La Clusaz, France

La Clusaz, the home resort of the freestyle skier Candide Thovex, has managed to maintain its traditional mountain village charm and very French atmosphere despite developing into a fairly major resort. It is not well known for its luxury chalets, but is very convenient for Geneva and Annecy with a short transfer time.

La Clusaz gets busy with weekend skiers from the surrounding area, and its low altitude often leads to variable snow reliability. The pistes although spread out are largely suited towards intermediates and beginners, but experts will struggle to find any truly challenging terrain (worth trying is the Le Vraille in Torchere area).

There is a wide choice of both bars and restaurants in addition to flood lit skiing (Friday evenings) and ice-skating. La Clusaz organises 'Full Moon' evenings once a month, where you can ski by moonlight on the Cret du Loup & Cret du Merle areas.