The best après-ski bars and activities in Flaine
Night owls, go elsewhere. Family-friendly Flaine is just that. The après-ski party boils down to casual drinks – if you’re lucky with a DJ on the decks – at a traditional chalet restaurant-bar on the last run home (La Pent à Jules is a faithful favourite) or fireside in Flaine Forum’s flagship brutalist hotel and cocktail bar. Sledding, mushing and riding the wind with a snow kite bookend ski days here.
The resort has no glitzy nightclubs or dance floors packed with shot boards and stamping ski boots. Come dark in old-school Flaine, quietly kicking back in a hot tub beneath the stars or gliding silently through moonlit forest by electric snowmobile is much more à la mode.
For further Flaine inspiration, see our guides to the resort's best accommodation and restaurants.
Find après-ski by type
Après-ski bars
Totem
It’s a chill, lounge ambience at Flaine Forum’s flagship bar, tucked inside the same-name hotel. In keeping with the building’s vintage vibe – Totem was the last of Flaine’s original hotels to shut in 2012 before its much-celebrated renaissance three years later – the bar fuses Bauhaus colour with timeless snow-and-forest views through floor-to-ceiling windows.
When the sky is blue, hit the terrace for a vin chaud or organic beer brewed south along the Rhône Valley in Valence. Otherwise, bag a sofa by the fire and sip signature cocktails or mocktails: saffron syrups sweetens the Flaine Spritz, Totem Fumé mixes smoked black tea with whisky and rosemary syrup, and Faux French uses non-alcoholic gin. Thursday happy hour (5pm to 7pm) means cut-price drinks and DJ Rorsh spins tunes Friday evenings.
Price: ££
Contact: en.totem-flaine.com
RockyPop
A rare, new-gen lifestyle hotel that ticks all the right boxes in retro Flaine, RockyPop lives up to its name at après-ski hour. From 4pm to midnight, whether you want to play pool over a pint, thrash your mates at table football, blast out tunes in one of two karaoke rooms or simply linger in style over a Rocky Basil Smash or mocktail, this hotel bar in Flaine Forum rocks. The bar serves cheese and charcuterie platters, salmon makis, fried calamari and other tapas-styled plates to nibble on, and occasional live concerts raise the tempo by a few beats. Parents with younger children will appreciate the adjoining games room, visible from the bar, with ball pit and arcade games.
Price: £–££
Contact: rockypop.com
Le White Pub
Every ski resort has one, even small-town Flaine – notably since 1976. The White Pub is your classic Brit pub, complete with big screens for showing live sport and boisterous punters who pack out the bar for cut-price beer pitchers, 1-pint-1-free-shot deals and Sex on the Snow cocktails. The crowd is predominantly Anglophone, but concerts by live bands pull in a wider mix of dance-loving folk. Otherwise, DJs sets spinning a range of sounds, electro disco to techno, enliven proceedings daily from 4pm in season. Quintessential pub grub (burgers, ribs, fish ‘n chips and the like) keep the munchies at bay.
Price: £
Contact: facebook.com/flainelewhite
Le 1967
Tucked inside Flaine Forum Aldebaran’s building, opposite the Picasso sculpture at the bottom of the pistes, Le 1967 celebrates the year of Flaine’s birth. The stylish restaurant and bar is, in fact, a Gen Alpha baby from 2018. Designer interiors give a nod to the Bauhaus movement, and classy classics-with-a-twist like veal burgers, truffle pasta gratin and slow-cooked chuck beef provide perfect accompaniments to the impressive choice of wines. Hot chocolate spiked with fiery Génepi or pea-green Chartreuse seduce at goûter (afternoon tea) hour, and signature cocktails are the thing to quaff from 5pm. The house 1967 spritz mixes homemade elderflower liqueur with mint, lime and bubbles. Closed Monday evening.
Price: ££
Contact: 1967boireetmanger.com
O'spot
On sunny days, this pocket-sized apéro and music bar with industrial-styled interior is a fun spot to linger. Grab a brightly coloured bar stool around a barrel table or flop on a sofa crafted from upcycled pallets on the terrace outside and soak up the last of the rays over a local craft beer or €3 shooter. Themed sushi evenings here are always fun, as are the DJ sets and live bands. O’spot is home stage for Akouflaine, an association promoting electro music in Flaine, Samoëns, Les Carroz and other resorts in the Grand Massif ski area.
Price: £
Contact: instagram.com/ospotflaine
Other activities
Art & Architecture tours
It would be a sin to spend ski time in Flaine without taking time out to understand the story behind the resort’s unique Bauhaus architecture and indecent stash of striking sculptures by modern-art greats. Yes, that woman’s head is a Picasso nonchalantly lounging across from the tourist office at 1,600m. Free heritage guided tours led by a qualified guide depart from in front of the Centre d’Art de Flaine on Tuesdays at 2pm. Spots of the tour must be reserved in advance, no later than 11.30am same day, inside the arts centre on the first floor of Flaine Forum’s shopping arcade. Alternatively, DIY with a QR codes strategically placed next to sculptures on the art trail.
Price: £
Contact: centredartdeflaine.com
Ice driving
Off the ski slopes, there are wheels to suit all ages and moods in Flaine. The greenest forays along icy tracks, backcountry trails and between trees on snowy forest paths are e-powered. Once lifts shut for the day, speedsters (under 16s or those shorter than 1m30 must be accompanied by an adult) can fly down gloriously empty ski pistes on a mountain kart with chunky snow-adapted tyres. Four sizes of ice quads can be taken for a spin around a 600m circuit. Sports shop Black Side, next to the Sherpa supermarket at Flaine Forum, rents electric moonbikes (over 18s). For hardcore petrol heads, learning to pilot a Porsche around Flaine’s ice-driving circuit hits the mark.
Price: £–£££
Contact: flaine.com, icequad.fr, blackside.fr, circuitglace.com
Paragliding and snow kiting
It takes grit to throw yourself into thin air, but the reward is eagle-eye views of Flaine laid out beneath you in toytown form, in all its silver-white concrete glory. The soul-soaring mountain panorama is not bad either. Complete novices can paraglide in tandem with qualified instructors from Parapente Planète and Air Passion, both in neighbouring Les Carroz. No previous experience is required – sun glasses, gloves, a windbreaker, trainers and suitably warm clothing are. Adrenalin fiends eager to up their game can have a bash at riding high-altitude winds on the summit of Grandes Platières with a snow kite.
Price: £££
Contact: flaine.com
How we choose
Every bar, venue or activity in this curated list has been expertly chosen by our ski expert, who has visited the resort to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from casual pubs on the piste to exquisite cocktail bars – to best suit every type of skier – and consider the drinks, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. Non-ski activities are chosen to provide an alternative to traditional aprés, whether for families or adrenaline junkies looking to enjoy the mountains in winter away from the slopes. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
