GstaadCity/Region: Bernese Oberland
Bernese Oberland's most glamorous resort and the place for glittering socialites to be seen is the chic town of
Gstaad, known for its high society, luxury hotels, fine dining and expensive boutiques. It has been the favored destination of the rich and famous for years, entertaining the likes of
Roger Moore,
Paris Hilton,
Elle Macpherson and
Tina Turner, among others. The picturesque village is traditional in style with delightful alpine chalets, a pedestrian-only center and spectacular scenery, and lies at the center of the Gstaad
Super Ski Region, one of the largest ski areas in
Europe.
VerbierCity/Region: Swiss Alps
Verbier is a picturesque Swiss ski resort nestled on a vast plateau almost 5,000 ft (1,524m) above the valley floor and surrounded by majestic snow-covered mountains. Verbier lies at the heart of
Les Quatres Vallées (Four Valleys) and is the hub of this extensive ski area. A sophisticated network of cable cars and gondolas connect all the resorts in the region and provide access to 253 miles (410km) of marked pistes. Verbier is the primary ski resort of French-speaking
Switzerland, attracting advanced skiers and snowboarders to its demanding slopes and unlimited off-piste opportunities. Although quaint in appearance, Verbier offers all the modern comforts and facilities of a major resort, with some of the finest cuisine in the region and a raucous nightlife combining English-style pubs and French cafes. Much of Verbier closes down over the summer but despite this it can also be a great summer destination with magnificent scenery, good weather and wonderful walks; during this time it is popular with paragliders and mountain bikers.
DavosCity/Region: Swiss Alps
Davos was one of the first ski resorts to be created and is the largest in Switzerland: an alpine city with major thoroughfares and hotel blocks lining the streets. Despite its lack of character it is a premier European resort, offering not only accommodation with a reputation for excellence, an endless array of winter and summer recreational activities, crisp mountain air and a health spa, but also five separate ski areas ensuring a superb variety of skiing and snowboarding for all abilities. Nearby is the little sister resort of Klosters, a small traditional village with a quiet and unobtrusive atmosphere that shares the large Parsenn ski area.
KlostersCity/Region: Swiss Alps
Situated about six miles (10km) from the busy Swiss ski resort of
Davos Dorf, in the heart of the
Graubunden region south-east of
Zurich, the small, traditional, quiet village of Klosters shares the expansive Parsenn ski area with the larger resort, but offers a more exclusive and romantic setting. Klosters, its two pretty neighborhoods filled with picturesque chalets, also has its own ski area, the Madrisa, ensuring the resort offers skiing for all abilities in a discreetly charming Alpine setting, away from the madding crowd of the tourist mass market. Exclusivity is expensive, however, and therefore this resort is regarded as upmarket. For this reason, it has become known as the haunt of the rich and famous, and is particularly favored by the British Royal family, especially
Prince Charles, as a winter sports getaway with first-class, off-piste skiing.
St MoritzCity/Region: Swiss Alps
St Moritz is the original Swiss winter resort, an extravagantly fashionable mountain resort world famous for its skiing, fantastic scenery, the curative waters of its Health Spa and the social life. Although not the classic image of a Swiss mountain resort, the setting and spectacular scenery more than makes up for its lack of charm. Consisting of two villages, St Moritz-Bad on the lake and St Moritz-Dorf on the hillside above, its romantic setting in the wildly beautiful corner of the southeastern
Swiss Alps is a combination of forests, mountain and lake.
St Moritz boasts some of the most reliable and abundant winter snowfall in the country and the miles of downhill runs offer some of the finest intermediate skiing anywhere. The area also encompasses a network of cross-country ski trails, legendary toboggan and bobsled courses and an Olympic ski-jump. The spa section of this exclusive and exciting town, St Moritz-Bad, offers the long-time tradition of mineral baths, mud baths and spa therapies for a relaxing spa vacation. The nightlife at St Moritz is renowned as the most energetic and expensive of all the alpine ski resorts.
ZermattCity/Region: Swiss Alps
The charming town of
Zermatt is Switzerland's best-known ski resort. Nestled on a high plateau, it sits at the foot of the highest and most photographed peak in the country, the
Matterhorn (14,692ft or 4,478m). The resort is a picturesque, if rather sprawling, old mountain village that is car-free with Swiss-style chalets. The village can only be reached via a spectacular cog railway from the valley below. It has one of the best networks of super-efficient cable cars, gondolas and cog railways in the country that whisk skiers to three separate ski areas and to altitudes of over 12,000ft (3,600m). Twenty-one of the 36 lifts also operate during the summer to cater for the busy hiking and climbing season. There are also plenty of non-skiing activities, superb views, some of the best mountain restaurants worldwide, and a raucous nightlife to keep everyone entertained. The
Matterhorn Museum commemorates the tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 and the many lives claimed by 'the killer mountain', as well as telling the story of Zermatt.
InterlakenCity/Region: Bernese Oberland
Interlaken, meaning 'between the lakes', is the tourist capital of the
Bernese Oberland. As a popular vacation spot it is superbly situated between the lakes of Thun and Brienz, offering a variety of water-based activities during summer, and access to an endless amount of winter sports in the surrounding mountains of the Bernese Alps and its valleys. Linked to numerous resorts and villages by a series of mountain railways and cablecars, it offers a myriad of slopes and trails in many different areas offering skiing, snowboarding and hiking, as well as connecting to the famous cog railway leading to the plateau of the Jungfrau mountain. During winter skiers can take advantage of the town's low prices, avoiding the in-season costs of higher altitude nearby ski resorts, and together with its many fine hotels, nightlife and dining opportunities, numerous excursion possibilities and first class transport connections, Interlaken is an ideal all-round destination for winter and summer, for skiers and non-skiers alike.
GrindelwaldCity/Region: Bernese Oberland
Grindelwald is a picturesque traditional mountain settlement at the foot of the Eiger mountain surrounded by spectacular alpine landscapes. Popular as both a summer and winter destination, it offers miles of slopes and hiking trails across the Alps, and for non-skiers there are a huge variety of winter activities, from tobogganing to groomed winter hiking tracks. For skiers there are three distinct areas to choose from, with slopes for beginners, intermediates and the challenges of the Eiger glacier for the experienced, as well as lift links to Wengen and Mürren, making this one of the best resorts from which to explore the Jungfrau region.
