Summer guided tours
Discover Tignes, its mountains and its natural and cultural heritage on a guided tour of the resort’s historic trails.
Discover Tignes
Every summer, Tignes offers several guided tours in partnership with FACIM, allowing you to better understand Tignes and its surroundings.
Please note: all guided tour are in French.
Once upon a time in Tignes
Come and hear the thousand-year-old story of Tignes, from pedlars to skiers, from mountain pastures to villages.
The Church of Saint Jacques, rebuilt exactly as it was after the dam was filled, will give you an insight into the rich history of this village.
Tour description
Discover how the small village of Tignes became an internationally renowned winter sports resort.
All that remains of the old village of Tignes, which was submerged by the dam in 1952, is the church, which has been rebuilt exactly as it was, reflecting the Alpine Baroque style of the 17th and 18th centuries.
By the 1920s, the village of Tignes was already welcoming skiers, and there were ten hotels in operation before the war. By 1936, the Tourist Office was up and running and the first ski lift was in operation.
The resort of Tignes-le-Lac was established in 1956. The first holiday homes were built by the architect Raymond Pantz.
In the 1970s, the developer Pierre Schnebelen designed the resort of Val Claret and conceived the “ski-in, ski-out” resort.
Dates, registration, prices…
Practical information
- Booking: ONLINE | Bookings open from the Sunday before the tour and close no later than 18:00 the day before.
- FREE
- Meeting point: in front of the St Jacques Church – Tignes 1800
Tour dates
- Tuesday 7 July 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
- Thursday 16 July 2026, from 16:00 to 17:30
- Tuesday 21 July 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
- Tuesday 4 August 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
- Tuesday 11 August 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
- Tuesday 18 August 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
- Tuesday 25 August 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30
Tignes: the story of a resort
From the 1930s onwards, winter sports began to flourish and the mountains were transformed.
Architects, town planners and local residents devised a new way of living and settling at an altitude of 2 000 metres. A real challenge!
Tour description
After 1952 and the filling of the reservoir, local residents, architects, town planners, property developers and skiing professionals came up with and created the ‘modern’ resort of Tignes. Faced with natural constraints and the new demands of winter tourism, discover how, over the years, they managed to develop new architectural and urban planning concepts.
From the first development plan featuring the first “snow liner” and its permanent residential centre at an altitude of 2 000 metres, through the property developments of the “Plan Neige” promoters to the reinvented mountain chalets, follow the evolution of mountain development in the 20th century.
Dates, registration, prices…
Practical information
- Booking: ONLINE | Bookings open from the Sunday before the tour and close no later than 18:00 the day before.
- FREE
- Meeting point: in front of the Maison de Tignes le Lac
Tour dates
- Every Wednesday from 8 July to 26 August 2026* from 14:30 to 16:00
*except 15 July
Villages lost to the waters: from legend to the dam
Join a guide and a folklore expert for a unique tour narrated by two voices. Together, they will reveal the secrets of an imaginary village and the lost village of Tignes, which was submerged during the construction of the dam in 1952.
Dates, registration, prices…
Practical information
- Booking: ONLINE | Bookings open from the Sunday before the tour and close no later than 18:00 the day before.
- FREE, as part of the Tignes 1800 festival
- Meeting point: in front of St Jacques Church – Tignes 1800
Tour date
- Tuesday 28 July 2026, from 17:00 to 18:30