Luxury ski-in/ski-out hotels in France

More Michelin stars than any ski village on earth, and a western doorway into Les 3 Vallées. Courchevel stacks six villages by altitude, from the palace hotels of 1850 down to the family runs of Le Praz.

Off-piste in every direction, a World Cup pedigree, and 300 km of pistes shared with Tignes across the Espace Killy. Val d'Isère earns its reputation on the steep faces of Solaise and in the wild bowl of Le Fornet.

Stone barns, a slate-roofed bell tower, and the quiet hum of a village square that happens to sit on the back doorstep of Les 3 Vallées. Saint-Martin-de-Belleville is the Savoyard ringer of the Belleville valley, where you can chase 600 km of pistes by day and walk to a 3-Michelin-starred dining room by night. It is the version of the world's largest linked ski area that still feels like a real place.

At 2,300 m, no village in Europe sits higher, and few hold their snow this dependably. Val Thorens is the roof of Les 3 Vallées, the world's largest linked ski area, and the lifts keep turning from late November to early May.

The value gateway into Les 3 Vallées, Les Menuires gives you the whole 600 km domain without the Courchevel price tag. Recent makeovers have softened its functional reputation.

Right in the middle of Les 3 Vallées, Méribel is the easiest way into the domain. Wooden chalets, a central lift hub and an unapologetically British après-ski crowd give it a warmth the purpose-built resorts lack.

When the rest of the Alps are still green, Tignes is already skiing. The Grande Motte glacier opens in late September, and the link to Val d'Isère gives it the longest dependable season in the range.

A car-free, ski-in/ski-out village of striking timber towers, Avoriaz is the French heart of the cross-border Portes du Soleil. Snow gets around on sledges, not cars.

Ski to your door in any of four altitude villages, from 1600 to 2000 m. Les Arcs wrote the book on ski-in/ski-out, and the Vanoise Express cable car stitches it to La Plagne to form the giant Paradiski domain.

A car-light forest village between Courchevel and Méribel, La Tania drops you straight into Les 3 Vallées yet keeps a calm, family pace back at the chalets.

Ten villages, one Olympic bobsleigh track and a glacier at Bellecôte that holds snow into spring. La Plagne is the other half of Paradiski, and one of the surest family bets in the whole Tarentaise.

Sitting at 1,860 m on the Italian border, Montgenèvre is the French gateway to the huge Via Lattea domain. High, snowy and good value, it is a quietly excellent family and intermediate base.