Serre Chevalier

South French "Serre", the sunniest place in the Alps? Yes, the statistics, which show 300 days of sunshine a year, claim that it is. The area may suffer from long periods of no snow if the precipitation comes from the north, but when the storms come in from the south, Serre is first in line. The sparse larch forest will keep the snow cold and dry for a long time. Serre is most known for its larch trees, the forests Tabuc and Aiguilette, but also the local speed freak, Luc Alphand, who got a lot of attention during the Alpine World Cup in the nineties.

Larch trees have the nice quality of losing their needles, stifling all possible undergrowth and creating an exemplary sparse forest. It also make it somewhat easier to look straight ahead in the woods. The region was named after one of the peaks along the mountainside which makes up the ski area and you can stay in the villages Monetier, Villeneuve and Chantemerle, or in Briancon, which is a real town. Ski buses run between these places quite regularly.

When it comes to nightlife, this is not exactly one of Serre's strengths, but people in Villeneue and Chantemerle tend to find ways to entertain themselves anyway. If you don't mind getting in a car you can go over to La Grave and Montgenevre, which are located approximately an hour away.