An hour and a quarter from Nice and the Côte d'Azur, at the edge of the Mercantour national park, which makes Valberg one of the few places where a morning on snow and an afternoon by the sea are both realistic. It is a family resort by design and holds both the Famille Plus and Flocon Vert labels, the second of which is awarded for environmental commitment. The terrain is gentle and sunny with good learning areas and wide intermediate runs through larch forest. The village is small and purpose built but built in stone and wood rather than concrete, and the southern Alps light here is quite different from the north. Prices sit well below the Savoie resorts, and the surrounding gorges and perched villages are worth a day in the car.