France

Every year around 200,000 Brits choose to head to France for their ski holiday and its appeal to the British is obvious; you can be there in a matter of hours and France has one of the best selections of resorts to choose from in the world. The range of altitude is staggering, and the country boasts a wide range of resorts to suit any level of skier or boarder, any group dynamic, any budget and almost any other ski holiday requirement you could name.

France boasts a great variety of excellent ski resorts for skiers and boarders of all abilities and has something which will appeal to everyone. You can choose from traditional resorts, village resorts or ski-in ski-out resorts in some of the largest interlinked ski domains in the world. The most popular ski areas in France are the Three Valleys which incorporates Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens and L’Espace Killy which links Tignes and Val d’Isere. Val d’Isere, is an intermediate’s paradise because there’s a good range of blues and reds with very easy progression over to the steeper slopes of Tignes. Other popular French resorts are Les Arcs, La Plagne, Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes and Chamonix.

France has a fantastic nightlife with Meribel and Val d’Isere boasting a great selection of bars and live music. Val d’Isere and Val Thorens both have a piste-side Folie Douce bar bringing you the best après-ski you could hope for. While Meribel boasts piste-side festivals such as Altitude and Little World.

Families need look no further than resorts like Les Gets and La Rosiere for their friendly, relaxed family atmosphere and minimal nightlife. The slopes are perfect for kids and the resort centres are pretty, and wonderful to stroll around.

Early and late season skiers need to stay at good altitude. But with Val d’Isere, Avoriaz, Tignes, Courchevel, les Arcs, la Plagne and Val Thorens amongst the highest resorts in the whole of the Alps and full coverage through the season is pretty much guaranteed.