Top ski breaks to book now

Ski without the crowds

Hire your own mountain for the evening by booking the illuminated slopes of the Corvatsch, the three-thousand-metre peak above the Engadine chain of lakes in Switzerland. Ski instructors and outdoor butlers will be on hand while you glide under the night sky. Stay at the Carlton Hotel St Moritz, which offers Michelin-star dining and a vast spa.

Ski and rail

Combine your skiing with a classic rail journey. Ski Solutions’ Swiss Luxury by Rail tour takes you on two of Switzerland’s famous rail journeys, the Golden Pass and the Glacier Express, travelling from West to East in luxurious style to experience three ski resorts – Gstaad, Zermatt and St Moritz. Highlights include staying at the romantic Gstaad Palace Hotel, and skiing in Zermatt with the Matterhorn as your backdrop.

Austria with a Japanese twist

Enjoy ski, spa and sushi at the Naturhotel Forsthofgut in Leogang. There is a beautiful new lakehouse with a Japanese restaurant. The lakehouse spa’s facilities include an Onsen pool (42°c) and the lake has an infinity pool and floating Finnish lake sauna. The piste runs right outside the hotel, and you can also enjoy toboggan runs and sleigh rides.

For foodies and wine lovers

Chefs and sommeliers are heading to the slopes of Alta Badia in the South Tyrolean Dolomites. Eight Michelin-starred chefs will be assigned to a mountain hut on the slopes, creating a recipe, with a sustainability ethos, that will be offered to skiers throughout the season. There will also be events including ‘sommelier on the slopes’ with the chance to taste South Tyrol’s best wines and breakfast skiing offering local foods and skiing on fresh snow.

New in Val D’Isere

Adding to Val D’Isere’s appeal, there are a range of new activities such as ice floating – where you pop on a wetsuit and float in a frozen lake. Or try Moonbikes, ultra-light electric snow bikes where you can zoom through the forest and wind along Val d’Isere’s trails. There’s also the opening of the five-star K2 Chogori hotel offering the Altiplano 2.0 restaurant with Peruvian-inspired cuisine, and spa.

Open to all

Courmayeur Mont Blanc, situated on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, has plenty to keep skiers and their non-skiing friends and family happy. It is also accessible to those with disabilities, offering the likes of adaptive skiing with specialist instructors, mono and bi-ski wheelchairs, and audio tools for people with visual impairments. There’s also snowboarding on offer, using apparatus that allows the snowboarder to be attached to their instructor, who guides them down the slopes. The SkyWay Monte Bianco cable car has step-free access and there is a five-star wheelchair accessible hotel, the 5* Gran Baita.

Ulta luxe

Severin*s in Lech, Austria, has only nine suites, and as well as great skiing on offer, you can go snow shoeing, or take a private skidoo trip at night to an alpine hut for fondue. For ultra luxe, book the Residence, with its own kitchen (and room service, of course), lounge with an open fire as well as a grand piano.

Ski with history

Mürren, the highest ski resort in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first slalom race held 21 January 1922. Enjoy the charming village with its original wooden chalets and 1912 Allmendhubel funicular, and lunch at the mountain-top revolving Piz Gloria restaurant completed for the 1969 Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Ski in style

We asked luxury travel expert Ian Weir of Wimbledon’s Swords Travel for his tips on where to hit the slopes this season…

“When thinking about luxury ski most people think of resorts first, Courcheval, St Moritz, Zermatt, Verbier and Lech, for example. These resorts offer some of the best skiing in the world and have attracted some of the finest hoteliers to their slopes.

There is a wealth of luxury properties to look at but for starters the K2 Palace in Courcheval is one of my favourites for modern, Alpine luxury right on the slope.

For St Moritz, Badrutt’s Palace Hotel is a classic winter substitute for the Monte Carlo elite and offers a bit of old school luxury.

There is a great 5* family run hotel in Lech called the Hotel Post, part of the Relais and Chateaux group. It is situated in the centre of town and close to the lifts to take you up into the immense Arlberg ski area. This is a perfect family option with great ski schools.

Zermatt has some of the most imposing views in the Alps and for lovers of art and architecture then Heinz Julen’s Penthouse is worth checking out (if you can get it!).

Some of the prettiest mountains in Europe however are the Dolomites and if relaxing and indulging in the spa after an arduous day skiing is your thing, then the Lefay Resort & Spa in the stunning Madonna di Campiglio ski area is an easy win.

If you are looking to combine activities then the ultimate ski trip has to be a couple of weeks late Feb/ early March to Japan followed by a visit to the snow monkeys and then the Japanese Spring masterpiece of the Cherry Blossom bloom.”