Courchevel

Courchevel is really four villages climbing the same hillside, and each one has its own feel and its own price tag. Whichever you pick you plug straight into the vast Three Valleys, so you can ski over to Méribel or Val Thorens by lunch and still be home for tea.

The floodlit sledge run, 1850 down to Village. Two kilometres through the forest, lit from top to bottom, so it works after dark and it is the best free thing in the resort. It starts at 1850 under the arrival station of the Praz gondola and finishes at Courchevel Village at the foot of the Grangettes gondola.

The ski jump exhibition at Le Praz. The 1992 Olympic jumps are still here, four of them, and there is a free exhibition at the stadium. You cannot jump, but you can walk in for nothing and watch training, which is a better hour than it sounds when somebody is throwing themselves off a K125.

The media library and the Micro Folie. A genuinely strong wet weather afternoon that costs nothing. A digital museum every Saturday, a virtual reality experience for ten and over, an immersive tour of Ancient Egypt built by Ubisoft, Japanese picture theatre for the three to fives, and film screenings for anybody over seven.

Cross country, and the children's sledging areas. Around seventy kilometres of groomed cross country trails across the villages, free to use, with a good spread from green to black. There are also free fenced sledging areas for small children at 1850 and at La Tania.

The walking paths. Five named groomed footpaths, maintained daily by the commune with the status published each morning. The Rosiere lake path from Moriond is the pretty one. There are nine marked snowshoe itineraries on top of that, including a balcony path linking La Tania to Le Praz.

Moriond Racing. Three kilometres and four hundred and fifty metres of descent on a Formula 1 themed toboggan run, with eight tunnels, a carousel bend and a section they call the double serpent. You take the Ariondaz gondola up. Sledge, helmet and mask are all included. 20 to 50 euros.

Dog sledding. Twenty five minutes out to the Prameruel plateau behind a team of dogs, or thirty five minutes if you go in the evening, which is the better one. Priced per sled rather than per person, so it works out for a couple or a small family. Over 50 euros.

Ice diving and ice floating on Lake Praz. The lake at Le Praz freezes and you can get under it. Ice diving runs by day and by night, and the night sessions are the ones people write home about. If going under is a step too far, ice floating is the same lake in a drysuit on the surface. Over 50 euros.

All 19 picks for Courchevel, dining included, live in the Ski Snug app.

Fly into Geneva or Chambéry and take a transfer of two to three hours, or drive in easily on good roads and park up for the week.