Best ski resorts from London (flight, Eurostar, school holidays)

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 Matterhorn watches over every run, and no cars are allowed to spoil the view. Zermatt skis all year on the Theodul glacier, the only resort in the Alps that genuinely never closes.

Whistler Blackcomb is North America's biggest playground, two giant peaks linked by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, hosting Olympic memories from 2010 and Pacific powder that falls in feet, not inches. A pedestrian village at the base hums all winter long, ninety minutes from Vancouver.

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.

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.

Freeriders make the pilgrimage here for the Xtreme and the merciless Tortin couloir. Verbier sits at the top of the 4 Vallées, Switzerland's largest domain, and the nightlife matches the terrain for sheer intensity.

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.

Niseko is the name every powder hunter whispers. Storms roll in off the Sea of Japan and drop fifteen metres of dry, weightless japow on Mount Annupuri each winter, while Mt Yotei rises across the valley like a private Fuji. Four interlinked bases, neon-lit izakaya, steaming onsen at night: this is Hokkaido in maximum mode.

Few places ski as hard or party as hard. St. Anton gave the world the Arlberg technique, and its après-ski temples, the MooserWirt and Krazy Kanguruh, are as legendary as its punishing black runs.

Two glaciers, the World Cup curtain-raiser every October, and the mountaintop restaurant where Bond filmed Spectre above 3,000 m. Sölden skis big, fast and high.