Alpe d'Huez - eat, drink, party

In the town

There are dozens of restaurants in Alpe d’Huez, with just about every type of cuisine represented. Au P’tit Creux (0033 4 76 80 62 80) never seems to disappoint (we love the tajine de poisons a la citronelle), Au Dahu Grille (0033 476 113 558) is where you’ll find many of the locals eating, and it’s open until 2am, L’Authentique is popular for both traditional mountain dishes and Italian (try the reblochon lasagne) and Smithy’s (0033 476 11 32 29) is highly-rated for its Tex-Mex, ribs, fajitas and all.

But we’ve had good reports about a number of others and we are still working our way through them! The Underground, the Pacific Pub and the O’Bar (0033 6 08 14 51 46) are among watering holes where we’ve enjoyed an après-ski libation. The Sporting, known for good live bands, the Igloo (0033 4 76 80 94 98) and the Cave de l’Alpe are the late-night clubby venues.

 

Mountain restaurants

Including those both on the slopes and directly at the foot of the slopes, so easily accessible on a ski day, there are more than 30 mountain restaurants. Annoyingly, not all are marked on the map – there is a separate little guide listing the ones actually on the mountain. We’ve found that most are at least acceptable, with some very good indeed.

There is an attractive new restaurant,  Signal 2108 (0033 6 28 28 81 88) and the sunny terrace of the Perce Neige (0033 476 80 69 67), above Oz, is delightful – book in advance here to be sure of table. The Chalet du Lac Besson (0033 476 80 65 37), on the edge of the frozen lake, is a bit out of the way but well worth a visit for grills over an open fire (and they do cheaper children’s portions here too).