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The winter sports holiday was famously born in Switzerland in September 1864, when a canny hotelier in St Moritz wagered a party of British visitors that if they returned in winter and the sun failed to shine more than in summer, he’d foot their bill. Statistically, he was on safe ground. They returned, and the rest is history.
Today, St Moritz offers everything from golf, cricket and horse racing on the frozen lake, to the Cresta Run and bobsleigh. But it’s expensive. Here are 10 less well-known destinations that offer more than just skiing.
Livigno, Italy
Hotel Livigno became the resort’s first inn when it opened in 1912. Awarded duty-free status in Napoleonic times, Livigno today has a traffic-free centre with good-value shops to designer boutiques, as well as husky sledding, snowshoeing, fatbiking and horse riding. The town’s Aquagranda spa is worth a visit.
• Hotel Livigno from £749pp for seven nights’ half-board including flights and transfers, inghams.co.uk
Jasná, Slovakia
Jasná Nízke Tatry, in the Low Tatras mountains, offers dog sledding, yoga sessions, natural thermal springs and snowshoeing, as well as 50km of ski runs. The Dragon’s Lair chalet opens this December, sleeping up to 19 people in five en suite bedrooms. Choose between B&B or half-board. There’s a private shuttle service to the ski slopes, and an outdoor hot tub, sauna and fitness area. It’s a 20-minute drive to the town of Liptovský Mikuláš, with its bars, restaurants, cinema, swimming pool and skating rink.
• From £610pp for seven nights’ B&B, including six-day lift pass and airport transfers, jasnaadventures.co.uk
Baqueira-Beret, Spain
This purpose-built resort in Val d’Aran, in the Pyrenees, is no great beauty, but it’s modern, efficient, has fabulous skiing and reasonable prices. Kabi offers snowmobile safaris and snowshoe hiking, while other attractions are the nearby ancient towns of Vielha and Arties, with their romanesque and gothic churches and cobbled streets. And great-value restaurants and lively tapas bars abound.
• From £592pp for seven nights’ half-board at Chalet-Hotel Salana, including flights and transfers, skimiquelholidays.co.uk
Les Ménuires, France
Les Ménuires is at the less fashionable end of the massive Les Trois Vallées ski area, and it’s excellent value for a mainstream French resort. You can take a snowshoe hike for lunch up in the little Refuge Le Trait d’Union, a ski hut-cum-chalet serving Savoyard cuisine, or for speed lovers there’s a 1,000-metre toboggan run on rails. Snow biking is another popular option in the area. The Les Bruyères swimming pool has massage jets and a huge paddling pool with water games for kids. Opening in December, ho36 is a smart “new generation” hostel with shared rooms for 4-6, family rooms for up to six, and private lofts – all dark grey walls, cow hides and bare pine.
• Dorm beds at ho36 from €35 a night. Fly to Chambéry
La Clusaz, France
La Clusaz, one of the closest ski resorts to Geneva airport, exudes the vibrancy of a community that has a year-round life of its own. Take your pick from ice skating, ice driving, ski jöring (you are towed behind a horse on skis) or ski biking. Alternatively, wallow in the large new spa at the Residence Prestige Odalys Mendi Alde hotel. The old village is lovely to stroll around, and the lakeside town of Annecy is a 20-minute drive.
• From £402pp for seven nights at La Residence Apartments (based on four sharing), including a six-day lift pass and flights, crystalski.co.uk
Ax-les-Thermes, French Pyrenees
This ancient thermal village is a great choice for a snowy spa break, with the huge Bains du Couloubret spa, a new open-air foot spa, and hot taps on the main streets. Head to nearby Plateau de Beille for dog sledding, or to Col du Chioula for snowshoe walking or cross-country skiing.
• Short breaks from £388pp, including four nights’ accommodation, flights and transfers, skiweekends.com
St Johann in Tirol, Austria
This sprawling Tirolean town has an attractive medieval centre and is a convenient (and good value) base for exploring chic Kitzbühel and Innsbruck, both easily reached by train. Non-skiing activities range from ice skating and sleigh rides to paragliding and hot air ballooning. The Cooee-Alpin hotel aims to make skiing more affordable in a budget airline sort of way – but with a lot more style: prices are per night and everything else, including meals, is extra. It has a sauna and fitness room and in-house ski rental, and the nearest ski lift is a short walk away.
• From £560pp for seven nights room-only, including flights and transfers, sno.co.uk
Val Cenis, France
Val Cenis is in the Maurienne valley, often overlooked in favour of La Plagne and Val d’Isère in the next valley. It has lots of intermediate skiing, but also paragliding, dog sledding, snowshoeing, horse-drawn sleigh rides and ice climbing. Les Glières leisure centre has an outdoor ice rink, bowling alley, cinema and swimming pool. There’s also a 900-metre toboggan run. Best of all is a visit to the nearby hamlet of Bonneval-sur-Arc, one of the prettiest villages in the Alps.
• From £242pp for seven nights self-catering in Les Chalets de Flambeau (based on five sharing), including return Eurotunnel crossings, peakretreats.co.uk
Zakopane, Poland
This is the largest European ski resort north of the Alps, with several small ski areas known for their consistently good snow. It’s also an excellent base for visiting historic Krakow, 85km away. Grand Hotel Stamary opened in 1905 and has a large spa, a children’s playroom and a restaurant serving traditional Polish as well international dishes.
• Doubles from about £73 B&B, stamary.pl; BA flies Heathrow-Krakow from £78 return
Serre Chevalier, France
Serre Chevalier is not one resort, but a collective name for 13 villages lining the road between the Col du Lautaret and the ancient garrison town of Briançon close to the Italian border. Briançon is a Unesco world heritage site with oodles of charm, and there is access to the slopes by gondola from here. Although it doesn’t feel like a ski resort, the benefits are huge, with a choice of 15 restaurants and a 17th-century walled town with steep and narrow streets to explore. Les Grands Bains, in the neighbouring village of Le Monêtier-les-Bains, has indoor and outdoor thermal pools, saunas, steam rooms and treatment rooms.
• Seven nights from £521 for two people in L’Aigle Bleu studio in Briançon, including Eurotunnel FlexiPlus crossings, ernalow.co.uk
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
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