Avoriaz, France

A purpose built resort with character, Avoriaz’s wood-clad buildings have a striking appearance that set it apart from other destinations. Even more striking is the 360° panorama of the Alps – Avoriaz is located right in the centre of the stunning Portes du Soleil.

Completely ski in/out, a holiday in Avoriaz means you don’t have to lug your equipment around and can maximise time on the slopes. It’s also completely car-free and has a new car park and arrivals area where you can unload luggage and travel by horse drawn sledge to your accommodation - a charming start to your ski holiday.

November 2012 saw the World Snow Awards vote Avoriaz the ‘Best Family Resort’. It’s a top destination for kids learning to ski and snowboard thanks to the central children’s village and offers some fantastic family activities indoors and out.

A huge attraction for families and non-skiers is the incredible Aquariaz water centre, where you can relax in a tropical climate while looking out over the snow-covered Alps (bizarre but very enjoyable). Off slope activities certainly don’t stop here and contribute to a lively and varied après scene that suits all ages and tastes.

A pioneering European snowboard destination, France’s first terrain park was built here in ‘93 and nowadays you’ll find 5 fantastic parks including a superpipe. Known as ‘Avoriaz 1800’ for its high altitude, this is the best place to book accommodation in the Portes du Soleil if you’re looking for great snow.

The local pass gives access to 130km of varied high altitude pistes while for those seeking more, the Portes du Soleil pass covers a massive 650km of terrain over 12 resorts in France and Switzerland.

This is one of our favourite resorts to bring the brood: thanks to a huge and central children’s village, complete with a specialised snowboarding area, children can learn to ski and ride in a fun and safe environment. Avoriaz is one of the only resorts that has a Beginner Pass – letting you find your feet on easy terrain via 14 lifts without the expense of a full lift pass. Beginners-only piste Première Glisse gives you the chance to improve at your own pace, while Proclu and Q’mont are easy blues for cruisey snowploughing.

Intermediates have a good number of runs and can upgrade to the bigger area pass for more variety – we like the long blue down Mossettes while Blanchot and Alpages are two good reds.

Advanced skiers and riders: take the Mossettes and switch to the snow cross half way down. Coupe de Monde is a black run with lots of nearby off-piste and Crozats has another snow cross. For off-piste, hire a guide and explore the Vallee de la Manche. Intrepid skiers must attempt notorious La Chavanette (aka the Swiss Wall) – the steep and mogulled descent is said to be one of the scariest in Christendom…

With great freeriding terrain, a massive 120m superpipe and 5 snowparks, Avoriaz welcomes snowboarders with open arms. La Chapelle is the most popular park, with red, blue and green kickers for freestylers of all abilities. Developed by Jake Burton as a fusion of freeriding & freestyling, eco-snowpark The Stash has 3 runs through the Lindarets woods including 100 natural and wooden features. Burton Kids Parkway and Lil’Stash are two gentler areas for beginner freestylers and the Arare boardercross is great for the whole family. Nearby, experts might prefer the Arare Snowpark which has an airbag jump.

While Avoriaz isn’t renowned for its nightlife, it nevertheless has an array of restaurants, bars and off-slope activities that contribute to a lively après ski scene. Le Tavallion is an English themed pub for a home-from-home atmosphere, Shooters is good for party-lovers while Le Choucas and Le Yak tend to be the venues of choice for late night clubbing.

With sister restaurants in glamorous St Tropez and Marrakesh, La Table du Marché is a place to fine-dine in style. Alongside a few of the pubs, Chez Flo serves up hearty dinners and for a pizza restaurant in Avoriaz, try Piz'Burg.

2400m² of tropical paradise can be enjoyed by all ages in new water centre Aquiraz. Children will love the tree house, paddling area and water playground, there’s a huge slide and ‘Tarzan rope’ for the adventurous while those seeking a more relaxing environment will appreciate the jacuzzi and waterfall in ‘lazy river’. Other indoor activities include a bowling alley and cinema. Outdoors, there’s plenty of activity for all ages: You can go ice skating, husky sledding, snow-shoeing, snowmobiling, paragliding, ice diving and night sledding.