Grandvalira

Grandvalira strings together six lift-linked sectors down the eastern side of Andorra — Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig up on the French frontier, then Soldeu, El Tarter and Canillo along the Valira d'Orient valley, with Encamp hung off the far end. The skiing runs from around 1710 m up to about 2640 m, mostly open Pyrenean mountain above a low treeline, and the sectors genuinely connect on snow and by lift rather than by bus — the pass is one network, not a bundle of separate hills. Encamp is the odd one out: the town sits low in the valley at around 1300 m and reaches the snow by the Funicamp, a long funitel (marketed among the longest in Europe) that climbs to the Cortals d'Encamp above Grau Roig. Where you base changes the trip more than which sector you ski first.

Big linked mileage at Andorran prices, with some of the best-drilled ski schools in Europe. Grandvalira is the largest single connected area in the Pyrenees, the lift network moves you between sectors without a car, and the whole thing sits in a duty-free principality where lift passes, kit, food and drink tend to cost less than the equivalent week in the French or Swiss Alps. Soldeu's World Cup pedigree also means serious teaching for people learning or improving.

A sunny, open, moderately high Pyrenean domain rather than a high-Alpine one. Most of the skiing sits above a low treeline in wide, rolling terrain, with a Spanish-side brightness to the light and plenty of cruising blues and reds off the ridges. Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig are the high, exposed, snowier end up near the French border; Soldeu, El Tarter and Canillo drop down the Valira d'Orient with a little more shelter and some tree-lined lower runs. It is a piste-and-lessons mountain first, backed by heavy snowmaking to hold the season together.