A medieval market town bought and remade by the Rothschild family in the 1920s, and still the most elegant address in the French Alps. Cobbled square, horse drawn sleighs, a covered market, and shops that have nothing to do with skiing.

Dinner is a large part of the point here. There are several serious kitchens in town and the tables go well ahead in high season.

The skiing is gentle, wooded and unhurried, spread across three separate sectors with Mont Blanc in view from most of them. It suits families and improvers particularly well, and there is enough red mileage to keep a confident skier occupied for a week.

Grand hotels, converted farmhouses and chalets fill the town. The altitude is moderate, so midwinter is the safer bet, and Geneva is around an hour away.