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Villars

Les Diablerets-Villars Village

Villars

Villars offers a calm family friendly atmosphere that has attracted a vast array of celebrities to the area. Villars ski history dates back to around 1913 when the slopes of the region were considered as a great place to develop skiing. The first lift arrived in the region in 1936, but back in 1932 they used to offer group lessons made up of over 50 students at a half day cost of CHF 5, unfortunately, we don’t think local ski schools will be willing to match that these days!

Villars has all the components that make a great ski resort; fine dining, outstanding hotels with superb facilities and a beautiful, traditional village. With the location not too far away from Geneva it is an ideal spot if you are looking at going for a short ski break. With an efficient train system making access to the ski area both easy and fun to get up and down the mountain, Villars is in an area that is perfect for your family ski holiday! Don’t forget to take the kids on the 2km of sledging though!

Relaxed, calm and efficient, Villars is also a great spot for a couple’s romantic retreat for a ski weekend or ski week. With hotels boasting superb cuisine, dramatic views places like the 5* Chalet RoyAlp Hotel and Spa are a great place to stay at, you'll be able to relax and submerse yourself into the Swiss mountain village way of life, enjoying a glass of the fabulous local Valais wine!

ski area overview

Villars ski area is one of the best resorts to learn and develop your skiing or snowboarding skills, especially for beginners and intermediates. With around 100km of slopes, there is also enough in the area for a real challenge with some high altitude skiing on offer for those wanting to ski the glacier towards the summit of Oldenhorn. The area is supported by 34 lifts which enable skiers to get around the great variety of slopes on offer with Swiss efficiency. On a Villars ski weekend, you can experience the wide, open runs higher up and some lovely tree runs back down into Villars and Gryon.

The main hub is the Bretaye area at 1810m which has plenty of beginner areas and is where the meeting points are for the ski school. A great and rather novel way of getting here from Villars village is by jumping on the train and winding your way up the mountain to the slopes whilst enjoying some of the magnificent views. There is another option to get from Villars to the slopes though; the gondola which takes you to the Roc d’Orsay where you can then ski down to Bretaye on either the red or the blue runs.

Whilst advanced terrain is slightly limited for skiers and snowboarders on-piste, Villars ski area does have a couple of terrain parks and the off-piste is a whole different story. Guides have been known to take clients from Verbier and bring them over to Villars in the knowledge that they will find untouched powder all across the mountain, unlike the tracked slopes of Verbier.

The area overlooks the Dents-du-Midi mountain range and tends to get lots of sun on a nice day. You need not to worry about the snow though as in the past years Villars has improved on its snowmaking capabilities to ensure you will have awesome snow throughout the season!

Les Diablerets Evening Views Skiing with the views in Villars

To find out more about skiing in Switzerland, feel free to call one of our friendly ski experts on 023 8020 6971 or email sales@skiweekends.com