Top 20 Resorts: Vaujany

VAUJANY is an archetypal small, unspoilt village plugged into a huge ski area. The ski area in this case is that of Alpe d'Huez, a hideous mess of a resort set on a high, sunny shelf in the southern French Alps. Vaujany, on the northern fringes of the area, was linked into it just a few years ago by a gigantic cable car, built with the community's pay-off from the local hydroelectric scheme.

The northerly orientation means that the best snow in the area is often in the Vaujany sector, but it remains relatively little used by the hordes from Alpe d'Huez.

The village is not the stuff of picture postcards - this is the Dauphine, not the Tyrol - and, of course, the village is not the sleepy place it was before its elevation to ski-resort status. But it remains very small in scale, and essentially French even if it is now internationally discovered. (Ski Peak, which was in at the beginning, has thus far managed to retain a monopoly on British packages.)

CHRIS GILL'S VERDICT: Alpe d'Huez is one of the least pleasant resorts in the Alps, surrounded by one of the most interesting and extensive ski areas. Happily, Vaujany makes the latter accessible without paying the unacceptable price of staying in the former. It does have some nightlife, but this is essentially a place for early nights in anticipation of an early start - though I've never known a queue for that vast cable car.

(Photograph omitted)