The hills are alive. Europe's skiers are waking up to another long, cold winter on the piste climbing ev'ry mountain and swishing down again with all the grace of a Von Trapp family outing.... or not, depending on your level of skill. But how do you choose the best resort for you?

First, decide what you are going for. D'oh, skiing, innit? The essential is snow, then, which is not quite as obvious as it sounds. There are some places that have all the outward appearance of being ski resorts - I'm thinking Aviemore in Scotland here - yet rarely deliver because the snow stays away for most of the winter. Conversely, more and more resorts have snow-making machines that ensure there's enough white stuff to slide on even during an unseasonal heatwave. For reliable, natural snow, the end of January and start of February are normally good, but in high resorts you can go as late as April.

Best for beginners
Next, but what precisely attracts you to the snowy slopes? If it's the prospect of getting your first experience of strapping two long planks to your feet and wobbling down a mountain, mostly on your bottom, then I urge you to go east. In Romania and Bulgaria, the mountains seem scary to the unwary (as do local legends: don't forget that Dracula originated from Romania, and he could be a real pain in the neck). But, believe me, they contain exactly the sort of gentle gradients than can take you from zero to handbag ski hero in a one-week trip. The instruction is good, you're unlikely to be terrorised by expert skiers showing off, and it won't cost a fortune.

The areas to look at are Pamporovo in Bulgaria and Poiana Brasov in Romania. Just don't expect the kind of full-on après-ski that attracts so many people to winter sports: it's barely a decade since they stopped being communist, and you'll sense that some of the grumpier locals still don't believe it. Neither, it has to be said, do the chefs - some of the worst meals of my life have been at Eastern Europe's ski resorts.

Best for après-ski
'I just wanna have fun', you may well be thinking at this stage. The whole point, surely, of subjecting yourself to fear, pain and humiliation as you slide out of control down a mountain is to have a good time afterwards, and administer large quantities of anaesthetic to your system in the form of local wine. One word: Andorra. This is the pocket-sized country wedged into a crevasse of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. It's a pain to reach, with long coach transfers from Gerona in Spain or Toulouse in France. But once you're there, the party just goes on and on. People who believe that total dedication to the sport is a serious error of judgement congregate here for full-on action punctuated by the odd daredevil downhill.

Best for sophistication
You may not have seen the word 'sophistication' creep in yet. For sheer chic, and nearly sheer mountains, head for the great French resorts. At the Trois Vallées and the Portes du Soleil in France, you'll find the world's two biggest ski areas, and the world's biggest piste poseurs. But at resorts like Val d'Isère, the skiing is as classy as the restaurants and bars. So, too, are Swiss resorts such as Zermatt, Davos and St Moritz; the trouble is, you need the resources of your average gnome of Zurich to make the most of them.

Best for sunshine and good value
Italy and Austria deserve a mention in ski despatches; the southern sides of the Alps are sunnier and cheaper, with some of the best ski food anywhere to be found in Italian resorts like Courmayeur; and the prim resort of Mayrhofen in Austria has turned into snowboarder heaven, attracting a young crowd that goes straight from club to breakfast to black run.

To get a proper tan, rather than skier's rash; to be close to some of the stunning cities of Andalucia; and, for a sporting chance of a swim in the Med after a hard morning's downhill, the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain has to be tops.

Best for a quick trip
But if you're an impetuous soul who just fancies the idea of a quicky, look no further than the Ardennes of Belgium. For people in southern England, these beautiful mountains - around the lovely town of Spa, as in spa - are close enough to Britain for you to phone up, ask if there's much snow about and jump on a ferry or Eurostar with your kit. Just don't tell your pals that you got your thrills in Belgium.