Instead, you can stay at the valley resort of Brides-les-Bains which enjoys a superb - and fast - gondola link into the heart of the 3-vallees region at Meribel with 7-nights in a 2-star studio apartment with a 6-day ski pass for the entire skiing region (and gondola link) from just euro 247,-

Amazing prices and amazing skiing - but if the idea of a studio apartment does not appeal to you, there is the choice of staying in a 2-star hotel with exercise room, jacuzzi and half board for just euro 373,- per person in Brides-les-Bains.

The resort could not be more conveniently located. It is just 6-km further on that Moutiers which in turn is just 190-km from Lyon. The car journey from Calais will take approximately nine hours.

Alternatively, you can fly to Chambery/Aix airport which is just 80km distance or into Geneva (120-km or 2-hours). There is the third option of arriving by rail at Moutiers and then a busy journey of just 6-km distance. The TGV high speed train connects with Paris or London.

An added advantage of staying down in the valley at Brides-les-Bains is you are away from the "maddening crowd" - and you can still enjoy a wide variety of night life, restaurants and bars as the resort is really "switched-on" when it comes to catering from visitors. The resort of Brides-les-Bains has 3,500 beds.

There is little to be added to the knowledge most people have of the 3-Vallees skiing area. It is huge and fantastic. But just in case there are readers who have never skied here before, the ski area is made up of the valleys of Saint-Ban (Courcheval-LaTania), les Allues (Meribel-Brides-les-Bains) and les Belleville (Saint Martin, Les Menuires and Val Thorens) and combined represent an area of more than 600km of runs. It is the only domain in the world to offer so many kms of maintained runs with "linked" ski areas. An added advantage of staying at Brides-les-Bains is the opportunity to ski back to the village, a vertical drop of some 2000m and two hours of downhill skiing along a unique off-piste route.