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La Feclaz, France
Description: This is a popular resort for cross county skiing. La Feclaz is a small resort in the Parc des Bauges, Savoie in the Northern Alps. The resort is only 20 minutes away from Chambery.
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Les Gets, France
Description: Les Gets is a quaint but expanding village close to Geneva. It is a little scattered around the valley but getting around is helped by the free 'petit train'.Lovely! There is lots to do and has many fine shops and restaurants to choose from. It can be a little quiet at times but definately gets busier come the weekend. The village dates back to the 11th century and its name come from the old French word, 'jets' which was used for the traditional slopes used to bring down the timber from the upland regions. Les Gets is not all about winter sports - there is a lot of traditional architecture and regional cuisine to enjoy. Visit the church whose organ dates back to 1910 or the Museum of Mechanical Music. Your lift pass allows you to ski/board in Abondance, Avoriaz 1800, Champery, Chatel, Le Chappelle d'Abondance, Les Crossets, Morgins & Morzine.
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Gressoney la Trinite, Italy
Description: Situated within the Montarosa ski are La Trinite sits alongside the ski resorts of Champoluc and Brusson
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Seefeld, Austria
Description: Seefeld has twice been the venue for the Winter Olympics and is close to Innsbruck. It has a brilliant network for cross country skiing and is generally a very good resort to learn to ski in. Seefeld has a wonderful pedestrianised centre with a number of people who don't even come for the skiing. Upmarket indeed with three 5* hotels as well! Maybe cross country enthusiasts amongst us hould head here because there are around 262km of excellent tracks. Innsbruck is close by too.
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Aillon Le Jeune, France
Description: Les Aillons is situated in the Savoie. It is a traditional village
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Briancon, France
Description: The highest Town in France Briancon is part of the Serre Chevalier – a resort made up of 13 villages. The lift is right in the middle of town and takes you to mid mountain and then onwards. Around the lift station are shops, a casino, bars and restaurants but the area with the real character is the 17th Century fortified quarter with it’s charming cobbled streets, tradional bakeries, accommodation and restaurants It’s easy enough to travel around the villages with a free ski bus (with valid lift pass) though it does seem to stop relatively early.
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Chatel, France
Description: It is located at 1200m in the middle of the Port du Soleil very close to the Swiss Border. That altitude of 1200m is a bit of a concern, although it is an attractive village, it can get clogged up by cars. An underground car park helps a bit and other Port du Soleil resorts are easier to get to by piste than road. It's easy to get around the village on the free bus - it operates during the day going past all the access points to the piste, and it also operates in the evening so you can enjoy events that are on around the village. We love the chalet style buildings, most of which are timber clad with charm and authentic decorative carpentry both outside and in. If you walk around you will notice that the local master carpenters personlise each balcony railings, decorating them with flowers or animals.
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Savognin, Switzerland
Description:
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Moena, Italy
Description: Moena is a great little resort situated in the Trevalli ski area of the Val di Fassa. Great for families this quiet resort is a good starting point to the Dolomites Ski Area.
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Bareges, France
Description: Bareges is a spa village found in the French Pyrenees. We love the fact that it's cheaper than the Alps. The town itself has lots of restaurants and cafes and of course being a spa town, thermal baths. The lift base isn't in the actual village but 4km up the valley. Don't worry there is a ski bus running so you don't have to walk. From Bareges you have access to a massive ski area made up of Barèges and the La Mongie/Tourmalet ski zone
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Courmayeur, Italy
Description: A fabulous place to go if only to watch the world go by. We at Snowbrainer really love this traditional Italian village/town which is just over thw boarder from Chamonix. The village itself is traffic free in the centre and the the apres ski is just brilliant whilst alse being very refined. A little advice, leave your skis and boots up the mountain at the end of day rather than having to walk back into town with them on.
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Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Description: The town is beautiful and has been described as both voluptous Italian and quaint. It's set in the Dolomite which has some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery in Europe. Ok so the ladies wear Gucci, Prada and maybe a little fur, which might be a little off putting depending on your taste. You really don't have to ski here to have a good time and you'll find that most of the town rise at a very civilised hour, enjoy a little window shopping, a leisurely coffee and cigarette before heading up for a run. What is good though is our fox furred ladies wouldn't be seen dead on the slopes too early which leaves them all clear for you and your friends. Famous for hosting the 1956 Olympics the resort has little to do with skiing/snowboarding it is now hard to find a ski shop amoungt the cafes and designer outlets.
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Bormio, Italy
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Crest Voland, France
Description: Crest Volland links to Les Saises and Praz sur Arly through the lift system that makes up Espace Diamant ski area. The village itself is close to Megeve and Le Grand Bornand and sits above the Arly Gorge with the Beaufortain Massif as its backdrop.
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Ortisei, Italy
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Argentiere, France
Description: Just up the valley from Chamonix this old village looks over Mont Blanc, the Glacier d'Argentierre and the Aguille Du Midi. It is also close by to Cormayeur Chamonix, Megeve and Saint Gervais. It is a rustic typically Savoyarde Village
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Pitzal, Austria
Description: Pitztal is the southern most located valley from the town of Imst, the capital of Austrian Tyrol.
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Gresse en Vercors, France
Description: Gresse en Vercors is 45 minutes from Grenoble and is what we would call a family field. It is famous in WWII for bing at the forefront of the Resistance and is located at the foot of Large Veymont.
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Bellevaux - La Chevrerie, France
Description: Bellevaux is a great little family resort situated near Thonon Les Bains and only a short transfer time of 45 minutes from Geneva. It is based in the Chablais area of the Northern Alps, part of the Haute Savoie department.
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Montchavin, France
Description: A traffic free resort which has good links to Les arcs
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Champagny, France
Description: Set within the forest the modern architecture has been tastefully done to make this a pretty village. It's easy enough to take a car or taxi and have a day trip to Courchevel
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Leysin, Switzerland
Description: Leysin was once famous as a high altitude centre of the treatment of respiratory diseases, now a delightful laid back ski resort with an international feel. There's lots of sporting activities in winter including the largest Swiss toboganning park which is conveniently floodlit at night. There is also tubing on carved shoots which work similar to a bobsleigh run. It's a sunny resort and good for adults and children with a short transfer time from Geneva Aiport. Located in the heart of the Vaudois Alps Leysin is a wonderful place for a family winter holiday.
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St Leger les Melezes, France
Description: St Leger Les Melezes is a small mountain village in the Champsaur Massif in the Haute Alps. It is not far from Gap.
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Kappl, Austria
Description: Kappl is a 15 minute bus ride down the valley from Ischgl and tourism here is very much a family affair in this beautiful village. Have a look at the information on nearby resort Ishchgl
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Villars sur Ollon, Switzerland
Description: Villars looks across the Rhone Valley to the Ports du Soleil. Although being a low altitude resort it gets its fair share of celebrities such as Bernie Eccleston and Jacques Villeneuve. An easy distance from Geneva this small town is well worth a visit especially if you like old town charm. There are all sorts of activities for both skiers and non skiers - check out our 'other activities section below for a list
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Bruneck / Brunico, Italy
Description: Brunico is a town which lies at the foot of the Kronplatz ski area and has a link via the gondola. The town is situated in the the Pluster Valley, in the South Tyrol region and dates back to the stone age. It's seen its fair share of history with floods in the 14th & 19th centuries, the plague in 1543 and various fires and earthquakes!! The town really started to take off in the 1800's with the opening of the Puster Valley railway which led to many visitors to the area. Today you will find a charming, picturesque town which still has some of the ancient walls from medieval times in the town centre. Many years ago this place used to be part of the Austrian Tyrol, so you will still hear German spoke frequently. There is the clue as to why it has two names. The Kronlplatz/ Plan de Corones ski field has some delightful slopes with a brilliant lift system which was built on tax breaks.
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Bardonecchia, Italy
Description: In 1909 the first Italian ski championships were held here and the first ski jump. "smith" was built in the same year. The jump was namerd after the Norwegian brothers Harold & Trigher Smith who had brokend the world record of their time by jumping 43 & 40 mtrs respectively. Bardoneccia sits in a sunny valley surrounded by mountains whose peaks reach as high as 3500m and it is on the border between Italy and France. As a historical mountain town Bardonecchia is easily reached by both highway and train from many European cities.
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Fogarida, Italy
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St Anton, Austria
Description: The town of St Anton has about 2500 residences and is still full of Austrian hospitality and Tirolean Charm. It sits at the foot of the Arlberg pass and if you keep on heading up the road you will reach St Christoph and over the pass to Stuben. It's a great town for Apres ski which goes on until quite late so if you do want a bit of peace and quiet you could always book accommodation at the Nasserein end where you can head up to the slopes on a gondola each day. If you want to sample the nightlife hop on one of the resort busses.
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Gerlos, Austria
Description: Gerlos is part of the Zillertal region and is an authentic alpine resort. There are around 160km of slopes in the region between 1300m and 2505m with direct access from Gerlos
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