Esprit Village | Vars: Hautes-Alpes ski resort

Esprit Villages

The art of mountain living

Are we talking about snow days? There are those who see it as bad weather… but here, when the snow is falling, when the muffled white silence covers nature, the mind wanders easily before getting carried away! So we go out, make snowballs, let the flakes land on our faces and try to drink a few. The village lanes become paths on which to make your tracks, to feel the fresh snow crackle under your feet… it’s so good: you return with flushed cheeks and a blissful smile to warm up by the fire, in front of a steaming hot drink, waiting for the sun to come back and sublimate the new landscape that’s opening up before you…

Chutes de neige abondantes dans les villages de Vars

Cœur du village de Vars Sainte Catherine sous la neige

Chutes de neige dans les villages de Vars

Warm atmosphere

From sunrise to sunset, each hamlet finds its own special light: Vars Saint Marcellin and Vars Sainte-Marie shine in the east, while the zenith illuminates all sectors, and it’s Vars Sainte-Catherine that benefits from the much sought-after golden rays right up until the last hours.

The Mediterranean ambience can be heard in the warm welcome, the friendly, comforting atmosphere in the heart of an environment enhanced by the beauty of the finely jagged scenery of the peaks that encircle this valley of the torrent du Chagne. It shares its path with the Route des Grandes Alpes, which winds past the Col de Vars to reach the Grande Bleue.

The altitude provides pure air, ideal for rejuvenating under the majestic gaze of the Eyssina peaks, or the Vars peaks, with the Ecrins peaks and their eternal snows in the distance…

Discover the villages

Les villages de Vars vêtus de leur manteau blanc

Vue Aérienne de Vars Sainte Catherine sous la neige

It’s the picture-postcard atmosphere of the 3 mountain hamlets that complete the bustling heart of the resort of Les Claux: Vars offers visitors all the facets of a valley rich in history, with an ancestral heritage where time revels in an art of living carried on by the men and women who have forged this territory.

The more inquisitive visitor will be able to discover all the special features that make Vars such a unique village.

Le clocher de l'église de Vars Saint Marcellin sous la neige

Vars Sainte Catherine, le lavoir et le four banal sous les chutes de neige

This uniqueness is also reflected in the warmth of the typical mountain welcome offered by the locals, who bring the villages to life with the fruit of work sometimes handed down over several generations: hotels and restaurants are places of comfort and indulgence, inspired by the history of the old farms that house them. The rhythms of the times are to be found in the heart of the alleyways, known here as “charrières”, where sundials with mottoes full of wisdom can be seen here and there. The wash-houses are a reminder that these were once real places of social life.