Incredible Mag

How Do The Ski Resorts Of Europe Compare?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">The sheer number of outstanding Alpine resorts can be overwhelming when trying to choose a destination for your ski holiday&period; It’s particularly difficult to choose between the main French and Swiss resorts since they dominate the winter sports scene and have so many good points&period; We’ve compared the two countries’ main resorts in a number of categories to help you decide which is best suited for your needs&period; Both the Swiss and French Alps have resorts with <u>luxury ski chalets to rent<&sol;u> and each resort has individual strengths&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-1999" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;Gstaad-pistes&period;jpg" alt&equals;"How Do The Ski Resorts Of Europe Compare&quest;" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"337" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><strong><b>Authentic Alpine Charm<&sol;b><&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">Switzerland is proud of its traditions&comma; its old heritage&comma; and its unique natural beauty&period; St Moritz is the oldest purpose-built ski resort in the world at over 150-years-old and has a captivating lakeside setting&period; <u>Gstaad<&sol;u> is equally picturesque with the Gstaad Palace Hotel perching over the traffic-free village like a fairytale castle and a lovely river running through the valley&period; France is better known for its cosmopolitan ski resorts like Courchevel and Megeve&period; Most of them were built from scratch in the 1950s and 1960s in places where there used to be nothing but Alps&period; Consequently&comma; many of the resorts&comma; such as Val Thorens&comma; are located higher than in any other European country&period; However&comma; some of them are centuries old such as Megeve and Les Gets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;luxury-chalet-Edelweiss-Courchevel-outdoor&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-2023 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;luxury-chalet-Edelweiss-Courchevel-outdoor-1024x640&period;jpg" width&equals;"730" height&equals;"456" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><strong><b>Exclusive Accommodation<&sol;b><&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">The French Alps lead the way with some of the most exclusive ski accommodation on the planet&period; Courchevel’s Le Jardin Alpin area at the top of the resort is home to three exclusive properties that hold the coveted &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Palace” status&comma; meaning they have attained an extraordinary 6 stars&comma; which reflect their outstanding pedigree&period; Bridging the gap between a catered chalet and a boutique hotel&comma; <u>Chalechalt Edelweiss<&sol;u> is a temple of luxury with seven floors and a massive 3&comma;000 metres sq of space located right on the piste&period; It comes with everything you would expect from a ultra-exclusive chalet &lpar;pool&comma; hammam&comma; spa&comma; gym&comma; cinema&rpar; and more that you wouldn’t &lpar;a private nightclub&comma; dining for 24 people&comma; underground parking and car lift&rpar;&period; However&comma; Switzerland is keeping up with France in style and opulence&comma; which can be demonstrated with Sir Richard Branson’s Verbier chalet that is available to rent&period; <u>The Lodge<&sol;u> combines cool and contemporary interior design with meticulous attention to detail and top class service&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;luxury-chalet-Edelweiss-Courchevel&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-2022 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;luxury-chalet-Edelweiss-Courchevel-1024x640&period;jpg" width&equals;"730" height&equals;"456" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><strong><b>Snow Conditions and Skiing<&sol;b><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">The Lake Geneva area is famous for its nature reserves&comma; but also for Europe&&num;8217&semi;s biggest ski resort&comma; the Portes du Soleil&comma; including twelve resorts in both Switzerland and France&period; It has 650 km of marked pistes and 200 lifts in total&comma; spread over 14 valleys&period; It’s really easy to ski between the different towns&comma; and there is a large variety of terrain&period; Portes du Soleil’s only rival in terms of size is Les Trois Vallees in the French Alps&comma; the largest ski area in the world and home to big name resorts such as Meribel&comma; Courchevel and Val Thorens&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;Val-Thorens-ski-resort&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-2021 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;Val-Thorens-ski-resort-1024x410&period;jpg" width&equals;"730" height&equals;"292" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">In terms of individual resorts&comma; <u>Tignes<&sol;u> has some of the most reliable snow conditions in the Alps and a long season that opens in October and closes in early May&period; Tignes also has the Grande Motte glacier&comma; which offers six weeks of summer skiing&period; In Switzerland&comma; Verbier and Andermatt have great powder&comma; but it’s Zermatt that shines with Europe’s highest cable car&comma; the Klein Matterhorn&comma; accessing an area where fresh snow falls year round&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><strong><b>Apres-Ski and Off-Piste Activities<&sol;b><&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">France has a varied après scene with lively resorts like Meribel and Chamonix contrasting with the refined pleasures of Courchevel and family-friendly activities of <u>Les Gets<&sol;u>&period; There are plenty of activities available for all ages in <u>Chamonix<&sol;u>&comma; which is more a town than resort&period; It has an ice-rink&comma; husky sledding&comma; a climbing wall&comma; bowling and a cinema&comma; not to mention the Aiguille du Midi cable car&comma; which is the closest you can get to the summit of Mont-Blanc without hiking or climbing&period; In Tignes you can even do winter scuba diving in a frozen lake&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">The Swiss Alps have some unique apres-ski activities and none more so than Zermatt which is home to <u>Iglu-Dorf<&sol;u>&comma; the highest igloo village in Europe at 2&comma;727m above sea level&period; The open-air Igloo Bar is a fun place to socialise and unwind after a long day on the slopes and offers breathtaking views of the Matterhorn&period; In St Moritz&comma; the legendary male-only Cresta Run is a high-adrenaline way to get down the mountain for those brave enough&period; In both France and Switzerland&comma; quaint historical resorts such as Megeve&comma; Morzine and St Moritz have romantic horse drawn carriage rides available&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify"><strong><b>Food and Fine Dining<&sol;b><&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify">The Swiss and French alpine resorts are both equally blessed when it comes to sampling delicious cuisine&comma; but Switzerland is the home of fondue&period; A ski holiday would not be complete without having had cheese fondue at least once and Swiss chocolate is in a league of its own&period; However&comma; the raclette&comma; tartiflette&comma; cured ham and foie gras specialities on offer in France are not to be sniffed at&period; In terms of fine dining&comma; all the high-end resorts have a some wonderful restaurants but <u>Courchevel<&sol;u> in France dominates Alpine haute cuisine with a staggering 11 Michelin star eateries&period; Therefore&comma; it depends on the kind of food you’re interested in&comma; but both countries deliver a wonderful gourmet experience that will replenish your energy after a day of skiing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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