year-olds, with lunch, an afternoon snack and activities running from film sessions to puppet shows and karaoke
• the Aquariaz, whose flumes, water games and bubble pools make it an easy outing for the whole family
• the Village des Chèvres in Les Lindarets, where the well-known free-roaming goats will take feed pellets from your hand, out among the alpine pastures

The centre of the resort also has an open-access play area, tennis, padel and pickleball courts at over 1,800 metres, and the Promenade du Festival for a wander among the shops and terraces. This is where the car-free layout earns its keep, since your children move from one activity to the next without crossing a single road.

Local food

That leaves the local food. Start with what is local, from melted cheeses and cured meats to chanterelles picked on the Chablais slopes. Plenty of places in the resort serve traditional dishes or updated versions of them, and you will come across bistronomy and more refined cooking over the course of a stay, paired with Savoie wines.

---

Spending the summer in Avoriaz and the valley with BARNES

That summer activity feeds the local property market, which we follow closely. Avoriaz runs two full seasons, and that changes the maths for an owner, because a property here finds occupants well beyond the ski weeks. The resort sits within the commune of Morzine, so we cover it from our office down in the valley, four minutes away by cable car.

Have you discovered Avoriaz in summer? The idea of coming back every season has probably crossed your mind. Browse our holiday rentals across the Portes du Soleil, or go straight to those in Morzine, where the cable car up to the resort starts. If you are looking to buy, our properties for sale in Morzine range from village chalets to high-altitude apartments. The consultants at our estate agency in Morzine cover Avoriaz and the whole Aulps valley.