La Plagne, France + Add a trip

Automobiles

Follow the E711 and E70 from Lyon, or the E25 and E712 from Geneva to Chambéry. Take the péage to Albertville and then the N90 dual carriageway to Moûtier. Just beyond the town the road to Courchevel climbs the mountainside in a series of tight hairpin bends.

Planes

Chambéry airport is nearest and just under 90 minutes away. Flybe has services in the winter from Southampton, Norwich, Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle (www.flybe.com). It's about three hours to Lyon and Geneva airports. Helicopter and private plane transfers to the Courchevel Altiport are the most convenient but the landings and take-offs look quite terrifying if you ask us.

Trains

Eurostar operates a convenient overnight Ski Train service. It runs on Fridays and Saturdays stopping at Moûtier 30 minutes from Courchevel (www.eurostar.com).

Dialing

Country code for France: +33. Courchevel: (0)4.

Reads

Do go / Don't Go

The ski season lasts from early December until April with Christmas the busiest time. The resort is popular with Russians so Orthodox Christmas on the 7th January is lively too. Courchevel needs the rest of the year to recover so it's very quite out of season.

Cuisine

Raclette, tartiflette and fondue are deliciously filling meals that will replace all the energy you've expended on the slopes. Wild mushrooms are particularly good in fondues while the local smoked pork and cured ham are full of flavour. Epogne is baked dough filled with cheese and vegetables and makes for a great snack. Forest berries and orchard fruits are often made into irresistible desserts.

Taxis

Call +33 (0)4 7901 10 10 to pre-order a taxi.

Tipping

A service charge is normally added to your bill (service compris) in restaurants and cafés but it's still customary to leave a small tip. For taxi drivers, add 10 percent to the metered charge.

Currency

Euro.

Packing

Arts

Galerie d'Art de l'Alpage apparently had a Picasso sculpture up for grabs a few seasons ago for a cool half a million euros. If you have half a million to spend then go and see what they have on offer this winter; if you don't have half a million… well just pretend you do. Consider it practice.

And...

Ever felt like tackling an Olympic ski jump? No, us neither - until now; Whitetracks offer the chance to go snow-rafting in an inflatable dingy down the 70 degree incline of the landing slope.

Shopping

What do you mean you didn't bring your Prada ski suit? Fear not; you can buy it here. There are also Hermès and Christian Dior boutiques, Julian Joailliers jewellers and the Galerie d'Art de l'Alpage if you really want to splash out. Mere mortals may prefer to buy their ski fashions at Quiksilver in Le Forum shopping centre.

Viewpoint

A cable car can whisk you straight from Courchevel 1850 to the summit of Saulire at just over 2700 metres. Savour the view then steel yourself for the red and black runs that get you back down again. Some of the routes are very challenging so choose wisely.

Something

In the evenings the lifts are closed and the pistes between the resorts are opened up to toboggans; there's a great two-kilometre run between Courchevel 1850 and 1550.

7 January You may be a long way from Russia but you can't help noticing it's Orthodox Christmas. 20-25 January Columbia Ride Week features the world's best freeriders and includes film screenings of their daredevil antics as a finale. February The International Fire and Arts Festival lights up Courchevel with pyrotechnics.