Here 4 the Apres

Free Wifi in several places in the Val Thorens

If you don’t want to pay for an international data plan while you’re in Val Thorens, there is free wifi is parts of the resort. This includes the all the ticket offices, the tourist office, and departures of most ski lifts. You can connect to this wifi by using the “valthorens free wifi” network. At least with this option you can post some envy inducing IG stories for your friends stuck at home!

Paid Wifi in the Val Thorens

There is also paid internet available in Val Thorens, which covers about 90% of the resort. You connect to the “internet-here” network, and make your payment online there. Prices are about 5 euro for one day and 10 euro for 7 days. It can be used on 2 different products (laptop, tablet, smartphone) but not at the same time. If you’re going to try to use this in your accommodation, check the strength of your signal before committing.

Wifi at Val Thorens Accommodations

Not all accommodations at Val Thorens will have free wifi, especially in the apartments. When you book your accommodations, be sure to filter for free wifi if that is important to you. If you need the data to be fast and reliable, for example if you need to work remotely, I would go one step further and reach out to the accommodations to have them do a speed test. Both times I stayed in Val Thorens, the wifi data was so slow I couldn’t even search the internet or watch reels on instagram. It would have been a disaster is I need to jump on a zoom video if I need to work remotely.

Free Wifi at Airports

If you need wifi in Val Thorens, you’ll definitely need data at the airports, but luckily I know that Paris, Lyon, and Geneva all provide free wifi.

Verizon International Data in Val Thorens

When I visited Les 3 Vallees in 2022, I paid for international data on my Verizon phone. It cost me $10 a day, but it was terribly slow. It was on a 3G network, and I was getting capped at 1GB of data per day, unless I wanted to pay an additional $10 for 1GB of data. Since then, Verizon has changed their plan so that you can get 2GB of high speed data. I think they say 5G, but that might not be available in Val Thorens. But after you use up your 2GB, you’ll get unlimited 3G, which is impossibly slow.

AT&T International Data in Val Thorens

International data tends to be better on AT&T than Verizon. But when I checked with some of my travel buddies that have AT&T, but even they had trouble connecting and were getting failed connections when they were in France. But this was back in February of 2022, so they might have made improvements since then. With AT&T for $10 a day, you’ll get unlimited high-speed data and texting in line with your plan in the USA.

Orange SIM or eSIM Card in Val Thorens

When I went to Val Thorens in January 2023, I didn’t want to deal with the slow data speeds of Verizon, so I decided to order this SIM Card from Orange Telecom on Amazon. You can also frequently find SIM cards at the airports, but because I was flying into Switzerland, but skiing in France for a week, I wanted to make sure I had the best data for France. The Orange Travel SIM Card came with 20GB of data in 4G/LTE which allows data tethering in case I needed work on my laptop while I’m traveling. In the end I didn’t actually need this much data, but the 20GB SIM card had one-day delivery and I was leaving for France soon. It also came with 120 minutes of calls and 1000 texts. It was valid for 14 days. The data was great in France and Val Thorens, but even though it said it covers Switzerland, my data dropped down to 3G speeds while I was in Geneva. It was fine because I was only in Geneva for less than 24 hours, but it was a bit annoying.

In order to switch out your SIM card, first make sure your carrier even allows this. I had searched Verizon website very carefully and saw when I travelled back in January 2023 Verizon phones are locked for the first 60 days, so it will not work with a non-Verizon Sim card. So if you have a new phone, this might not work.

Even more convenient are the new eSIM options available. You don’t even need to switch out the physical card. Which is perfect, because there is always the fear that you lost your home carrier SIM card. On my return from France last time, I accidentally left my Verizon SIM card in my ski bag, which got delayed and didn’t arrive until 2 days later. While using wifi, I was able to get Verizon to turn on eSIM for my phone, thank god! I would recommend you purchase through Amazon because I trust their customer service. If the card doesn’t work, Amazon will always make sure that you get refunded. The cheaper option would be purchasing directly from Orange Telecom website. I haven’t tried this yet, but if you have issues, you can always have your credit card company handle the dispute. Just make sure that your phone can handle eSIM cards. For Apple phones all iPhone SE 2 & 3, XR series, and iPhone 11/12/13/14/15 series have eSIM capabilities.

Coworking Location in Val Thorens

There is a new coworking place in Val Thorens called Le Board located in the Galerie Caron, in the mall connecting to the main bus stop. It is open 7 days a week from 9am-8pm. Be aware that this means it is only available until 2pm for Eastern Time and 11am for Pacific Time if you were hoping to work during your normal business hours. There are 6 work stations, and you can possibly rent rooms for privacy. Rates are 25 Euro for a half day, 35 Euro for a full day, and 150 Euro for 6 consecutive days.