Ski and eat on the Cote d’Azur for 26 Euros a day

A Day out in Roubion Les Buisses for 26 Euros, ski pass and lunch included

Roubion Les Buisses is a small ski station in the Alpes Maritime, about 1hour and 30 minutes from Nice on the French Riviera. It is open during the French school holidays and every weekend during the ski season.

The pleasure of going to this ski station is that it is empty! There are no queues, no hordes of skiers, and no ESF (Ecole de Ski Francais), with snaking groups of children taking up the whole slope.

A range of all piste difficulties, Roubion is ideal for a family day out. There is one long chair lift to access two button lifts which cover the main ski area. There is a further button lift near the entrance to the village, which leads to a couple of red pistes, and one blue which are hardly ever skied. On the front of the slopes near the village are a couple of small button lifts which cost nothing to use, for beginners to practice their skiing. Just below the start of the chair lift is The Baby Drag, which is very short, and ideal for any snowboarders who need to practice getting on, and then staying on, a button lift.

Once in Roubion you can buy a combined lift pass and lunch voucher for 26 Euros, which allows you to choose a 3 course lunch at any of the 4 eateries;

Le Charvet is a snack bar near the top of the chair lift, serving chips, sausages, panini's, etc. Alternatively you can have a set menu at Le Chalet de Roubion, which served home made paté, roast chicken and potatoes, and a beautiful large profiterole dessert the day we ate there, or choose from the dishes on offer at the friendly restaurant at the entrance to the village, or at Les Ecureuils restaurant, further up the (only) road.

If you do not wish to ski then you can hire snowshoes and take one of many walks either starting in Les Buisses or from the Col de Coullioure which is a 10 minute drive away. We chose to do the 4 hour return walk to Pic d'Ilonse, which heads uphill through trees beside the ski pistes, to join a track winding round the mountain far from the madding crowds before heading uphill again. The view from the top is breathtaking; snowy mountain scapes as far as the eye can see. The return walk can be broken by a cold beer at Le Charvet snack bar at the top of the chair lift.

For children there is good tobogganing to the left of all the pistes, through trees, or in the special luge area at the bottom of the slopes.

There is ample parking at the entrance to the village and all equipment can either be hired in the village or en route at Beuil. As the village lies on a road which connects the two valleys of the Var and the Tinee rivers you can take either valley road to get there.

So from Nice, follow the RN6202 either to St Saveur sur Tinee then to Roubion, or to Touet sur Var then Beuil and then follow the signs to Roubion.

The village of Roubion itself is a perched medieval village just near Les Buisses, but that's another article.

Happy skiing.