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The 38 Best Ski Resorts in the Alps

By YPB Team

Glacier giants with year-round runs sit next to car-free villages and Olympic old-timers; some win on sheer kilometres of piste, others on a single legendary downhill.

  1. Zermatt — ranked #11
    Zermatt
    Swiss resort beneath the Matterhorn whose ski area links across the border to Breuil-Cervinia in Italy and includes year-round glacier skiing.
    1000pts
  2. Breuil-Cervinia — ranked #22
    Breuil-Cervinia
    Italian resort on the south side of the Matterhorn, linked by lift and piste to Zermatt.
    695pts
  3. St. Anton am Arlberg — ranked #33
    St. Anton am Arlberg
    Tyrolean resort where Hannes Schneider founded his influential ski school in 1921, now part of the linked Ski Arlberg area.
    695pts
  4. Les Arcs — ranked #44
    Les Arcs
    French resort linked to La Plagne by the Vanoise Express cable car to form the Paradiski area.
    677pts
  5. Kitzbühel — ranked #55
    Kitzbühel
    Austrian town whose Hahnenkamm races have been held since 1931, on the Streif downhill since 1937.
    648pts
  6. Laax — ranked #66
    Laax
    Swiss resort in the Flims Laax Falera area, known for its freestyle parks and the Laax Open snowboard contest.
    648pts
  7. Sölden — ranked #77
    Sölden
    Ötztal resort whose Rettenbach glacier hosts the opening giant slalom of the Alpine Ski World Cup each October.
    648pts
  8. Val Gardena — ranked #88
    Val Gardena
    Dolomites valley on the Sella Ronda circuit whose Saslong course hosts a World Cup downhill every December.
    595pts
  9. Saalbach-Hinterglemm — ranked #99
    Saalbach-Hinterglemm
    Salzburg resort in the Skicircus area with Leogang and Fieberbrunn, host of the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships.
    595pts
  10. Val Thorens — ranked #1010
    Val Thorens
    Purpose-built French resort at about 2,300 m, the highest ski resort village in Europe, part of Les 3 Vallées.
    595pts
  11. Obergurgl — ranked #1111
    Obergurgl
    High Ötztal resort with Hochgurgl, known for reliable snow from November to May.
    534pts
  12. Crans-Montana — ranked #1212
    Crans-Montana
    Valais resort above the Rhône valley that hosted the 1987 Alpine World Ski Championships and is set to host them again in 2027.
    534pts
  13. Verbier — ranked #1313
    Verbier
    Swiss resort at the heart of the 4 Vallées area that hosts the Xtreme Verbier freeride final on the Bec des Rosses.
    534pts
  14. Megève — ranked #1414
    Megève
    Haute-Savoie village developed as a ski resort in the 1920s by Baroness Noémie de Rothschild.
    463pts
  15. Engelberg — ranked #1515
    Engelberg
    Central Swiss resort below Mount Titlis, reached by the Rotair revolving cable car.
    463pts
  16. Garmisch-Partenkirchen — ranked #1616
    Garmisch-Partenkirchen
    Bavarian resort that hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and stages the Kandahar World Cup downhill.
    463pts
  17. Madonna di Campiglio — ranked #1717
    Madonna di Campiglio
    Trentino resort whose Canalone Miramonti slope hosts the 3-Tre World Cup night slalom.
    463pts
  18. Méribel — ranked #1818
    Méribel
    Resort in the middle of Les 3 Vallées that staged women's Alpine events at the 1992 Olympics and co-hosted the 2023 World Championships.
    463pts
  19. Courchevel — ranked #1919
    Courchevel
    French resort with its own altiport, part of Les 3 Vallées and co-host of the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships.
    379pts
  20. Val d'Isère — ranked #2020
    Val d'Isère
    French resort that shares the Espace Killy ski area with Tignes and hosted the 2009 Alpine World Ski Championships.
    379pts
  21. St. Moritz — ranked #2121
    St. Moritz
    Engadin resort that hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948 and is home to the Cresta Run.
    379pts
  22. La Plagne — ranked #2222
    La Plagne
    French resort in the Paradiski area that hosted the bobsleigh and luge events of the 1992 Olympics.
    379pts
  23. Les Deux Alpes — ranked #2323
    Les Deux Alpes
    French resort with one of Europe's largest skiable glaciers, offering summer skiing.
    379pts
  24. Grindelwald — ranked #2424
    Grindelwald
    Jungfrau region village below the Eiger, with skiing on First and Kleine Scheidegg–Männlichen.
    379pts
  25. Chamonix — ranked #2525
    Chamonix
    Resort below Mont Blanc that hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and is known for the Vallée Blanche off-piste descent.
    278pts
  26. Davos — ranked #2626
    Davos
    Swiss resort with the Parsenn ski area, where the world's first T-bar lift opened on the Bolgen slope in 1934.
    278pts
  27. Lech — ranked #2727
    Lech
    Vorarlberg village in the Ski Arlberg area, known for the White Ring ski circuit with Zürs.
    278pts
  28. Saas-Fee — ranked #2828
    Saas-Fee
    Car-free Swiss glacier village surrounded by peaks over 4,000 m, with a revolving restaurant at the Allalin station.
    278pts
  29. Mayrhofen — ranked #2929
    Mayrhofen
    Zillertal resort known for the Harakiri, a groomed slope with a gradient of 78 percent.
    278pts
  30. Cortina d'Ampezzo — ranked #3030
    Cortina d'Ampezzo
    Dolomites resort that hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and co-hosted the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
    278pts
  31. Tignes — ranked #3131
    Tignes
    French resort sharing the Espace Killy with Val d'Isère, with glacier skiing on the Grande Motte.
    278pts
  32. Arosa Lenzerheide — ranked #3232
    Arosa Lenzerheide
    Graubünden ski area formed when the Urdenbahn cable car linked Arosa and Lenzerheide in the 2013–14 season.
    278pts
  33. Avoriaz — ranked #3333
    Avoriaz
    Car-free resort built in the 1960s at the heart of the Franco-Swiss Portes du Soleil area.
    0pts
  34. Alpe d'Huez — ranked #3434
    Alpe d'Huez
    French resort known for the Sarenne, a 16 km black run counted among the longest in the Alps.
    0pts
  35. Livigno — ranked #3535
    Livigno
    Duty-free Italian valley resort that hosted freestyle and snowboard events at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
    0pts
  36. Bormio — ranked #3636
    Bormio
    Valtellina resort whose Stelvio piste hosted the men's Alpine events at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
    0pts
  37. Ischgl — ranked #3737
    Ischgl
    Tyrolean resort whose Silvretta Arena ski area links across the border to duty-free Samnaun in Switzerland.
    0pts
  38. Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis — ranked #3838
    Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis
    Tyrolean plateau resort of three villages, known for its family ski programs and an underground metro in Serfaus.
    0pts

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