The sunny and unpretentious ski resort of Serre Chevalier consists of 13 villages and hamlets scattered along the valley between the mountain passes of Lautaret and Briancon. The ski area extends to 250km, shared between Briancon, France’s highest town at 1200m, and the three main villages of Le Monetier, Villeneuve and Chantemerle. The skiing is split into three distinct sections and offers an excellent variety of slopes including lots of delightful, sheltered runs through woodland as well as classic open bowls. The lift system is being updated to bring it into line with the better known resorts.

Villeneuve is situated at the heart of the Serre Chevalier region and has two gondolas and a fast quad chair to whisk you up the mountain. The original old village just across the valley has a quiet main street which is lined with restaurants, bars and hotels. Briancon’s gondola, with a lively music bar at its base, offers direct access to mid mountain and the town offers a good choice of restaurants, shops and bars, a leisure complex, casino and even an ice hockey team! It also has an attractive fortified upper quarter with cobbled streets and an array of cosy restaurants serving regional French cuisine. Essentially a family resort, Serre Chevalier is not particularly noted for its nightlife, but even the villages have a number of decent bars and restaurants and there is a cinema and a couple of ice rinks. Le Monetier has its own ‘Grand Bains’ thermal spa complex.

Mainly north or north-east facing, Serre Chevalier’s ski slopes hold their snow well and are ideally suited to intermediate skiers, with plenty of well-groomed red runs and some easy blues. More experienced skiers, however, will also find some challenges here despite the lack of steepness – there are huge amounts of off-piste terrain to explore as well as some mogul runs above Le Monetier and Villeneuve. Confident boarders will enjoy the many natural obstacles dotted along the slopes. If you want to go further afield by bus or car, a six day Grand Serre-Che lift pass includes a day in Les Deux Alpes, Alpe d’Huez, Puy St Vincent and the Italian Milky Way resorts.