Where to ski in Switzerland from popular resorts to off-piste slopes

Each year in the Alps, as the first snows of the season start to fall, mountain towns welcome winter visitors with a slew of smart new hotels. And this year is no different, with upscale brands including COMO Hotels and Resorts moving its beach-beautiful ethos to the Italian Alps in COMO Alpina Dolomites, and Grace Hotels giving St Moritz its first luxury opening in half a century in the Grace La Margna. With its boutique modern addition, the sleek Swiss hotel breathes new life into the former art nouveau hotel La Margna, following a trend for high-profile revamps seen across the Alps this season. Here’s a look at the six best new openings, many of which revitalise former hotel landmarks.

Even during the height of winter ski season, you can still hear the rhythmic pop of a tennis ball hitting a racquet around Stanglwirt, a decades-old luxury resort in the Austrian Alps near the tony mountain town of Kitzbühel. While Stanglwirt is now known for its laundry list of world-class amenities (including a fantastic wellness program), tennis is in fact what put it on the map. Through tennis management firm Peter Burwash International, Stanglwirt expanded its entire tennis program in the 1970s and 1980s, including building more facilities to accommodate tennis camps—a novelty at the time.

Looking for destinations that promote cultural diversity and sustainable travel? The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently released its annual list of the Best Tourism Villages, a compilation of authentic, lesser-known places to travel. Consider it your new travel bucket list.

Of the key Alpine ski destinations, Italy offers the best value for money. Here, an espresso can cost €1.50 (£1.30) a shot, and a piste-side plate of pasta €10-15 (£9-13), items that are often 70-100% dearer in the A-list ski areas of France. And a peak-week, February half-term holiday in a three-star hotel can come in less than €1,745 (£1,500) per person half board, including flights and transfers. And that’s not taking some back-of-beyond resort as a point of comparison, either: all these prices are available in or around Canazei in Val di Fassa, part of the vast Dolomiti Superski area. On its doorstep, more than 300 miles of perfectly groomed pistes spin off the central Sella Ronda circuit; explore the area’s outer limits and that total hits 745 miles.

Vail Resorts, Inc has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Crans-Montana Mountain Resort in Switzerland from CPI Property Group (“CPIPG”). Crans-Montana Mountain Resort spans over 1,400 meters (approximately 4,593 ft) of skiable vertical terrain, and 140 kilometers (approximately 87 mi) of trails. Accessible from five airports and by train, Crans-Montana Mountain Resort is located in the Valais canton of Switzerland, approximately two and a half hours from Geneva and less than four hours from Milan and Zurich. The resort is two and a half hours away from the company’s other owned and operated European resort in Andermatt-Sedrun.

By far the favourite European ski destination, France consistently welcomes around a third of British skiers who are drawn by the convenience of a winter sports break in our near-neighbour country. Along with offering good no-fly travel options, skiers have a huge choice of wide-open slopes, lifts zigzagging across dramatic mountains and modern accommodation.

Searching for an over-the-top luxury ski chalet? Look at the poshest ski resorts in the Swiss and French Alps. In iconic resorts like Zermatt and Val d’Isère, you can find rarefied accommodations closer to contemporary winter palaces than ski houses, with dramatic views and amenities aimed at billionaires or would-be billionaires.

Winter sports involve all kinds of exhilarating sensations: a sharp breeze rushing past your face, bright snow stinging your eyes, the merriment of après-ski.

A gale is blowing, snow slamming horizontally against the windows as skiers mill around clutching steaming coffee, waiting for a weather window. But these aren’t just any skiers, they’re the best in the world at freeriding (skiing over ungroomed terrain), gathered in Verbier for the final of the Freeride World Tour (FWT) on one of the world’s most challenging faces. 

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By 2024 additional accommodation facilities are expected to open in the city, particularly in the luxury segment, offering almost 2,000 hotel rooms and over 18,298 square feet of meeting space. […]

AT invites winter sports enthusiasts to experience the highest point of comfort and convenience. It has adopted the principle of providing a smooth and enjoyable transfer to passengers who want to go from the airport to popular ski spots with the first-class vehicle fleets and professional drivers of the most reliable local solution partners in different parts of the world.