Valloire and Valmeinier share a large quiet area at the foot of the Col du Galibier, one of the great climbs of the Tour de France. Valloire is a genuine old Savoyard village with a baroque church and a working centre. Valmeinier is newer and more functional but puts you closer to the snow.

The skiing is broad, sunny and mostly intermediate with a decent range of easy terrain and short queues, and the off piste towards the col is worth a guide.

Valloire has run an ice sculpture week for decades and it is worth checking against your dates. Chalets, apartments and family hotels cost well below the Tarentaise an hour north.