Having travelled to the Alps for over 30 years and worked in many roles, including as an instructor and now ski writer, Rob Stewart has been lucky enough to experience many fantastic resorts.
Here’s his selection of places worth ticking off the list, each for different reasons. Whether you’re looking for powder snow, bright lights, or some peace away from the crowds, these destinations offer it all.
- Verbier, Switzerland – incredible freeride terrain, après-ski and nightlife, and celebrity spotting
- Lech-Zürs, Austria – refined charm, varied skiing, and historical references
- Courchevel, France – perfectly groomed slopes for all abilities, gourmet dining, and family focused fun
- Champoluc, Italy – best for value, heliskiing, and holidays away from the crowds
Verbier, Switzerland
Best for incredible freeride terrain, après-ski and nightlife, and celebrity spotting
A recent winner of the World Ski Awards for Switzerland’s best ski resort, the village of Verbier, which is located on a gentle slope facing the Mont Blanc range, has always attracted the rich and famous as well as expert skiers looking for adventure.
The word ‘gentle’ may also apply to the pretty wooden-clad chalets that dominate the resort, but its ski slopes are generally far removed from that descriptor.
Photo source: Unsplash
Yes, there’s plenty of beginner and intermediate terrain if you want it, especially when venturing into the Four Valleys ski area (which has 400 kilometres of ski runs), but it’s the lift accessed off-piste itinerary runs that draw skiers and snowboarders from across the world to this freeride heaven.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
Legendary names such as Vallon d’Arby, Col de Mines, Mont Gelé, and Tortin are all marked on the piste map and patrolled, but they’re often left ungroomed, keeping pockets of powder snow for days after a storm. It’s perhaps why world-renowned ski photographer Mark Shapiro has made Verbier his home for more than 35 years, capturing iconic images of some of the very best extreme skiers on the planet.
Photo source: Verbier Tourisme
Today, the word ‘extreme’ has been replaced by the term ‘freerider’, and Verbier hosts this year’s finals of the World Freeride Tour (March 22 to 30), also known as the Yeti Xtreme Verbier by Honda.
This event takes place on the frighteningly steep Bec de Rosses, with a 650-metre vertical drop and slopes of fifty degrees. No, this one is not on the piste map, and only professional skiers should attempt it.
Photo source: Verbier Tourisme
After a day of powder snow and steepness, going home for a small nap before dinner just isn’t an option in Verbier – the fun continues off the slopes, too.
With an international vibe that includes Scandinavians, Americans, British, and Argentinians, the only qualification required for a good time off the slopes is the ability to keep going from around 4 p.m., when things kick off in après-ski venues such as The Farinet (with live music), to 4 a.m., when the world famous Farm Club closes.
Photo source: Verbier Tourisme
Other than that, a little bit of cash might be useful. For those who prefer to relax and eat good food without breaking the bank, try Fer à Cheval, an established restaurant on the main road from the Place Centrale to the Médran lift station serving fantastic pizzas, steaks, and more with a clientele that includes locals, seasonaires, and holidaymakers who return year after year for its buzzy, friendly atmosphere.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
Want to push the credit card limit? Then try La Table d’Adrien in the five-star Chalet d’Adrien. This Michelin-starred establishment attracts discerning diners as well as the odd celebrity – well, perhaps quite a few.
Verbier is not only famous for its steep and deep slopes; it’s also been a favourite of European royalty for decades.
Lech-Zürs, Austria
Best for refined charm, varied skiing, and historical references
The villages of Lech and Zürs (equalling one ski resort known as Lech-Zürs) are perhaps more discreet than their lively neighbour St. Anton, but they’re certainly no less exciting when it comes to the skiing and the scenery.
Located in the northwest corner of Austria’s Vorarlberg region, the area has one of the best snow records in the Alps and is connected to the Arlberg ski region, the country’s largest.
Photo by Daniel Zangerl on Lech Zürs Tourismus
The uber-pretty village of Lech straddles its eponymous river, and the 30-minute walk along its banks through the snow-laden forest ends up at the 100-year-old Älpele hut, an impossibly authentic-looking farmhouse that serves regional cuisine.
Or maybe take a Hägglund there, which is a tank-like all-terrain vehicle from Sweden that blasts through the snow.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
For the more active, the Lech-Zürs ski area delivers something for all skiing levels, with the unique ski circuit known as the White Ring taking centre stage.
The 22-kilometre route is suitable for skiers who can handle steeper red runs and relatively easy off-piste terrain, and it mixes both of these together in a full-day excursion (if you take it easy and stop for lunch) that also takes in the villages of Oberlech and Zug. The latter village has an understated luxury that oozes Austrian charm and sophistication.
Photo by Daniel Zangerl on Lech Zürs Tourismus
There are a number of modern lifts that link the circuit up with the sort of variety of skiing that attracts the same skiers year after year. But take a diversion from the route to the Hotel Zürserhof for lunch or maybe even a spot of tennis – the indoor court high up in the mountains at this five-star hotel in Zürs gets used in the evenings by those who find that skiing doesn’t provide quite enough exercise for them.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
For a more traditional après-ski experience after a full day, try Lech’s family-run Hotel Post and its cosy lounge or maybe visit the Hotel Arlberg for a tipple – Princess Diana and her sons William and Harry first stayed there in 1991 and continued to do so every year until her death in 1997.
Photo by Daniel Zangerl on Lech Zürs Tourismus
The Arlberg ski region is often referred to as the birthplace of alpine skiing, and its rich history can be felt around every twist and turn on and off the mountain.
The Walsermuseum in Lech exhibits both local and ski history, but perhaps ski over to St. Anton via the impressive Flexenbahn cable car (opened in 2016) and visit the Arlberg Museum, which is a must for any ski history geek as it documents the development of the sport over the past 100 years.
Back in Lech itself, relax, sit back, enjoy an Austrian dinner, and then head to bed. This is not a big party resort, but you could stop for après-ski in St. Anton and take a taxi back if you fancy a wild night out.
Photo by Dietmar Hurnaus on Lech Zürs Tourismus
Courchevel, France
Best for perfectly groomed slopes for all abilities, gourmet dining, and family focused fun
The Three Valleys ski area connects Courchevel with Méribel, Val Thorens, and Les Menuires and is the largest lift-connected ski area in the world, with around 600 kilometres of slopes. It’s truly vast, and skiers who’ve been visiting for decades still won’t have covered all its terrain.
The resort of Courchevel, established in the late 1940s, is a purpose-built haven for skiing set in some of the prettiest scenery in the French Alps on the far left of the Three Valleys area, when looking at a ski map. It consists of four lift-connected villages all set at different levels, and each has its own unique flavour.
Photo source: Courchevel Tourisme
Often referred to by their elevations – Courchevel 1850, 1650, 1550, and 1300 – the villages do have proper names. Le Praz, at 1300 metres, is the lowest and is dominated by the towering ski jump used in the 1992 Winter Olympics based in nearby Albertville.
Today you can still watch skiers launch into the air in what looks like a seemingly impossible feat of daring.
Photo source: Courchevel Tourisme
One step up at 1550 metres is Courchevel Village, a quieter enclave with wooden chalets and apartments that attract families and those looking to avoid the bright lights further up.
Facing Courchevel Village, with the spectacular indoor Aquamotion water park splitting the two, is Courchevel Moriond (1650 metres), a buzzy village with plenty of restaurants, bars, and shops.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
Try the Pelican for live music in the afternoons or the Funky Fox later on at night. Families here have a choice of chalets, hotels, and apartments that offer great connections to the ski area but also relatively good value. The general trend here is that the higher you go, the more you pay.
Look up in the evening to the glittery lights of 1850, simply known as Courchevel, and you’ll see one of the world’s most famous and exclusive ski resorts.
Photo source: Courchevel Tourisme
Its array of five-star hotels and spread of Michelin-starred restaurants (there’s a total of 12 across the villages of Courchevel) is second to none for skiers. Sitting at the very top of that list is the three-starred 1947 à Cheval Blanc restaurant run by Parisian chef Yannick Alléno.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
But it’s also Courchevel’s perfectly groomed pistes that attract skiers looking to boost their egos. Wide, gentle greens such as Bellecôte are great for beginners, while intermediates can enjoy incredibly scenic blue runs, including Creux.
But the mix of terrain is what makes Courchevel arguably the best skiing in the Three Valleys region, with the legendary Grand Couloir, a steep descent that pushes even the best skiers, looking down on the green and blue slopes like a giant sentinel.
Photo source: Courchevel Tourisme
Thankfully, the dedicated beginner zones, magic carpets, and choice of ski schools coupled with the bowl-shaped terrain nurture even the most timid skiers. Relative beginners can even whizz past the multi-million-euro chalets that line the tree-lined slopes into the village and peer into a world that most can only dream of.
Champoluc, Italy
Best for value, heliskiing, and holidays away from the crowds
Italy’s autonomous Aosta Valley region is home to a number of world-class ski resorts, including Courmayeur, Cervinia, and Pila, but the lesser known village of Champoluc is linked to the second largest ski area in the region – the Monterosa, with 180 kilometres of marked slopes.
Along with the resorts of Gressoney and Alagna, the area offers some of the longest runs in the Alps (mostly suited for intermediate to advanced skiers), and all sit below some of Europe’s highest peaks, which reach elevations of over 4600 metres.
Photo source: Aosta Valley
This vast playground includes a huge amount of lift-accessed terrain, both on and off piste, but the area is also home to heliskiing operations, which are relatively difficult to come across in the Alps.
Heliskiing comes with a price tag, though, typically around 400 to 500 euros per person, per day for a group of four, which includes one flight and a qualified mountain guide.
Photo source: Aosta Valley
But the 3000-metre vertical descent ensures plenty of powder snow opportunities for days or even weeks after a big snowfall. Typically, skiers are picked up on the upper slopes of Champoluc, flown across glaciated terrain, dropped off at over 4000 metres, and guided back down by professionals who know the terrain inside and out.
Skiers need to be proficient at off-piste skiing Breakfast on the Champouluc ski slopes and are issued with avalanche safety equipment that includes a rescue transceiver, snow shovel, and probe.
Some skiers also use an airbag, which is a backpack that includes a large balloon that’s activated manually if caught in a snow slide to help with flotation on top of the avalanche.
Photo source: Aosta Valley
Back down in the traditional and slightly rustic village of Champoluc, life is much calmer.
There are wooded slopes above the high valley that sits at around 1500 metres above sea level, and accommodation is mostly in small family-run hotels that provide good value and usually great Italian food as well.
This is a simple resort, and you’ll find places such as the Ostafa Restaurant on the mountain, which serves up delicious pasta dishes, perhaps with a local sausage, and with prices lower than at most ski resorts across the Alps.
Photo source: Tripadvisor
During the week, the slopes are almost empty apart from the school holiday times, but weekends can get busy as residents of Turin descend on their second homes, which take up a large number of the apartments here.
About an hour’s drive away is the regional capital of Aosta, founded by the Romans in 25 BCE under Emperor Augustus. This historic city with its Roman monuments can serve as a base for Champoluc and the other resorts in the region.
Photo source: Unsplash
Visit at the very end of January to experience the Fiera di Sant’Orso, a traditional event that showcases local crafts, including wood carving, wool, and handmade furniture.
Buon sci e buona fortuna!
Read more about authentic travel experiences in Baltic Outlook.