The ultimate mountain high
A warm welcome at 7,500ft
At 7,500ft, Val Thorens is Europe’s highest ski resort. The high altitude means it’s unlikely you will spend your break playing backgammon instead of skiing due to poor snowfall. And seven-night stays from £1,071pp at the warm and welcoming Chalet Rayon de Soleil are almost too good to be true. The property is close to the village centre, boasts a roaring log fire, hearty breakfasts, daily afternoon teas and three-course suppers with wine on five nights. The cost, based on two people sharing and departing March 23 next year, includes a week’s lift pass, ski hire, flights and transfers (skisolutions.com).
Eat, drink and ski happy
Michelin stars are sprinkled liberally over rustic restaurants in Alta Badia in the Italian Dolomites. Italy’s most highly decorated chefs, alongside those invited from other countries, unite for one winter weekend only to host a gastronomic extravaganza for food-loving skiers. Four nights’ half-board at the charming Ciasa Salares costs from £1,360pp, departing January 17, 2019, and includes flights and transfers (powderbyrne.com).
The hills are alive…
Perfect harmony might just be 50 miles of perfect pistes in Flachau by day, while indulging your cultural senses in the rich history of theatres, concert halls, architecture and chocolate shops of Salzburg by night. On 2019 Ski And See Salzburg packages, apres-ski can be a candlelit dinner and concert in the Baroque Hall of the 7th Century Benedictine monastery of St Peter, listening to rousing arias from Figaro or Don Giovanni. A double room for three nights’ B&B in a four-star hotel in the city, plus two shuttles to and from Flachau, costs from £92pp (panoramatours.com). Return flights from Gatwick to Salzburg in January cost from £101 (ba.com).
History reinvented
Apres-ski bosses of the entertainment group La Folie Douce open the doors to its first Alpine hotel next month – a stunning renovation of the historic Chamonix palace, Le Savoy. A double room for seven nights’ halfboard, starting March 2, 2019, costs from £1,075pp, based on two sharing and includes Gatwick to Geneva flights (crystalski.co.uk).