La Clusaz/Manigod

The praise is for the access and the character: under an hour from Geneva, thirty kilometres from Annecy, and the village has stayed a real Savoyard one, with a church, a market square and ordinary shops rather than a mall. The area is among the largest in Haute-Savoie, the snowfalls can be heavy, and the resort turns up regularly on lists of the most family-friendly in France.

Altitude draws the criticism: the base lies at a thousand metres, the lower slopes go slushy towards spring, and Easter is too late to come. The second complaint is being charged for small things: the paid parking is called outrageous and the ski bus costs too. The village is small, and there is little to do besides ski.