Villar Pellice, Italy + Add a trip

Automobiles

From Geneva take the A41 to Annecy, the N508 to Ugine and Albertville and then the N90 to Moutiers - a drive of about two hours. From here follow the signs to Bourg St Maurice then Val d'Isère which will take an additional hour.

Planes

Chambéry airport is nearest and just under two hours away. Flybe has winter services from Southampton, Norwich, Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle (www.flybe.com). It's a bit over three hours by car from Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva airports depending on weather conditions.

Trains

Eurostar operates a daytime and very convenient overnight Ski Train service during the winter. It runs on Fridays and Saturdays, stopping at Bourg St Maurice, 20 minutes from Val d'Isère (www.eurostar.com).

Dialing

Country code for France: +33. Val d'Isère: (0)4.

Reads

Do go / Don't Go

Val d'Isère is rightly one of the most popular resorts in the Alps between December and April; it's a hard skiing, hard partying kind of place. The resort is all but deserted outside of the ski season.

Cuisine

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

Taxis

Call Bozzetto Taxis on +33 (0)4 79 06 02 50.

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

Val d'Isère church dates from the 17th Century and has a fine baroque interior. Appropriately the church is dedicated to St Bernard the patron saint of skiers and mountain dwellers.

And...

There's an ice-driving circuit at Val d'Isère where you can steer 4x4s and modified go-karts across treacherous terrain with the help of expert instructors (www.circuitvaldisere.com).

Shopping

There seems to be an Alpine sports shop at ever turn in Val d'Isère. Killy Sport at the Tourist Office and the Billabong and Quiksilver stores at the Kandahar Hotel are worth a browse. Oxygène in the Galerie des Cimes has a good selection of goggles.

Viewpoint

On the Val d'Isère side of the Espace Killy the higest piste is at 3300 metres on the Pissaillas glacier. On the Tignes side the Grande Motte cable car reaches almost 3500 metres.

Something

There's a free bus shuttle around the resort and out to neighbouring hamlets. The buses on the main route through Val d'Isère between La Daille and Le Fornet run every ten or 15 minutes during the day but they can get very crowded.

Mid December Men's Alpine Skiing World Cup events. 1 and 20 January The Snow Show features Freestyle skiing, torchlight descents and fireworks. Early February The World Ski Championships are coming to town. Mid March The Classicaval Festival brings a range of classical concerts to the resort.