All Ski DealsThe less time spend travelling between the airport and the ski resort means more time skiing. Or perhaps you are travelling with young children and don’t relish having to apologise to the other passengers about your screaming kids.
Here are our top 10 ski resorts, if you want to get skiing fast
Levi, Finland
Nearest airport: Kittilä
Transfer time: 15 mins
Levi is 170 miles north of the arctic circle, in winter the sun doesn’t rise and you stand a very good chance of spotting the Northern lights. You are unlikely to suffer from altitude sickness here, the ski resort is located at just 205m and the top lift is just 530m but this far north, you wouldn’t want to 3000m high, 530m is enough. 26 ski lifts serve 44km of groomed pistes that is ideal for families with your children and beginners.
Seefeld, Austria
Nearest airport: Innsbruck
Transfer time: 20 mins
Seefeld is a perfect choice for beginners, gentle reassuring slopes are the perfect place to master the basics of skiing. It also offers over 200km of cross-country ski trails. It’s a popular destination at weekends as locals from Innsbruck travel the 20 minutes to get there but mid-week, the slopes can be deserted. Adding to the attraction for beginners.
Kühtai, Austria
Nearest airport: Innsbruck
Transfer time: 40 mins
Kühtai is another great choice for beginners. This high snow sure destination with the village at 2020m high by any standards but in Austria, it’s a super high ski resort and only 22 miles by road from Innsbruck airport transfer times are minimal.
La Clusaz, France
Nearest airport: Geneva
Transfer time: 1hr
La Clusaz is a typical French alpine village, rather than a purpose-built ski resort like many others in France. For its visitors, this is the reason for choosing to ski hear. The village is located at 1100m with a ski range up to 2600m and offers skiing suitable for all levels of skiers and snowboarders. The biggest draw is its location, within an hour of Geneva airport.
Chamonix, France
Nearest airport: Geneva
Transfer time: 1hr 15 mins
Known for its challenging off-piste skiing but Chamonix offers so much more. Probably the only ski resort to attract more summer visitors. 42 ski lifts serve 115km of pistes but it’s the off-piste skiing that attracts advanced skiers, that and the short transfer time.
Samoëns, France
Nearest airport: Geneva
Transfer time: 1hr 15mins
The beautiful stone cutters village offers a wonderful village to stay, but visitors to Samoens prefer to stay with Club Med to avoid the lift queues reaching the plateau at 1600m where the skiing starts and the location for the recently opened Club Med Samoens. Located with the Grand Massif, its Frances third largest linked ski area, which includes skiing in Flaine, Sixt, Les Carroz and Morillon. A ski area that should be ticked off.
Avoriaz/Morzine, France
Nearest airport: Geneva
Transfer time: 1hr 45mins (Avoriaz)
1hr 30mins (Morzine)
Part of the Portes du Soleil ski area which takers in ski resorts on the Swiss and French side of its area. It claims to offer 600km of piste mainly suited intermediate skiers and snowboarders.
Avoriaz and Morzine are located on the French side and are quite different. Morzine is a chalet village, spread-out across the valley. Avoriaz is purpose built with traffic free, ski in ski out centre.
Obertauern, Austria
Nearest airport: Salzburg
Transfer time: 1hr 30mins
Obertauern is high and snow-sure skiing covering 100km of pistes. It offers good ski in ski out places to stay. It’s best suited to intermediate skiers and snowboarders with lots of excellent après ski bars to delay your last ski down. Not many ski resorts offer similar skiing within 90 minutes of the airport.
Sauze d’Oulx, Italy
Nearest airport: Turin
Transfer time: 1hr 30mins
Our MD’s favourite ski resort, a great ski area for all abilities, but not for off-piste skiing. Sauze d’Oulx is part of the extensive Milky Way ski area and 400km of piste served by 72 ski lifts. A lovely mixture of tree-lined and open skiing and excellent value for money with good mountain restaurants. The ski pass covers skiing in Italy and across the border to France and includes ski resorts such as Sestriere, Sansicario and Montgenevre in France.
Cervinia, Italy
Nearest airport: Turin
Transfer time: 1hr 30mins
An Italian giant, close to the Swiss mega resort of Zermatt, probably the more famous of the two, because the view of the Matterhorn is better viewed from the Swiss side. Cervinia is a perfect ski resort for all abilities, especially intermediate skiers, wide, snow-sure slopes all above 2000m. As with all Italian ski resorts, value for money is a big draw, as is the 90 minutes transfer time from Turin airport.
