Top Alpine Destinations

The famous ones, and whether they deserve it

A handful of alpine names carry the whole region's reputation: Zermatt, Chamonix, Courchevel, St. Moritz, Cortina, the Dolomites as a whole. They are famous for reasons, and those reasons are usually real. But each one suits a very specific kind of trip, and the mismatch between the reputation and the visit is where alpine holidays go wrong.

We cover each of them with the same structure: what the place is actually built around, which area to stay in and why, what it costs in high season against the shoulder weeks, how hard it is to reach, and — the question most guides avoid — who would be happier somewhere else. A first-time skier in a resort built for experts has a bad week no matter how good the hotel is.

Browse the full destination list by country: Switzerland, France, Italy.