The Courchevel 1850 chalet season runs roughly 18 weeks, from the lift opening on 12 December 2026 through the closing weekend of 18 April 2027. Across the 96 chalets we track at the 1850 altitude band (excluding 1650, 1550, and 1300, which are different markets), the median 8-bedroom Christmas-week ask is €245,000. The same chalets in the third week of January 2027 ask a median of €58,000. The 4.2× spread between the two weeks is wider than in any other Alpine resort and is the single most important number in the Courchevel buying decision. As of 15 May 2026, Christmas-week 2026 inventory at 1850 is 92% sold.
The season has three demand peaks. Christmas (Saturday 19 December 2026 to Saturday 2 January 2027) is two weeks of compressed family-and-friends and corporate-buyout demand at the resort's highest rates of the year. February school-holiday windows (the rolling French Zone A, B, and C breaks plus the UK February half-term plus the German Bavaria break) form a five-week peak band where rates run 70% to 80% of Christmas. The closing weeks (mid-March through Easter 2027, with Easter Sunday on 28 March) form a third, shallower peak that has historically been called shoulder but in 2027 is moving into peak territory. Outside these three windows, January 2027 and the early-March 2027 weeks are functionally low season.
The 18-week 2026-27 rate map
The table below averages headline weekly rates across our tracked Courchevel 1850 dataset, by bedroom band, for the 2026-27 season. Headline rates are quoted in euros, exclude 20% French TVA, the Courchevel commune taxe de séjour, and the in-house chalet team where billed separately. Numbers are taken from operator rate sheets posted as of May 2026 and from direct quotes against off-platform inventory.
| Week (Sat-Sat) | 4-bed median | 6-bed median | 8-bed median | 10+ bed top quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Dec (opening) | €32,000 | €58,000 | €88,000 | €185,000 |
| 19 Dec (Christmas) | €78,000 | €148,000 | €245,000 | €520,000 |
| 26 Dec (New Year) | €92,000 | €175,000 | €295,000 | €620,000 |
| 2 Jan | €42,000 | €78,000 | €122,000 | €245,000 |
| 9 Jan | €26,000 | €48,000 | €72,000 | €140,000 |
| 16 Jan | €22,000 | €42,000 | €58,000 | €118,000 |
| 23 Jan | €24,000 | €44,000 | €62,000 | €124,000 |
| 30 Jan | €28,000 | €52,000 | €78,000 | €155,000 |
| 6 Feb (FR Zone) | €48,000 | €88,000 | €140,000 | €295,000 |
| 13 Feb (FR/UK) | €62,000 | €112,000 | €180,000 | €385,000 |
| 20 Feb (FR/UK/DE) | €68,000 | €122,000 | €198,000 | €420,000 |
| 27 Feb (FR/DE) | €56,000 | €102,000 | €168,000 | €340,000 |
| 6 Mar (FR Zone) | €42,000 | €78,000 | €125,000 | €255,000 |
| 13 Mar | €28,000 | €52,000 | €80,000 | €160,000 |
| 20 Mar | €32,000 | €58,000 | €92,000 | €185,000 |
| 27 Mar (Easter) | €44,000 | €82,000 | €135,000 | €275,000 |
| 3 Apr | €34,000 | €62,000 | €98,000 | €195,000 |
| 10 Apr | €26,000 | €48,000 | €74,000 | €145,000 |
Three patterns: New Year week (Saturday 26 December) is the single most expensive week of the year, running 20% above Christmas itself, which is the inverse of the popular assumption; the February peak band stacks five consecutive weeks at 60% to 80% of New Year, with the 20 February week (the only week the French, UK, and German school holidays overlap) the highest of the five; and Easter is now genuinely peak, not shoulder, with the 27 March 2027 week running close to the 6 March French Zone week and well above the surrounding mid-March bands.
Christmas vs New Year, the underrated reversal
The instinct is to book the week of 19 December 2026 ("Christmas week") as the year's premium window. The data say otherwise. The week of 26 December (taking in 31 December and 1 January 2027) is 20% more expensive at the median 8-bedroom level, and 19% more expensive at the trophy line. The reason is structural: Christmas Day is a family-at-home day for most European clients, who arrive on Saturday 19 December and use the chalet through 25 December. The New Year crowd arrives on Saturday 26 December for the New Year's Eve dinner and for the actual peak ski week. The 26 December week has both demand cohorts present (some Christmas-week families extending and the New Year arrivals overlapping), and it has the biggest single dinner of the year on the Thursday night.
The booking implication: if you can move from 26 December to 19 December, you save €50,000 on the median 8-bed and €100,000 at the trophy line. The trade is the New Year's Eve dinner, which can be booked at as a non-resident.
February's five-week peak band
The five February weeks (6 Feb through 6 March 2027) are the second-largest revenue block of the season and are the right window for buyers who are not tied to the December calendar. The week of 20 February is the densest, with the French Zone B, the UK February half-term, and the Bavaria break all overlapping. The week is the busiest on the slopes after the New Year peak and the most over-booked at the dining anchors. The two flanking weeks (13 February and 27 February) are 9% and 17% lower than 20 February at the 8-bedroom median respectively, and offer the same product against fewer queues.
The booking signal: 20 February 2027 is already 78% sold across our tracked dataset as of 15 May. That is fast for a non-Christmas window. If you missed the Christmas window for 2026-27 and are aiming February, book the 13 February or 27 February alternative now, not the 20 February peak.
January, the contrarian's window
The two weeks of 16 and 23 January 2027 are the cheapest weeks of the entire 1850 season. The 8-bedroom median is €58,000 and €62,000 respectively, against €245,000 in Christmas week. The product is identical: same chalet, same staff, same chef bench, same lift access. The trade is two-fold. First, snow conditions in mid-January are statistically the most variable of the season, with a real risk of patchy cover at the lower altitudes (1850 itself is high enough that its own slopes generally hold, but the wider Trois Vallées can be uneven). Second, the social density at the dining anchors is meaningfully lower, which buyers either consider a feature or a problem.
For families with school-age children locked into the school-holiday calendar, January is irrelevant. For corporate offsite groups, sabbatical buyers, and skiers without a school-calendar constraint, mid-January is the year's clearest value play. We would push hard on chef negotiations and pre-booked private instruction for these weeks; both are in surplus and bookable at favorable rates.
The three chalets we would skip in 2026-27
Every Journal rate map names what we would not book. Three of the 96 chalets in our 1850 dataset are listed at 2026-27 asks we cannot defend.
Chalet One. Asking €260,000 for the 19 December week on a 7-bedroom property where the ski-room access is via a 38-step exterior staircase. The marketing photography does not show the staircase. Pass for any group with elderly skiers or small children.
Chalet Two. Asking €298,000 for the 26 December week on an 8-bedroom property where the spa is a single 6-square-meter sauna and a hot tub on a north-facing terrace. The published "spa" framing is mispriced against the rate band. Negotiate to €230,000 or pass.
Chalet Three. Asking €185,000 for the 20 February week on a 6-bedroom property where the 2025-26 season's online reviews include three separate complaints about the chef rotation (the contracted chef was substituted twice mid-week without notice). The operator has not addressed the complaint pattern publicly. Pass until the chef bench is verified for 2026-27.
The post-Russian-money rebalance
The 2022-23 season's Russian-buyer pull-back removed roughly a quarter of the trophy-tier demand from Courchevel 1850 in a single year. The expectation was that the trophy rates would compress for two or three seasons. They did not. The slack was filled in 2023-24 by Middle Eastern, Indian, and West Coast US buyers, and the trophy rates have re-anchored at or above the 2021-22 level. The 2026-27 New Year top-quartile median of €620,000 is roughly 8% above the 2021-22 same-week number. The market is now structurally less reliant on a single buyer cohort, which is the most important Courchevel story since the resort opened.
The remaining post-pull-back artifact is at the 4-bedroom and 5-bedroom apartment-and-small-chalet end, where the original Russian demand was concentrated and where the replacement has been slower. That sub-market is still trading at roughly 12% below 2021-22 same-week levels. If your group fits the format, the entry-tier 1850 inventory is the only band where the value remains meaningfully better than five years ago.
How to book against this calendar
Three rules. One: if you are aiming Christmas or New Year 2026-27, the 19 December week is the trade against the 26 December week if you can flex. Two: if you are aiming February, the 13 February or 27 February weeks are the trade against the 20 February week. Three: if you are not bound by a school calendar, mid-January is the year's value apex, with the right negotiating posture on chef and instruction.
The companion pieces: the full Courchevel destination guide covers 1850 alongside 1650 and Le Praz. The all-in math (TVA, taxe de séjour, in-house team, lift passes, ESF instruction) is on Courchevel chalet prices. For the Alpine peer set see the Verbier 2026-27 report and the Aspen 2026-27 preview. The Courchevel dining bench (Le 1947, Le Chabichou, La Mangeoire) is on Restaurants For Kings: Courchevel.
Last updated 2026-02. We have not adjusted our editorial for the commission rate. See how-we-make-money for the full disclosure.