Slopes

YOU’RE in the Alps for a ski holiday – you’ve got your gear, your lift pass and the optimism that you won’t wipe out on a blue run as kids whizz past you.

But what if skiing on a skiing holiday is optional?

What if there’s an Alpine world that doesn’t require you to throw yourself downhill at speed?

The wild and wonderful phenomenon of après-ski only gears up after the lifts stop — and the party gets going.

Après-ski is no small affair — this is not just drinks before dinner.

In the Three Valleys area of the French Alps, après is a daily festival and feels like a way of life.

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Picture this: a live band steps on stage ahead of a DJ surrounded by strobe lights, crowds are dancing on the tables (in ski boots) and bobble hats are thrown in the air.

This melee of strangers is swaying together, drinks in hand, as revellers sing at the top of their lungs.

This is a kind of Alpine Glastonbury, where people swap flower crowns and flags for puffer jackets and goggles.

And the best part? You don’t have to ski or snowboard to enjoy it.

The Three Valleys is known for some of the best slopes in the world, with almost 600km of pistes, as high as 3,000 metres, to pick from.

But interconnected Valleys resorts Méribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens also showcase thousands of music gigs.

The magic is thanks to London and Méribel-based agency Après Ski Bands, which books more than 3,500 such events per season across 130 venues.

These aren’t bog-standard cover bands — they’re high-energy pros, picked in X Factor-style auditions in the UK, who turn ski resorts into concert venues during winter.

In five days in the Alps, I saw nine superb acts without even trying — starting with party band Magnolia, ending with DJ and MC duo Rio & Rhymes and acts in between including emerging alt-rock talent Pattern Pusher and diverse après heroes The Wingmen.

For folk fans, there’s guitarist Chris Quinn, who opened for the Jools Holland Orchestra, and singer-songwriter Albert Jones, who appeared on BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.

Performing in the Alps is hard graft, as musicians play up to 140 dates in a single season.

At Lodge Du Village in Méribel alone, there are 900 live gigs each winter — with Mondays to Wednesdays often wilder than Saturday nights (free shots for those who arrive early).

Le Rond Point — or Ronnie — in Méribel is one of those places where you show up for one drink and suddenly it’s four hours later, and you’re leading a conga line and wearing someone else’s unicorn onesie.

And let’s not forget ultra-Insta La Folie Douce, a venue likened to Ibiza in the snow. If it sounds like an attack on the senses, that’s because it is.

But if partying isn’t really your thing, there are other things on offer in the Valleys.

For a touch of luxury, hit a hotel spa or soak in your chalet’s outdoor hot tub with a glass of fizz, watching skiers from a distance.

If you want to be on the white stuff minus the face-planting, then snowshoeing or sled-dog walking are great for exploring at a gentle pace.

Then, of course, there is the ultimate Alpine sport — eating.

Food here is an attraction in itself, with Méribel’s Le Cro Magnon and La Terrasse du Village delivering everything from hearty Savoyard to refined French-British fusion.

If you come to the Alps and don’t eat fondue, tartiflette or raclette, did you even visit the Alps?

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And now it’s not just a winter thing, with resorts shifting towards year-round tourism, meaning the party doesn’t stop when the snow starts to melt in April.

Whether you’re dancing on tables, belting out rock anthems with a crowd of strangers, exploring snowy forests, or eating your bodyweight in cheese, you’ve made it down a black run to holiday heaven.

Why Innsbruck makes the perfect winter base

Innsbruck offers lots of options for a winter holiday. I found it’s a place where you don’t have to hurtle down ski slopes or dance like crazy at après-ski parties. In fact I was amazed when I took the 20-minute cable car from the city centre up 2,000 metres to an area where locals were sitting in deckchairs on the snow reading books and sipping hot chocolate in the strong Tirolean sunshine. You can ski to your heart’s content on slopes just half an hour from the famous Imperial Palace in the city centre. The city authorities provide some guided free walks and winter activities, including a cross-country skiing taster if you have a Welcome Card provided by your hotel. Then again, you can just sit and sample strong Austrian coffee or Gerschtnsuppe (soup with barley, smoked meat and vegetables) at riverside cafes and pubs.
Gina

Ski and hit the beach in one day in Andalucía

The Sierra Nevada range is just 17 miles south of Granada in Andalucía, making the beautiful city a viable place to stay if visiting these high mountains. For skiers the resort village of Pradollano is at 2,100 metres, from which cable cars and chairlifts reach up close to the 3,000-metre summits. It’s a fantastic ski resort, Europe’s most southerly, but is still very much under most people’s radar. There are 112km of pistes and 134 slopes, most of which are well above 2,000 metres so snow is fairly reliable. This year it’s opening on 29 November with ski passes from €38. It’s little more than an hour’s drive to Motril and the Mediterranean. You really can ski in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon.
Stephen McCann

Peaks of the Balkans, Albania and Montenegro

Last year I enjoyed a brilliant winter trip in the Albanian Alps and in Montenegro. Highlights included the walk to and from the spectacular Grunas waterfall in Theth national park in Albania, and the hike to 1,970-metre Hrid lake in Montenegro’s Prokletije national park. We skied and walked a section of the 120-mile Peaks of the Balkans trail and spent some time in the lively town of Plav, which included a folk song and karaoke night with some locals where I taught one group a version of Last Christmas to great applause.
Nick

The Alps in infrared, Austria

We stayed at the lodge Jagdhaus (€220 a night, sleeps up to 6) at Furx in western Austria. This wonderful place has a sauna, an infrared chamber and an external hot tub from which to enjoy special views towards the Alps. There are any amount of scenic walks on your doorstep and, 100 metres below, there is the Peterhof restaurant with remarkably low prices for such a high standard of cuisine.
Kevin Hill

Twinkling lights in Poland’s Tatra mountains

I first discovered the Tatra mountains on a day trip from Kraków some years ago and returned for a mountain break last February, staying in Zakopane, which is a great base for skiers and anyone who enjoys winter mountain activities. It’s affordable (my chalet for a week was just €400) and has lovely traditional wooden and stone houses, cafes and cheap restaurants serving tasty Polish stews and filled pierogis, which kept us warm throughout. We hired snow shoes to explore the foothills by day and at dusk the twinkling lights of the mountain villages came on, adding to the wonderful scene of lakes, mountains and forests. We also enjoyed sleigh rides and husky-driven carriages through the silent forests to magical ice mazes.
Yasmin

The amazing light of Eryri, north Wales

Our favourite winter break is at Llanberis in Eryri national park (Snowdonia). It’s peaceful, dramatic, and full of charm without Alpine crowds. We love the cozy log fires, hikes up the mountain passing waterfalls and the choice of yurts and eco-lodges to stay in. It’s particularly stunning in cold weather when kissed with snow or frost. The amazing light on the Llyn Padarn recreates a mirror in a breathtaking landscape dominated by Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). A special treat is the authentic Welsh community of makers and local craftspeople. Music, food and friendliness make this a more delightful experience than going abroad.
David Innes-Wilkin

Adrenaline-fuelled days in Austria

Kreischberg in the state of Styria is a medium-sized resort with log cabins and a James Bond-style restaurant in which to dine in style. We stayed at the base of the mountain in the Ferienpark cabins; each with log burners to cosy up beside. When it comes to skiing, take the long telecabin up the Kreischberg and explore blues, reds and blacks. For the best slopes head to Rosenkranzhöhe, where there are sweeping reds and blacks with expansive views over the Alps. After an adrenaline-fuelled morning, and for the best restaurant views, head to the Eagle, styled like a Bond villain’s lair.
Mark

Winning tip: Ice age roots in Sweden

There are mountain areas in Sweden where some of the oldest living things in Europe survive. When the ice retreated from Scandinavia 9,000 years ago, various isolated elevated areas were left frozen, and the root systems of ice age trees live on. Sonfjället national park in the empty Härjedalen region of central west Sweden is one such area, where the spruce Old Rasmus, grown from 9,500-year-old roots, can be found. The park is also known for its high density of bears. I return to the mountains in summer, autumn or winter. I find them incredibly peaceful; you can experience absolute silence and often you can gaze at the northern lights.
Lars