Winter holidays in the mountains are a special atmosphere. After a day of skiing or snowboarding, you can walk around the small village, admire the snowfall and warm up with hot tea or mulled wine. Today we have compiled for you a list of the coziest and most picturesque resorts, where it is easy to forget that the rest of the world exists.
Alpe d’Huez, France
L’Alpe d’Huez is the largest ski resort in the French Alps, the length of one of its pistes, “Sarenna”, is 16 km and partly passes through a tunnel, this is the longest piste in Europe. But the main advantage of the place lies in the special microclimate, the skiing area is even called the “Sunny Island”, because the weather here is clear on average 300 days a year. Despite its impressive size and popularity, the resort retains the coziness of a small alpine village, especially thanks to the wooden chalets and a small stone church.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 118
Ski pass price: 47.50 euros per day
Livigno, Italy
Livigno is a small mountain village that comes alive during the winter months. There are more than 110 km of slopes on both sides of the wide sunny valley, but the resort has gained its main popularity due to the chic freeride opportunities. In the city center, between beautiful wooden houses, there is a wide alley with bright illumination and a huge number of duty-free shops, because the entire resort is a duty-free zone. The streets and buildings are decorated with garlands with stars and snowflakes, so the mood here is festive all season long.
Season: November – April
Number of slopes: 78
Ski pass price: 47 euros per day
Zermatt, Switzerland
The village of Zermatt is located in a valley between the highest mountains of the Pennine Alps. The main and most beautiful attraction of this place is the Matterhorn, the most photographed mountain in the world. It rises above the city as a regular quadrangular pyramid, and in the morning the rays of the rising sun paint the slope of the rock in all shades of pink. In the evenings, there is nothing more pleasant than walking along the cobbled streets powdered with snow, especially since all of them are pedestrian, there are no cars here, the city remains ecologically clean and quiet like a mountain. And most importantly, this alpine resort is open for skiing all year round, however, most of the snow here is from November to April.
Season: all year round
Number of slopes: 109
Ski pass price: 79 euros per day
Diamond Peak, USA
Diamond Peak Resort in Nevada is one of the most picturesque in America. Right from the foot of the mountain and almost to the horizon, Lake Tahoe stretches, and immediately behind it you can see the Sierra Nevada mountain range. On clear days, the blue of the lake is amazing, but it becomes even more beautiful here when clouds gather in the valley: it seems that the lake has risen several hundred meters and turned white. For all its beauty, the resort is not the most popular, so there are no noisy crowds, and the rest is calm and measured.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 30
Ski pass price: $ 79 per day
Lake Louise, Canada
Lake Louise is one of three ski resorts in Banff National Park, Canada’s oldest. It is surrounded by dense coniferous forests and the sharp peaks of the Canadian Rockies that go beyond the horizon. The slopes of three neighboring peaks formed a round well with a lake in the valley, above which rises a large monumental hotel built here in 1890. If you prefer home comfort, in the village you can stay in wooden houses in close proximity to the ski lifts.
Season: November – May
Number of slopes: 145
Ski pass price: $ 104 per day
Val Gardena, Italy
Val Gardena brings together three ski resorts in the heart of the Dolomites in northern Italy. Majestic stone cliffs rise above the city and the ski area. In contrast with the warm light of busy city streets, they look especially impressive. They do not skimp on decorations and garlands, they decorate a huge Christmas tree for the New Year and arrange a Christmas fair. And this resort is great for families with children, those who are under 8 years old can use the ski lift for free!
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 112
Ski pass price: 53 euros per day
France
Montgenèvre is France’s oldest ski resort and will turn 111 years old in 2018. Despite the small area, the city has two churches, three chapels and an obelisk, which make it cozy and peaceful. It is really very calm here – there are no parties and nightly entertainment, which makes it a great place to relax with children. The resort has very good slopes for intermediate skiers, and also often has heavy snowfalls.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 52
Ski pass price: 41 euros per day
Kitzbühel, Austria
The ancient Austrian city of Kitzbühel looks like a fairy tale in winter, colored buildings sprinkled with snow look just like gingerbread houses with sugar icing. Almost the entire city center is exclusively pedestrian. Although the resort is small, it is considered the most fashionable in Austria; moreover, every winter one of the stages of the Alpine Skiing World Cup is held on one of its slopes. 170 km of pistes on the slopes compete for the attention of skiers with a freeride area of almost the same length. Another attraction of the city is the 3S air tram, a wagon cable car with the longest span in the world – 2705 meters between the lower station and the first pillar.
Season: October – April
Number of slopes: 70
Ski pass price: 50 euros per day
Italy
A small Italian resort is located on the border with Austria and Slovenia. This region is famous for its very heavy snowfalls, which attracts fans to ride on fresh tracks. The city itself is small, and white to match the falling snow. Together with the surrounding dense coniferous forest, which is also constantly sprinkled with fresh snow, the place gives an incredible impression of cleanliness and winter magic.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 17
Ski pass price: 35 euros per day
Niseko, Japan
Niseko has become the most popular ski resort in the country thanks to its spacious freeride fields, which is very uncharacteristic for Japan. At the same time, it is worth going here for off-piste skiing, thanks to the unique combination of height and proximity to the ocean, the snow here has a special dry, crumbly texture. A small cozy town with two hotels and several townhouses is connected to four neighboring resorts by a network of cable cars. And the most beautiful thing is the view from the slopes of the neighboring snow-capped volcano Yotei.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 61
Ski pass price: $45 per day
Heavenly, United States
The Heavenly resort is so large that it is located simultaneously on the territory of two states: California and Nevada. Lake Tahoe, overlooking from the slopes, is the only island of calm in this busy place. The trails and freeride fields can be explored from early morning until late at night, but it’s worth leaving a little energy for the dark time of the day: this mountain village is full of nightlife. Bars and clubs are open seven days a week, and the highlight of the entertainment program is a huge mobile stage with a DJ station in the form of a huge snow cat. If you want a big and bright holiday, you won’t find a better place.
Season: November – April
Number of slopes: 46
Ski pass price: $ 139 per day
France
Avoriaz resort includes five villages built specifically for ski tourism. Inspired by the ideas of a famous Swiss architect, this place was designed in a special style: tall buildings with sloping roofs from afar are very similar to the surrounding mountains. The settlements were originally conceived as environmentally friendly, so there is still no transport here, except for horse teams, and you can ski through all the streets. However, there are much more snowboarders here than skiers, due to the presence of two snowparks of different difficulty levels and a superpipe for freestyle.
Season: December – April
Number of slopes: 42
Ski pass price: 52 euros per day
* Prices for accommodation are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may differ.
