Don't seek out your ski gloves and thermals until you've read our comprehensive guide covering a diverse range of ski resorts and their unique selling points. Rupert Mellor boots up.
This article was taken from the January/Febuary 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.
Just a high-altitude hairpin from St Moritz, which for a centuryhas been Switzerland’s beacon of unfettered bling, a fresher, more relaxed definition of luxury is emerging in Arosa, at the top of the heart-stoppingly beautiful Schanfigg Valley. The lakeside village has long had its loyal, well-heeled fans (Roger Federer has a chalet in Valbella, one of the ski area’s several hamlets), but new lift links with neighbouring Lenzerheide’s slopes in 2014 raised the resort’s sporting status from pretty tiddler to mountain middleweight with 225km of pistes to offer, and a new confidence is palpable in a hospitality sector that tempers old-school pampering with a high-end hipster sensibility.
Leading the way is the Tschuggen Hotel Group, whose Tschuggen Grand Hotel has been the smartest address in town since 1980. Still a traditional Swiss five-star superior in terms of its impeccable formal service and facilities (private funicular to the slopes, anyone?), the hotel sent up a flare in 2004 with a spectacular new spa complex by architect Mario Botta, whose modernist, cathedral-like spires illuminate the snow-laden forest in the evenings, and today, recent renovations by designer Carlo Rampazzi whip up a playfully eclectic, informal aesthetic. The group’s nearby, four-star
Valsana Hotel and Apartments meanwhile, radically remodelled in 2017, pushes the cool stakes further still with in-room record players and vinyl and funky Alpine-industrial social spaces for relaxing in – a trend that also brings a pleasingly laid-back and eclectic vibe to several of the village’s cute coffee shops, cafés, bars and boutiques. Hungry on the hill? The 360° Panorama Restaurant Weisshorngipfel has the futuristic, Bond-lair looks and views, and, for its grill room, the sleek Bergrestaurant Scharmoins holds a special place in our hearts. arosalenzerheide.swiss
While Courchevel 1850 has spent the last 20 years shaking its bonbons for those who like to be seen splashing their cash, Megève has continued to refine its rarefied offer as France’s most discreetly elite resort. Untouched by mass-market commercialism, the handsome village bristles with harmonious luxury chalets, glossy boutiques and a small galaxy of Michelin stars – most interestingly earnt, for our money, by Anthony Bisquerra at the ravishing Alpaga hotel where his uncommonly adventurous dishes arerenowned among locals and visitors alike. megeve.com
That Wills and Haha pulled their first snowploughs on the slopes above this old farming village is a mark of Lech’s regal smartness. More recent years have seen a spike in trimmings targeting ‘the one per cent’, notably superchalets fetching up to £250,000 per week in the tycoons’ enclave of Oberlech. But, for all its five-star hotels and fine restaurants (the deceptively down-home Hûs Nr 8 is a must-dine), Lech grounds its grandeur in unmistakably Austrian earthiness. Prost! lechzuers.com
Photo by Arosa Tourismus.
Saint Martin de Belleville made waves winning 2016’s World Snow Awards’ Gastronomic Resort of the Year, and hasn’t looked back. No longer just that cute, sleepy hamlet overshadowed in the famed 3 Valleys ski area by the super-commercial Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens, this historic and unspoilt farming village, dominated by its serene 16th-century church bell tower, saw a way to offer visitors a distinctly different way to experience the area, and its discreetly luxurious star is rising.
Hallowed culinary traditions have been a cornerstone of its reinvention. La Bouitte – brainchild of father-and-son team Maxime and René Meilleur and winner of three Michelin stars – put Saint Martin de Belleville on the gourmet map some years ago, and today also boasts a gorgeous, rustic-luxe boutique hotel. But there are plenty of other ways to savour expertly prepared fare without forking out for a tasting menu every time you get the munchies. And it’s worth noting, too, that Messieurs Meilleur have made their skills more accessible at Simple & Meilleur – their two-year-old sister restaurant. Homely but high-performing, Le Montagnard brings deft twists and canny combinations to its palette of familiar regional produce, while L’Etoile des Neiges serves artfully presented modern French dishes. Up on the hill, Chez Pépé Nicolas is our go-to fuelling station for quality Savoyard lunch classics.
And to-die-for dining isn’t confined to restaurants. With the notable exception of the achingly stylish, new-this-season hotel Le Lodji Saint Martin’s most enticing lodgings are in the growing luxury catered chalet sector, which typically prune away the silliest rock-star trimmings (and associated cost) while elevating key comforts, notably creative chefs with impressive international experience. White Mountain Chalets especially gets the balance just right, with Chalet Chez Bugi the lushest of its gorgeous properties. st-martin-belleville.com
Bizarrely under-appreciated as a ski area, the Dolomites risk permanently emptying their slopes, such is the wealth of delicious appetisers, lunch menus and aperitifs waved under skiers’ noses all day long. Alta Badia’s A Taste for Skiing altabadia.org is just one of the culinary initiatives hosted here, assigning stellar chefs from fine-dining restaurants in the valleys to create a signature dish each for selected mountain huts to serve. Outstanding dinner destinations are too numerous to list, but Michelin-starred, nine-table Restaurant St Hubertus in San Cassiano’s Hotel Rosa Alpina is certainly a fine place to start. dolomites.org
Lacking oodles of vertical drop, Spain’s premier ski resort Baqueira Beret in the Pyrenean Aran Valley plays cleverly to its strengths. On the mountain, these include squeezing surprisingly gnarly off-piste zones between almost every lift and piste. Off it, it’s all about the nosh. Gourmet pintxos rich in local trout, cured hams and regional cheeses accompany every smart aperitivo, while dinners showcase rich traditional stews, hearty grills (don’t miss the succulent local lamb) and decadent, dairy-based desserts. baqueira.es
Photo by Bestjobers Avoriaz.
Miraculously still off-radar for international travellers, the Abruzzo ski area in the medieval hill town-studded Apennine Mountains is in fact Italy’s fifth biggest, and its southerly location makes it mostly a milder, sunnier proposition than the Alps, as well as a less crowded one. Easily accessed via Naples, Rome or Pescara, it offers outstanding value, 170km of pistes split across its two main areas, and, of course, cucina meravigliosa like only Italian mammas know how to make.
Abruzzo’s peaks may lack the rugged drama of the Alps, but their gentler silhouettes and distinctive beech forests aren’t short on charm, or challenges, if that’s what’s on your mind. Roccaraso is the biggest single piste network, with 110km of marked slopes that include steep black runs and a 5km cruiser, as well as surprisingly modern lifts and snowmaking, plus great piste grooming. For something wilder, take a day to head to the heart of Abruzzo National Park, where Pescasseroli’s pintsized ski area is a handy warm-up for wolf-tracking, moonlight snowshoeing or an overnight stay in a mountain refuge.
And while Roccaraso’s pretty namesake town is the nearest place to rest your head, it’s well worth the daily 15-minute drive to stay in Castel di Sangro. Here you’ll find more than 25 restaurants, including Reale – the country’s highest-rated dining room – and a very unshabby 38th worldwide – which is run by the self-taught Niko Romito and his sister Cristiana. Michelin stars? Just the three. Nor need you lower your standards in your lodgings. The exquisite Hotel Il Lavatoio – built around a simply converted 18th-century washhouse – undoubtedly outstyles most Milanese five-stars. skiabruzzo.com
Val d’Arly cradles four authentic villages sharing 192km of varied runs, cheap lift passes and knee-trembling views of the Mont Blanc and Beaufortain ranges. That it is, from spring to autumn, a thriving agricultural valley with a deep love for its culinary traditions accounts for its exceptional – and similarly well-priced – food offer. The two worlds charmingly collide, too. Raymonde Vinet, director of ESF Notre Dame de Bellecombe, is also the owner of La Ferme de Victorine where not to dine would be sheer folie. (As would not booking ahead.) valdarly-montblanc.com
Costa del Ski southern Spain may not be, but the downhilling at Sierra Nevada is surprisingly substantial, and refreshingly different. Reaching a dizzying 3,398m high where Valeta (Spain’s third-highest mountain) peaks, the ski area offers 110km of pisted runs, plus lots of easily accessed freeride terrain, and Europe’s sunniest skiing. Lodgings abound in the base village, but the smart money stays 40 minutes’ away in vibrant Granada. Pick the right aperitivo bar and you’ll be given so much delicious free tapas you won’t need dinner. skisierranevada.co.uk
Photo by J P Noisillier.
Val d’Isère has for decades been the sworn favourite of legions of die-hard skiers and snowboarders, but beyond the exceptional mountain terrain and a febrile après scene seemingly dominated by folk from Fulham, it was hard to see why. Not anymore. In the last five years, those epic slopes – 300km of them, including those of lift-linked neighbour resort Tignes – have started to be matched by a cutting-edge luxury accommodation offer and a dining scene which, while still with some catching up to do, comprises enough stellar outlets to keep any gourmand in bliss for a week. Take a bow L’Étincelle and Atelier d’Edmond – along with the top hotels. The rest of you, back to the chopping board.
The last two seasons have seen the advent of the grand Mademoiselle hotel complete with three restaurants and a vast Guerlain spa, and, sitting far above the village at 2,551m, the triumphant Le Refuge de Solaise – an opulent reimagining of a rustic Alpine cabin with 16 guest rooms, four apartments and the world’s most stylish dorm room. This season,the five-star K2 Chogori and four-star Chalet Hôtel Le Mont Blanc join the party.
But for us, the most consummate expression of Val d’Isère’s emerging world-class potential is served by the chalet company Hip Hideouts whose highly travelled owners spotted a quantum leap in property standards in the village and steered it in a beautifully judged new direction. Offering pricey, palatial, contemporary chalets and apartments in prime village locations, the brand delivers unmatched value through its thoroughly charming staff, thoughtful roll call of services and, perhaps most of all, its team of internationally trained chefs, whose reverence for the freshest mountain produce, imagination and virtuosity consistently make staying in the best night out in town. valdisere.com
Yeah, it’s good to big up the underdogs but… Zermatt, people! With skiing’s most glamorous mountain view, 360km of thrilling pistes, extraordinary dining, impeccable historic and contemporary architecture and design, vibey streets plied by comedy electric golf carts and a genuinely engaging cultural calendar, what’s not to swoon over? The Swiss icon still keeps working on raising its game – with the breezy Manud bar and restaurant and with a renovated heliport and a swishy new spa at Ari Resort among this winter’s improvements, but honestly, this place had us at ‘the Matterhorn’. zermatt.ch
For all its plentiful, pacy pistes, inexhaustible and challenging off-piste and convivial village, St Anton never rests on its lederhosen. Its links in 2016 to Lech, Zürs and Warth put it at the heart of Austria’s biggest lift-linked ski area, giving its guests 305km of slopes to play with, and still it rises. This year it adds an edge of contemporary chic to its accommodation offer with the new Ullr Haus hotel and Omaela for self-catered high-spec boutique living. stantonamarlberg.com
Photo by Andy Parant and Thibaut Micoewska.
Its name may not be up there with French off-piste’s biggest like La Grave or Chamonix, but unless seriously scary steeps and giant drop-offs are an absolute must, Les 7 Laux in the Belledonne massif has more than enough couloirs, jumps and pacy powder runs to keep most off-pisters panting – and at gratifyingly unscary prices. Just a 35-minute drive from Grenoble, the resort’s three villages – Prapoutel, Pipay and Le Pleynet – are where hundreds of local kids learn their backcountry basics, and on the morning after a storm you’ll see day-trippers driving up with fat skis on their roof racks, so make sure you don’t sleep too late.
There’s a heaping helping of black runs here to work up your nerve to tackle, with the top-to-bottom Vallons du Pra run packing a thigh-melting 1,000m of vertical drop. And when you’re ready to give the 120km of marked pistes the slip, blessed local geography and canny lift planning combine to put juicy freeride terrain at your ski tips in several directions straight off many of the chairlifts. You can even follow the sun to whoop powder bathed in rays all day long. A guide is key, of course, and with eight local ski schools, you won’t struggle to find one.
The hospitality offer is homespun and hearty, and with very few international guests, quintessentially Gallic. Simple, inexpensive holiday apartments are the norm, but you’ll find some charming old-school gîtes here, too, with the lakeside Gîte de l’Ancolie a stand-out – all local options can be found on the ski area’s efficient website (below). And when it’s time to celebrate that cliff drop you nailed, head for dinner at slopeside Le Rocher Blanc in Prapoutel (and watch out for those free shots). les7laux.com
Verbier’s fabled abundance of superb freeride terrain and heli-ski runs can be daunting, but expert guidance is very easy to find. Col de Mouche is straightforward to access, and is a wide-open bowl that’s great for finding your deep-snow legs. When you’re ready to dial up the challenge, a ten-minute hike from the Jumbo lift drops you into the notorious Stairway to Heaven, but you’ll know you’ve really made it when you’re bragging in the bar about caning the backside of Mont Fort, the 4 Valleys’ crowning itinerary. verbier.ch
In Riksgränsen, the piste map is almost an irrelevance. Around 200km north of the Arctic Circle and topping out not much above 1,000m, the area, adored by skiing locals, is all about off-piste laps off the four drag lifts and two chairs, and absolutely powder-choked hike-to terrain. Its secret weapon? Twenty-four hour skiing in the May-to-June midnight sun. Lodgings have typically been in the high-end hostel mould, but that all changed two winters back with the opening of the Niehku Mountain Villa which is both deeply groovy andexquisitely catered into the bargain. riksgransen.se
Photo by Maarten Duineveld/Unsplash.
Austria is rightly famed for its universally family-friendly ski culture, and in the multi-award-winning Tiroler Zugspitz Arena, a constellation of seven small villages linked by ski lifts and short, free shuttle-bus rides, you’ve more choice of gentle, village-adjacent slopes, ski schools, nipper-friendly activities and well-priced dining and lodgings than you can shake a ski pole at. And with 142km of slopes, there’s plenty of scope for parents looking to feel a well-earnt thigh burn to explore once the cubs are safely in lessons – and a decent amount of easily accessible off-piste skiing, too. Family focus even runs to freestyling, with one of Ehrwalder Alm’s two fun parks the Arena’s gnarliest, and the other gently designed for newbies keen to take their first air. There’s a mini half-pipe for kids close by, too, and, above Lermoos village, the Skiline Skimovie Track, which captures countless family slalom challenges on video each season.
There’s also plenty to do once little legs are ski-sore. Three toboggan tracks offer weekly floodlit fun throughout most of the season, and pros from Lermoos’s Pepi Pechtl ski school put on weekly fire- and laser-enhanced after-dark demos. Or you could learn to build an igloo, swap skis for skates, take a snowshoe hike, aim high at the impressive indoor climbing centre in Ehrwald or go trekking with llamas
No major tour operators serve the Arena, protecting each village’s low-key ambience, but each offers plentiful and varied lodgings, and proudly prepared regional cuisine. Ehrwald gives the biggest choice, with Apart-restaurant Der Sonnenhang and the surprisingly modern Apartment S standouts. zugspitzarena.com
While families’ nimbler Alpinistas will be secretly thrilled by its links to Alpe d’Huez’s mighty 250km ski area, Vaujany itself is all about gentle, multi-generational high jinks on the slopes. Awarded France’s coveted Famille Plus certification year after year (which, among other things, means free skiing for underfives and great child care), the cute, traditional village has slopes reserved for beginners and families and a wealth of stuff to do outdoors and in, from bowling and a pool with giant waterslide to tobogganing and ‘mini-musher’ dog-sledding sessions with views of the Grand Galbert mountain. vaujany.com
When forking out for a clan’s worth of big-resort ski passes just doesn’t add up, let Santaland take the strain. On the flat side it may be, but snow-supersure Finnish Lapland has been keeping its own kids happy through long winters forever, and Levi in particular cannily packages that know-how into action-packed family holidays, rich in husky, reindeer and snowmobile safaris and steamy soaks in every kind of pool, tub and sauna. Plus, the well-priced lift passes even cover Alpine World Cup-level slopes, giving you the chance to test your edge. levi.ski
Photo by Josef Mallaun.
Guided winter hikes? Check. High-altitude, 80kmh zip lines? Check. One of Europe’s longest toboggan runs? Check. With the north face of the Eiger and the mighty Wetterhorn for a backdrop, Grindelwald started welcoming sporty visitors in the late-18th century, and is today one of Switzerland’s premier playgrounds for active winter shenanigans beyond skis and snowboards. Fancy tackling a sledding track on a traditional wooden velogemel, the primitive snow bike invented here a century ago? You’re in the right place. A little winter trail running? Rather you than us, but fill your boots. You can also choose from several floodlit sledding runs, try your hand at curling, snowshoeing or ride the highest train in Europe up the Jungfraujoch to drink in views across a vast glacier. Most memorable of all may be the bracing experience of stepping out of the Stollenloch rail tunnel through the Eiger onto a ledge 600m up its storied sheer north face (but don’t worry, you’ll be safely harnessed).
And let’s not forget you’re also in the Jungfrau region’s largest ski area, with 160km of pistes, 213 if you include Mürren, a short train ride away and home to the iconic revolving restaurant immortalised in 007’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service outing. The slopes are a gift to mileageminded intermediates, with plenty of long, cruisy runs wrapped in some of Europe’s most spectacular mountain scenery.
A wide range of hotels, B&Bs and holiday apartments are bookable through the local tourist board, and it’s worth rustling up a group to stay in the luxurious Grindelwald Penthouse – a gloriously sleek, light-flooded four-bedroomed apartment with some rather dazzling Alpine views. grindelwald.swiss
Aside from being at the heart of the 270km Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, one of Austria’s biggest and best planned ski areas, lively Saalbach has plenty going on off the pistes. As well as the usual suspects – horse-drawn sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, three illuminated toboggan runs, winter hiking and snowshoeing – you can up the adrenaline with paragliding, snowmobiling and a 2.5km archery circuit in nearby Viehhofen. And don’t miss Flying Fox XXL, the world’s fastest zip line, with speeds reaching 130kmh. saalbach.com
Mostly unpretty at village level, La Plagne is often unfairly overlooked by holidaymakers. For starters, it shares a massive 425km of wildly diverse slopes with neighbouring Les Arcs, and yes, you can snowshoe, hike, paraglide, skate and sledge. But how about experiencing ice climbing on its 24m ice tower, trying a biathlon, or ski joëring – aka being towed on your skis by a horse? Or, for serious thrill-seekers, feel the (G) force on France’s only bobsleigh and skeleton track. la-plagne.com
Photo by Jungfrau Region.
Austria’s springs-rich Gastein Valley has been magnetising well-heeled health tourists for centuries, and its spa culture – including some slightly spooky radon-emitting caves – continues to find new ways to pamper. And while Bad Gastein’s cathedral-like public spa is a must-splash, our favourite unwinder is a stay in the dapper Hotel Miramonte which has its own thermal spring, Aveda spa and resident yoga teacher. gastein.com
With transatlantic travel off the table this winter, those who need long hours in a steel tube to believe they’re getting away from it all can still head to Niseko, Japan’s powder mecca. And this year its GoTo programme is offering Covid-busting incentives such as 50 per cent off lodgings and discount coupons for restaurants, activities and shopping. vacationniseko.com
If you’re skiing in France’s Sainte Foy, Les Arcs, or even at a push La Plagne, give in to the carnivore draw of local legend Chez Mérie for the juiciest, most generous wood-fire grills that we’ve ever tasted with ski boots on.
Braying Brit-magnet Méribel may not spring to mind for splendid isolation, but once your day’s skiing is done, the sublime Refuge de la Traye delivers rarefied comfort, gastronomy and spa services in its very own mini-hamlet down-mountain from the resort.
When it’s not hosting summits for world leaders, the Swiss town of Davos offers winter visitors the chance to save a night’s hotel bill by building their own igloo high above the Flüelatal valley and, after fuelling up on campfire fondue, spending the night in it. It’s one of a huge range of great, quirky ideas Switzerland has brought together this winter. myfirsttime.ch
Photo by Alpentherme.
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