Two villages at the top of the Arlberg pass, and the most discreet money in the Alps. Lech has hosted royalty for generations and does not advertise it, being small, wooden and quietly expensive. Zürs above it is little more than a handful of hotels on the pass itself. The snow record is superb, and the pass covers the whole Arlberg including St Anton over the mountain. The White Ring is a circuit you ski round in a day and finish where you started, and it has a race on the same route every January.

There is serious off piste here for anyone with a guide, and arranging one is the right way to use the area. Four and five star hotels with half board that is a real part of the experience, and very little that is cheap. Tables go months ahead. Evenings are civilised rather than loud.