France is home to many of Europe’s best loved ski resorts ranging from picturesque Savoyard villages perfect for a relaxing holiday in the snow to purpose-built, interlinked resorts, whose high altitude will guarantee the best conditions for winter sports throughout the season. Some resorts are noted for their lively après ski, whilst others are more laid back and popular with families.

Self-catering ski holidays are a great way to enjoy skiing or snowboarding at your own pace and at an affordable price. Resorts offer all the essentials such as supermarkets, launderettes and equipment hire so there is no longer any need to pack everything but the kitchen sink! You are also free to make your own travel arrangements to suit you.

Many of France's resorts share interlinked lift systems, creating extensive and varied ski terrain accessible with a special area ski pass. L’Espace Killy which includes the ski resorts of Val d’Isere and Tignes in the Tarentaise valley is one of the most famous ski areas in France, as is the Three Valleys area, incorporating Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens. The extensive Portes du Soleil ski area spills over the border into Switzerland and has 650km of marked pistes, whilst the popular resorts of La Plagne and Les Arcs are now linked to form the vast Paradiski area. French resorts such as those in the beautiful Maurienne Valley or the Southern Alps, perhaps a little less well known amongst British skiers, offer excellent value and a chance to try out somewhere different.

If you are new to the sport and don’t know where to start, the current top ten resorts in France are: Val d’Isere, Meribel, Val Thorens, Tignes, Les Arcs, Courchevel, La Plagne, Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes and Chamonix. Click on the 'Region' tabs down the lefthand side of this page to find information guides for the resorts featured in each ski area.