Ten French Ski Havens

Val d'Isere
The ultimate European ski resort, where you may meet a French person among the posh(ish) English crowds. Nice old town packed with smart clothes shops and restaurants. And the skiing is second-to-none, with some of the world's best off-piste. Espace Killy they call it, after Olympic hero Jean Claude, a ski area with something for everyone that rushes and dips for miles, all the way to modern neighbour Tignes. Should you get bored head in the other direction from Val's centre to the Solaise area for easy-going skiing, apart from the super-duper bump runs back down.
TO STAY: Nice hotels, chalets, apartments and growing number of
chalet hotels...hotels run on chummy chalet lines by Brit operators
TO EAT: Chalet du Cret is a bit special, set in an ancient farmhouse just out of town, but you're unlikely to go far wrong.
TO GO: Alpine Summers  Tel: 07050 24968 www.alpinesummers.co.uk

Courchevel
More fur coats than London Zoo although the atmosphere still manages to be discreetly smart. Modern, purpose-built resort in four areas high in the mountains...the main Courchevel 1850, plus 1550, 1650 and quiet, low (1300m) La Praz. Ski from your doorstep, then from valley to valley (the place is called the Trois Vallees but has spilled over into a fourth) up to 12,000ft Val Thorens, a hell of a day out. Exclusive clubby nightlife if you can stay awake.
TO STAY: Almost 50 hotels and more 4-stars than anywhere in France excepting Paris; try the 5-star Bellcote, or the Byblos des Neiges. Lots of mainstream operators with chalets too.
TO EAT: Tongue-tingling good. A couple, notably the Chabichou, have a couple of Michelin stars. Elsewhere, everything from great Savoy cuisine to simple pizza and pasta.
TO GO: Simply Travel  Tel 0208 541 2209 www.simply-travel.com

Megeve
Are we talking posh or what? This was created as the French St Moritz back
in the 1920s and still has that timeless feel. France of the old school. Old stone buildings,old stony-faced French types in fur coats. And refined skiing among the
trees in three areas, the central Rochebrune being the handiest, Mont
d'Arbois the biggest. It's mostly easy stuff, although there are hard runs
to be found...and excellent off-piste is all-but ignored by the regulars.
TO STAY: Posh hotels - notably the Mont Blanc - although thee are some chalets and self-catering.
TO EAT: Too many excellent restaurants to mention, but this is a place for drawn-out gourmet feasts, at lunch as well as dinner.
TO GO: Stanford Skiing Tel 01223 477644 www.stanfordskiing.co.uk

Alpe d'Huez
This is a vastly under-rated ski area and resort. Big, high slopes with plenty of excitement (try dropping off through the tunnel at the summit of the Pic Blanc), long runs (the 16km black Sarenne gorge) and loads of cruises. Below you've got the old town, all quaint eateries and sausage shops, and the more modern area (with big indoor/outdoor pool on your lift pass). The two are connected by a lift that looks like a row of dangling dustbins.
TO STAY: Basic hotels, plus chalets and apartments
TO EAT: The quaint Au P'tit Creux serves classic warming Savoy dishes, but there's enough for somewhere different every night.
TO GO: Erna Low  Tel: 0207 584 2841 www.ernalow.co.uk

Chamonix
Serious skiing of the first order. Chamonix is a proper town (as opposed to a ski town) and the various slopes are all a bus ride away. The lift pass covers 25 mountains in 11 resorts. Well worth the effort, though. Especially Argentiere with some of the most challenging off piste of all. Ditch the lift map and hire a mountain guide. Don't miss the Aiguille du Midi and its awesome cable car ride and views of Mont Blanc. Take the legendary15-mile off-piste Vallee Blanche run down.
TO STAY: Chalets, hotels, self-catering...it's all here.
TO EAT: Loads of choice, but try the Michelin-listed Atmosphere.
TO GO: Big Foot Tel 0870 300 5874 www.bigfoot-travel.co.uk

La Plagne
Formerly the most pig-ugly of all purpose-built resorts, it's getting better thanks to several forest-loads of wood cladding. Still wouldn't win any design awards - the Plagne Centre shops 'n' stuff building is more Tooting Market than Alpine charm - but at least you don't get scared when you go outside anymore. And the skiing's fantastic for high-mileage intermediates, passing through another 10 satellite 'villages', up to the glacier, and down into the trees.
TO STAY: Packed with apartments, but quite a few chalets and several small
hotels.
TO EAT: Plagne-Centre restaurants like Bec Fin are great fun, have great
food...and views into a dingy corridor.
TO GO: Handmade Holidays Tel 01285 642555 www.handmade-holidays.co.uk

Les Arcs
Arc 1600 is the original purpose-built resort, dating back to 1968. Since then Arc 1800 has become the main centre with Arc 2000 the relative new boy. There's dramatic if not exactly beautiful architecture and vast array of
intermediate skiing. Nice and high so it gets great snow coverage. Ideal for families. Just wait for the 2003-04 season and the lift link to La Plagne, the world's biggest cable car creating the world's third biggest ski area.
TO STAY: Apartment city, although some select family chalets.
TO EAT: Moderate selection from the posh nosh of the Petit Zinc to the
Tex-Mexy Mountain Cafe.
TO GO: Neilson Tel 0870 333 3356 www.neilson.co.uk

Meribel
Traditional haunt of chalet-loving Brits that sits in the centre of the Trois Vallees, the world's biggest connected ski area. Meribel's skiing's nice enough (including the pretty Altiport region where light planes soar above you), but it's the link over to Courchevel in one direction and, in the other, Les Menuires and Val Thorens with its glacier, that make this the place to be. Nice main street with bars, shops and swimming pool.
TO STAY: More than 50 companies runs chalet holidays but, if you must, you can find hotels, like the cheery, central Roc.
TO EAT: Loads of choice, mostly service cheesy (in the nicest possible way) local dishes like raclette and fondue.
TO GO: Cooltip Mountain Holidays Tel 01964 563563 www.cooltip.com

Valmorel
Ski Disney! Modern but while the inside may be simple apartments, the outside looks olde worlde with jumbled rooftops and trompe d'oile paintings on whitewashed walls. Nice bars on the snowy pedestrian street with the chairlift at the end, right where the runs home finish. A perfect family resort. Ski-wise there's plenty of it (take a day to travel over to St Francois-Longchamp) but little that's challenging. Quite low too, so it gets soggy.
TO STAY: Three hotels - Planchamp, Foret and Bourg - but this is very much self-catering territory.
TO EAT: Pizzas R Us, although the Petit Savoyarde has hearty local fare while the Planchamp_s restaurant is a bit posher.
TO GO: Erna Low Tel 0207 584 2841 www.ernalow.co.uk

Montgenevre
Charming village right on the Italian border. Great soaring runs above the
resort itself, but this is part of the Milky Way, one of the world_s great
ski areas that heads deep into Italy, covering 400km of piste as it passes
Sauze d'Oulx, Sestriere and more.
TO STAY: Mostly chalets.
TO EAT: Traditional, simple but good.
TO GO: Neilson Tel 0870 333 3356 www.neilson.co.uk

4 July 2005