Get your skis on!

The Great British Summer was a bit of a washout (yet again!) but there is still so much to look forward to – especially if you are planning a winter sports holiday, and even more so if you are planning on taking time out in Switzerland over the coming months.

When you think of a Swiss winter break you can’t help but conjure images of exclusive and expensive resorts like St Moritz and Gstaad, but don’t make the rather common mistake of avoiding a Swiss skiing experience on the basis of a few widely held misconceptions.

Every season, tens of thousands of very ordinary people with very ordinary budgets descend on the country’s famed slopes for their winter sports pursuits, and it is easy to see what keeps so many of them coming back for more of the same, year after year after year.

Quite simply, Switzerland is the original home of skiing holidays and, while other countries have developed their own winter sports scenes, there is still nothing to beat the rustic charm of a Swiss Alpine experience. Added to that is by far the best skiing and scenery of any of the Alpine destinations, as well as the Swiss nation’s unequalled reputation for quality of service.

Another major factor when weighing up winter holiday choices is the friendly and homely atmosphere that has been built up over generations of Swiss family hospitality. Also, do bear in mind that English is spoken everywhere in Switzerland and that Swiss trains and buses always run on time.

Sure, the high class hotels of the few truly exclusive Swiss resorts are undoubtedly beyond the reach of ordinary folk but, if you have a budget that stretches to a typical French resort, you will certainly be able to find somewhere in Switzerland too. In fact, you don’t have look very hard nowadays to find even better value for money with a Swiss skiing holiday than in France and Italy.

Switzerland’s winter snow sports season runs from December to April, with the busiest and most expensive period falling between early January and mid February. At higher altitude resorts above 2,000 metres the Swiss ski season lasts from November to May, while year round skiing is possible in just a few glacier resorts above 3,000 metres. Have a look at the weather in Switzerland

One of the most common misconceptions about skiing in Switzerland is that you need to be experienced or even an expert to do it justice, yet nothing could be further from the truth.
This is a country that has something for skiers of all abilities and all levels of experience, from absolute beginners to hardened thrill seekers.

These days it’s not only about skiing, of course, and snowboarders will be equally well satisfied with what Switzerland has to offer, with some great powder throughout the season and some superb snow parks to match those anywhere else on the continent. In short, why look beyond Switzerland for a winter holiday when Switzerland has it all?