9.0Exceptional
Lech Zürs am Arlberg
Austria's most beautiful ski village — Lech Zürs anchors Ski Arlberg, Austria's largest connected ski area, with 305km of pistes.
Alps Ski Resorts
38Profiles
630–3,883 mAltitude range
Mid-range – LuxuryPrice tier
5Countries
The Alps form the world's largest concentration of ski resorts, stretching across France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, and Slovenia. The range's geography — high peaks, persistent winter weather patterns, and centuries of mountain culture — has produced an extraordinary diversity of skiing: from the vast linked domains of the Tarentaise and the Arlberg to intimate valley resorts still running vintage chairlifts. Most of the world's best-known ski brands are here: Zermatt, Chamonix, St. Anton, Val d'Isère, Verbier. The season runs from late November through late April at the main resorts, extending to May and June on glaciers. Infrastructure investment has been relentless: the Alps collectively host more high-speed lifts than any other ski region on earth.
38 Resorts in Alps
9.0Exceptional
Grindelwald
The Jungfrau Ski Region — 211km of piste beneath the Eiger's north face, two car-free Alpine villages, and a UNESCO World Heritage backdrop.
8.5Very Good
Zermatt
Ski in the shadow of the Matterhorn across 322 kilometres of car-free Alpine perfection.
8.5Very Good
Val d'Isère
Home of the Espace Killy — 300 kilometres of high-altitude terrain forged around a World Cup race village.
8.5Very Good
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
The world capital of alpinism — where Mont Blanc reigns and skiing reaches its most extreme expression.
8.5Very Good
Verbier
Four Valleys, a Freeride World Tour stage, and the most uncompromising lift-served off-piste in Switzerland.
8.5Very Good
St. Anton am Arlberg
The birthplace of modern skiing — where the Arlberg technique was born and the world's most demanding linked ski area awaits.
8.5Very Good
Méribel
A beautifully designed chalet-style resort at the heart of Les Trois Vallées — the world's largest interconnected ski area.
8.5Very Good
Courchevel
The pinnacle of French Alpine skiing — four linked villages, 150km of immaculate pistes, and the gateway to Les Trois Vallées.
8.5Very Good
Courmayeur
Italy's most exclusive ski resort — at the foot of Mont Blanc's south face, gateway to the Vallée Blanche and the Skyway Monte Bianco at 3,466m.
8.5Very Good
La Plagne
The world's most visited ski resort — 225km across 10 linked Tarentaise villages, a glacier at 3,250m, and an Olympic bobsled track.
8.5Very Good
Sölden
Austria's glacier summit trio — three peaks above 3,000m, two glaciers, the October FIS World Cup, and the Ice Q above the Ötztal.
8.0Very Good
Ischgl
Austria's après-ski capital — a high-altitude Silvretta arena straddling the Austrian-Swiss border with one of Europe's longest seasons.
8.0Very Good
Cortina d'Ampezzo
The Pearl of the Dolomites — an Olympic host town surrounded by UNESCO World Heritage rock formations and 120km of gloriously Italian skiing.
8.0Very Good
Val Thorens
Europe's highest resort village — near-guaranteed snow at 2,300m, with direct access to the world's largest linked ski area.
8.0Very Good
Alpe d'Huez
One of France's largest and most diverse ski domains — 250 km across five linked villages beneath the Pic Blanc glacier, open into late April.
8.0Very Good
Cervinia
Italy's highest resort, skiing under the shadow of the Matterhorn — a high-altitude mountain with the longest season in the Alps.
8.0Very Good
Saalbach Hinterglemm
The Skicircus — 270km linking four resorts in Austria's Kitzbühel Alps, with Saalbach at the heart of one of Austria's liveliest après-ski scenes.
8.0Very Good
Davos Klosters
Switzerland's most complex ski destination — six mountain sectors, 300km of pistes, and the world's most politically prominent resort.
8.0Very Good
Tignes
France's most snow-sure resort — year-round glacier skiing at 3,456m, a 163-day season, and 300km shared with Val d'Isère via the Espace Killy pass.
8.0Very Good
Saas-Fee
The Pearl of the Alps — a car-free Swiss glacier village ringed by 13 four-thousanders, with one of the longest snow-sure seasons in the Alps.
8.0Very Good
Megève
The original Alpine luxury resort — founded by the Rothschilds in 1921 as the French answer to St. Moritz, with 445km in the Évasion Mont-Blanc domain.
7.5Good
Kitzbühel
Austria's most glamorous resort — a medieval walled town hosting the world's most famous downhill race.
7.5Good
Morzine
Traditional Savoyard village at the heart of the Portes du Soleil — 600km of linked terrain shared with Switzerland.
7.5Good
Livigno
Italy's highest resort and duty-free enclave — high-altitude snow reliability with some of the Alps' best value.
7.5Good
Schladming
Four mountains, one pass — Austria's Schladming-Dachstein 4-Berge Skischaukel and the Hahnenkamm of Styria.
7.5Good
Les Deux Alpes
One of Europe's highest and most snow-sure ski areas — 220 km of piste with a year-round glacier summit at 3,600m above the Isère valley.
7.5Good
Engelberg–Titlis
Switzerland's glacier resort — Klein Titlis at 3,028m gives Engelberg the longest season in Central Switzerland and a dramatic Alpine lift ascent.
7.5Good
Sestriere
Europe's highest resort village at 2,035m — the gateway to the 400km Via Lattea, a cross-border Italian-French ski area of extraordinary scale.
7.5Good
LAAX
Switzerland's freestyle capital — a 200-metre halfpipe, four snowparks, and the Burton European Open since 1999.
7.5Good
Andermatt-Sedrun
Central Switzerland's fastest-growing resort — Vail Resorts' first European acquisition, and the mountain the rest of the industry is watching.
7.5Good
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis
Austria's number one family resort — a car-free village served by a hovering underground railway found nowhere else on earth.
7.5Good
Obergurgl-Hochgurgl
Two of the Ötztal's highest permanently inhabited villages, linked by gondola, trading on genuine snow-sureness rather than nightlife.
7.5Good
St. Moritz — Corviglia
Switzerland's best-known luxury address, with 155km of mostly red and black piste on the Corviglia side of the Upper Engadin.
7.5Good
Les Arcs / Peisey-Vallandry
A choice of purpose-built bases, 200km of local piste and a train-and-funicular route from the valley floor, with the Paradiski link to La Plagne as an option.
7.5Good
Mayrhofen
Zillertal's lively valley town, with two contrasting ski sectors, 142km of piste and a well-known snowpark.
7.0Good
Crans-Montana
A sun-drenched plateau above the Rhône valley, skiing up to the Plaine Morte glacier with some of the most reliable weather in the Alps.
6.5Above Average
Garmisch-Classic
A historic Bavarian ski town beneath Germany's highest peaks — home of the Kandahar World Cup downhill.