Summer in Verbier: Arts and culture in the Swiss mountains

17.08.2023 - 05:49 / roughguides.com

Change is afoot in the famous Swiss ski town of Verbier. Rough Guides editor, Amy Hopkins, travels to the mountains to find out: Is Verbier’s summer the new winter?

In truth, I felt intimidated by Verbier. It brought to mind tabloid pictures of beaming royals gliding down ski slopes. I’d heard people reminisce about spending 'seasons' there as ski instructors, or holidaying in chalets borrowed from family friends. Verbier sounded like an enchanting, but exclusive holiday club for lifelong skiers — which I am not.

Yet, a recent shift has put the town on the map for those of us who can’t tell a black run from a green. Once synonymous only with well-dressed skiers, Verbier is being redefind as a summer destination. Not least because off-season hotels are a fraction of the price.

“In ten years time, Verbier’s summer season will have overtaken winter”, says Warren Smith, a Brit who made the town his home 22 years ago. It’s a surprising prediction from a man who runs a renowned ski school, but Warren can see the writing on the wall.

Rising global temperatures have subjected Verbier to snowless winters in recent years, and engulfed southern Europe in fierce, frightening heatwaves. (In mid-July, temperatures in Sicily and Sardinia exceeded 45°C, while it was 20°C cooler in the Swiss Alps). It’s no wonder travellers are looking to Verbier as an appealing summer alternative.

Gondolas glide over Verbier’s wooden chalets © Verbier Tourisme

Summer in the mountains doesn’t have to mean reaching for hiking poles or squeezing into cycling shorts. A thrillingly different kind of alpine experience can be found in the town’s burgeoning arts and cultural scene.

At the heart of this is the internationally renowned Verbier Festival, celebrating its 30th year this summer. Classical music fans are treated to over one hundred concerts, ranging from epic to intimate, as well as dozens of rehearsals and even children’s workshops. This year’s programme featured the finest emerging talents, as well as names – Plácido Domingo, Nicola Benedetti – that excite even a classical music novice like me.

I bagged one of the hottest tickets in town, a performance by Nottingham-born cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason. The 26-year-old shot to fame when he played to an audience of two billion at Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

I joined a more modest crowd for Kanneh-Mason’s intimate after-hours show; a blend of classical, pop and improv. It was late and I was exhausted, but I was entranced by the young cellist’s intensely expressive face and of course, by his technical wizardry.

Even if you don’t know your Brahms from your Elgar, Verbier is worth visiting during the festival. The town reverberates with an infectious feeling of creativity and camaraderie.