Ski resorts

  Tour du Mont Blanc

The two biggest towns on the Tour du Mont Blanc are Chamonix and Courmayeur, and it happens that both of these towns are also ski resorts. We explain these below, and we also note the presence of some smaller ski areas: chiefly La Thuile in Italy near to Courmayeur, Champex in Switzerland on the TMB itself, and Les Contamines in France also on the TMB. Chamonix's ski area extends from Les Houches down-valley to Argentiere at the top of the valley, each of these towns being destinations and ski systems in their own right.

 France Chamonix

Winter skiing
Chamonix skiing is divided among half a dozen separate lift areas, reaching from Le Tour at the top of the valley to the high lifts on the Aiguille Verte to the South, the all-round lifts of the Flégère and Brévent areas (domains) and then the distinct resort of Les Houches at the bottom of the valley.

Winter travel in general
Many Alpine resorts see their main season as Winter, and Chamonix is one of them. It's just a concentrated buzz and a key time of year to be in business. Bars are in full force, outdoor suppliers, and hotels. The steady stream of transfer buses is stronger in Winter even than Summer, shuttling people between Geneva Airport and Chamonix.

 Italy Courmayeur

Winter skiing
Ski with views of Monte Bianco above, on Courmayeur's ski areas which major on the slopes above Dolonne, the sweet old village of stone barns just outside Courmayeur. Also on the Tour du Mont Blanc route is Maison Vieille, a well-known lunch stop on the route.

Winter travel in general
At the end of the Aosta valley from Turin, ultimately, Courmayeur is not the obvious place to travel but once here the interest will be obvious. It is possible to take the Helbronner cable car up over the Monte Bianco, and then the second cable car across the Valle Blanche, before the third cable car (the Aiguille Midi) down to Chamonix. Courmayeur as a town is delightful in the Italian-Alpine style which is quite rustic.

  Walker's Haute Route

As well as Chamonix, of course, which we put under the TMB above, the Walker's Haute Route has Zermatt. It's often known as the Chamonix to Zermatt trail, so there we go! Along the trail we pass several smaller ski resorts in the valleys, ones good for a day or two, like the villages of the Val D'Anniviers which together make the Zinal, Grimentz & St Luc area. In the area but not on the Haute Route itself are bigger resorts including Crans-Montana, on the other side of the Rhone valley, or Saas-Fee.

 Switzerland Zermatt

Winter skiing
Zermatt is a spectacle in the way of almost no other Alpine area, the Matterhorn in near-constant view. Ski runs start high and the feeling is mountainous. Choose a different area each day, much like when skiing in Chamonix. In the evening, the narrow streets feel festive year-round, ice-skating, carriages (no cars) and the mix of barns and hotels.

Winter travel in general
Zermatt attracts tourism year-round and it links to the Glacier Express to Chur, and beyond to St. Moritz. The themes of Switzerland that are so well-known and that apply across several regions and train lines in the Alpine regions, apply here as much as anywhere else. In Zermatt, more than in most resorts, one does not have to ski.

 Switzerland Verbier

Winter skiing in Verbier
A simple and not particularly special town in Summer, Verbier comes alive in Winter and the focus is the enormous natural bowl that rises above town. Skiiing is varied and sunny. Views are long, to the Grand Combin and Mont Blanc massifs.

Winter travel in general
Verbier is not far off main train lines, here at Martigny for Geneva, and in our experience it pays to travel up to resorts to find the best hotels and the most life going on, even if you aren't skiing. There is a bus up from Le Châble as well as cable car. Verbier can sound exclusive but it really isn't.

 Switzerland Zinal, Grimentz & St Luc (Val d'Anniviers)

Winter skiing in Val d'Anniviers
Quite small resorts with completely charming villages and the most dramatic scenery, Zinal, Grimentz and St. Luc are day areas as opposed to week-long mega resorts, but together they form the Val d'Anniviers skiing. One week to ski all these areas would be lovely.

Winter travel in general
Buses climb hairpins from Sierre, in the Rhone valley, similar to Sion and the next town along. Then enter Val d'Herens, with high resorts Arolla, Evolène and Les Haudères. Come for small-town Swiss life and good hotels.

  Via Alpina (Switzerland)

The Via Alpina, formerly the Alpine Pass Route, crosses Switzerland from East to West across several mountain passes, and so it is bound to deal with many areas in which the ski resorts are also interested. In the middle of the Via Alpina we pass through Wengen, Grindelwald and Mürren, three noteworthy resorts in the shadow of the Eiger. In the Eastern week, the skiing is fairly limted, while the Western week has some skiing at Kandersteg, Adelboden, Lenk and Gstaad.

 Switzerland Wengen

Winter skiing in Wengen
Of all our ski resorts perhaps Wengen, Grindelwald and Mürren give the best feel for their respective walking routes. Before hiking the Via Alpina, then known as the Alpine Pass Route, we skiied successive days in these resorts and necessarily we took the trains and cable cars.

Winter travel in general
Wengen is a general resort, Grindelwald has a mountaineering feel, and Mürren is car-free and magical on a hillside. Each of them make destinations in their own right, Winter or Summer. It is not necessary to look like you're skiing.

 Switzerland Grindelwald

Winter skiing in Grindelwald
Grindelwald is a fabulously practical and enjoyable resort, the area known as First holding most of the runs and extending high up to the North of town, but Grindelwald being pleasant links away from Wengen and even Mürren.

Winter travel in general
See Grindelwald, Mürren and Wengen in one visit, these villages being well linked by trains and cable cars, and the whole a short ride from Interlaken which is on the main line from Bern.

 Switzerland Mürren

Winter skiing in Mürren
Mürren sits on its high, car-free shelf, joined to the valley by a cable car one end and, via a small high train, a cable car the other end. The skiing extends above town and, by a separate lift, up to the Schilthorn where runs go on their own area.

Winter travel in general
With time you could reach Lauterbrunnen and then the other resorts here, chiefly Grindelwald and Wengen. Meiringen would be reachable by two further trains.

  Alta Via 1 (Dolomites)

The Dolomites are the magnificent, sunny and colourful limestone mountains the East of the main Alps, while still being very much part of the Alps themselves. Cortina is as big and famous as they come, a rough Chamonix-equivalent in Dolomites, while the whole area has many fabulous resorts including Corvara, Arabba and the famed Sellaronda ski circuit.

 Italy Cortina

Winter skiing in Cortina
Superb mountain views in most directions you look, from the pistes, in the Dolomites: that's why the Dolomites are such a draw in Winter. Slopes rise to the West from Cortina towards the Passo Falzarego, past many of the main attractions: the Tofana range being one.

Winter travel in general
From Cortina, roads flow down past Longarone to Venice, and more slowly up from Cortina towards the Val Pusteria and Austria beyond. It is long driving to get East over Passo Falzarego, towards other ranges of the Dolomites.

  Adlerweg

The Adlerweg passes through a swathe of the Tyrol and as such it would be hard for it not to touch some large ski areas. Right at the start of the route, St Johann is a ski area near to Kitzbuhel which is better-known, while a short train ride away are Zell-am-See and Saalbach, with Saalbach-Hinterglem being one of the biggest ski areas in the world. As we progress West along the Adlerweg we pass many smaller areas including Maurach, and then after Innsbruck we near Garmisch-Partenkirhen. Garmisch is in Germany and is naturally reached from Munich, but is very near Ehrwald, that smaller Austrian resort on the Adlerweg itself. Finally we get to St Anton, mountain village but famed ski resort for tougher runs and vibrant atmosphere.

 Austria Kitzbuhel

Winter skiing in Kitzbuhel
Steep and demanding, unforgiving perhaps, Kitzbuhel is not for everyone - though more distant areas on the same Kitzbuhel lift path are more gentle. Try the famous Kandahar ski run straight into town.

Winter travel in general
Kitzbuhel is convenient for many Winter resorts up and down the train line. Just one stop along is St Johann, of Adlerweg fame, which is a ski resort in its own right. The small resort Ellmau is a bus ride from here. Further along the train line are Zell-am-See and Saalbach-Hinterglem.

 Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Winter skiing in Garmisch
Garmisch is split over two ski areas: the glacier of the Zugspitze mountain, with funicular railway and cable car options, and secondly a network of runs on lower slopes more immediate to the town. Garmisch has the commerce and Partenkirchen has the old streets, both delightful. This is Germany's main ski resort and it hosted the Winter Olympics.

Winter travel in general
Trains run regularly from Munich. Garmisch is busy year-round with general tourism, as well as its own town life. From Garmisch continue into Austria, arriving in Innsbruck with the Tyrol all around.

 Austria St. Anton

Winter skiing in St Anton
St Anton is known for its tough slopes, all the way up to the Valluga mountain and with off-piste possible all over. St Anton is fabulous for all sorts of skiers with many smaller areas either linked to, or a short drive from, St Anton itself.

Winter travel in general
Lech is a famous resort just one valley away and with its own magic, including the 'Weisse Ring' that marks an on-piste ski ciruit, or mini tour. The ski slopes come alive in Austria in Winter, where skiing is accompanied by oompah music and all-day beer or coffee.

  Tour of the Vanoise

The Tour de la Vanoise sits in the middle of many French ski areas, and is not far from many famous ones: Courcheval and the Three Valleys, La Plagne & Les Arcs, and Val Cenis which is right on the road as it climbs up to Col d'Iseran above Val d'Isere. Ski runs in Winter, go where the road goes in Summer. More prominently, however, Val d'Isere is the major resort on the Tour of the Vanoise itself, and cute Pralognan is a sweet village in a fold of hills, also on the route and with its own ski area.

 France Val d'Isere

Winter skiing in Val d'Isere
Val has lovely, high skiing, chalets and hotels, French and British skiiers, lively bars on the slopes and in town. It's a road trip from Bourg-St.Maurice, not the easiest to reach.

Winter travel in general
It would be less obvious to visit Val d'Isere in Winter for aims other than skiing; that is the clear focus. Onward travel would be back the same way to Bourg, because the Col de l'Iseran closes in Winter and indeed becomes part of the ski area of Val Cenis on the South side of the Vanoise. The road is a green run.

 France Pralognan

Winter skiing in Pralognan
Pralognan stands as a surprise, a taste of a smaller French resort amidst those very large resorts: La Plagne and the Trois Vallees. Drive up the road to its end, past those resorts, and reach Pralognan with its few, lively, shops and day's worth of ski slopes.

Winter travel in general
There would not be too much Winter travel from Pralognan as someone reliant on ski pistes and without a car. With a car, however, much is possible and Bourg, with a lift into Meribel, is only a few minutes down-valley.

  Julian Alps Hut-to-Hut

As a compact area it's perhaps harder to think of the Julian Alps as a base for skiing, but skiing exists here and in a lovely Slovenian way. When we are in the mountains here, we are in the mountains. Slovenia's chief ski resort runs from the Vogel cable car on the banks of Lake Bohinj, with village centres Ribcev Laz and Stara Fuzina nearby, and this is known as the Bohinj ski resort.

 Slovenia Bohinj

Winter skiing in Bohinj
The Vogel cable car starts half-way along Lake Bohinj and takes skiiers to the Vogel area just under the mountain of the same name. This forms the most obvious skiing in what would have been known as Eastern Europe, or as the former Yugoslavia.

Winter travel in general
Much is to be explored by snowshoe, if not by ski itself, in the Bohinj and Bled areas of Slovenia, and with half a day's travel in Krajska Gora which is a more prominent resort town on the Northern side of the Julian Alps.

  Jotunheimen Tour

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 Norway Lillehammer

Winter skiing in Lillehammer
Lillehammer is a resort in the Scandinavian style, not all about downhill and with several ski areas spread across the nearby hillsides. Lillehammer itself is delightful, an easy train from Oslo and a bustling high street.

Winter travel in general
The mountains hereabouts would be hard to cross other than by the road or rail, and other than weaving to a fro over the immediate area, it is a case of heading North or South.

 Norway Oppdal

Winter skiing in Oppdal
Oppdal is a small resort on the route to Trondheim, perhaps the prominent one for those in, or knowing, the Jotunheimen area. It is made up of three ski areas, linked well, and with one huge Black downhill into town.

Winter travel in general
It is easy from Oppdal to travel North or South by train, the miles passing by in the darkness. Ski areas in Norway are not always nearby or linked up, so a car is useful. Travel to Trondheim for boats and architecture.

  West Highland Way

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 Scotland Glen Coe

Winter skiing at Glen Coe
Glen Coe is a day resort on the edge of Rannoch Moor, passed by the West Highland Way through its car park. Views are excellent over the hills of the Western Highlands here, in some places quite wild.

Winter travel in general
By car, nip down the valley of Glen Coe itself to the well-known Clachaig Inn and order a pint of beer. The nearest ski resort is Nevis Range, about an hour away past Fort William, but the Highlands - possibly in the Winter snow - are all around here.

 Scotland Nevis Range

Winter skiing at Nevis Range
Just outside Fort William is Nevis Range, the ski area sitting on Aonach Beag (a Munro) and in sight of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Scotland and of course also a Munro). A telecabine (bubble lift) rises to upper slopes.

Winter travel in general
The Train, the West Highland Line, links Fort William with Glasgow, and the Highland Sleeper links Fort William with London. Heading North, one could take the train from Fort William to Mallaig on the West Coast, or the bus to Inverness.