Courchevel

Courchevel occupies a broad, north-facing shoulder of the Tarentaise valley in the Savoie Alps, and it is the best-known gateway into Les Trois Vallees, the largest linked ski area in the world. Rather than one village, Courchevel is a ladder of them, each known by its altitude: Le Praz at 1300 metres, deep in the pines with the ski-jump built for the 1992 Winter Olympics; Village at 1550; Moriond at 1650, catching the afternoon sun; and the highest and most exclusive, 1850, at the top of the climb. Lifts thread all of them into a single system that runs on to Meribel and Val Thorens beyond, part of a linked domain with around six hundred kilometres of connected piste.

The skiing is the draw and the reason for the resort’s reputation. Wide, well-groomed pistes drop straight back to the village doors, the snow record on these high north-facing slopes is among the most dependable in the Alps, and a rare mountain altiport, one of the highest airfields in Europe, lets small aircraft and helicopters land almost on the snow. Beginners have their own gentle terrain at the foot of each village, while the higher bowls and the descents towards Meribel give stronger skiers plenty of scope. Off the slopes the tone is set by 1850, with its designer boutiques, its unusually high count of Michelin-starred kitchens and a level of service that has made Courchevel a fixture of the international winter season.

Winter naturally dominates, with the season running roughly from December to April and the busiest, most expensive weeks bracketing the Christmas and February school holidays. Summer is a quieter, gentler proposition and worth knowing about: once the snow clears, the same slopes open up for hiking, trail running, mountain biking on a network of lift-served trails, and paragliding off the higher ridges, all under long alpine daylight and with far fewer people about. Spring and autumn are shoulder seasons when much of the resort stands down.

Accommodation here has always leaned towards the private and the spacious, and for a family or a group who want to ski from the door and gather around their own fire in the evening, chalet rentals in Courchevel range across all four villages, from the wooded calm of Le Praz to ski-in, ski-out addresses at the top of the mountain.