Verbier in Switzerland is one of the world’s most upmarket ski resorts but does it live up to the hype? The luxurious village styles itself as the Capital of Winter. This guide to Verbier will help you to get the most out of your trip.
Insider Guide to Verbier
Verbier is seriously photogenic – most buildings are chalet style with wooden roofs and the village centre is charming. The village has preserved its natural charm but there are now many luxurious shops and cosy restaurants as well as a cinema and tourist information office.
The centre of Verbier is a great place to go for a stroll. You’ll be impressed with how friendly everyone is, whether the local shopkeepers or your fellow skiers.
We got chatting with people who had come from as far as Australia and Dubai to enjoy the skiing here, as well as Brits closer to home. The luxury boutiques have a fantastic selection of skiing essentials.
Guide to Verbier – Skiing
Talking of skiing, Verbier has a reputation for some of the best in the world with 410 kilometres of runs. The 4 Vallées is actually the largest ski area in Switzerland.
Whilst beginners will certainly find enough runs to keep them busy, it’s the fabulous black runs and off-piste skiing that attracts the likes of celebrities and royalty. Verbier has invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years.
There’s a new 6 person ski lift at La Chaux that can transport up to 2,100 people per hour. The main ski lift in the village is somewhere that you could use as a meeting up point with friends, as it has a cafe and lockers.
There are even a couple of climbing walls for children. At the top, there’s an unusual dual ski lift and chair cabin that we’ve never seen anywhere else. Snowboarders or those preferring to take a cabin on a chilly day will find it particularly handy.
Skiing conditions in the 4 Vallées are excellent, mainly due to Verbier’s high location. There are also ski cannons that can be called into use if necessary.
A wide range of ski passes are available, including the hands-free Valais SkiCard that you can prepay.
Verbier has also created the very first Drone Slope in Europe, where for a fee your skiing can be filmed by the resort’s own drones and emailed to you the same day. Its’s part of the Audi Funpark which has small jumps and a tunnel, located in Savoleyres.
While we were on the slopes, we noticed a few very photogenic dogs with their owners. You can pay a certain amount to get photographed with one of them, like this adorable St Bernard dog.
You may also spot this rather cute penguin from the slopes.
Le Mouton Noir
For lunch on the slopes, we’d highly recommend Le Mouton Noir, one of the best restaurants in Verbier. It has a superb location at the top of the main ski lift, a few minutes from the village centre. Feast on local specialities including tartiflette and profiteroles.
There’s a huge panoramic roof terrace where apres-ski parties get into full swing and there’s also a self service restaurant on the floor below.
If you like fondue, make sure to go to Igloo du Mont-Fort. It’s actually the highest fondue in Europe at 3300 metres high!
We took a succession of cable cars to get there and the air got steadily thinner as you reached the top. Arriving at the summit, we spotted a tiny igloo structure.
Inside there’s a cute restaurant with four tables, although there’s plenty of outdoor seating for when it’s warm. The charming chef, Lolo, rustles up tasty fondues, washed down with a glass of white wine.
Guide to Verbier – Dining in the Village
For a real fine dining experience, head to La Cordée des Alpes. This gourmet restaurant creates dishes that would not be out of place in a Michelin star establishment.
Casual dining can be found at Le Fer à Cheval which serves up tasty pizzas and Swiss specialties.
Close by, Milk Bar is the perfect place to enjoy a hot chocolate or other milky treats.
The first floor bar at Experimental Chalet is a stylish choice for cocktails and mini burgers. There’s a lovely outdoor area for when the temperature heats up.
No guide to Verbier would be complete without a mention of apres-ski and one of the best places for it is the Farm Club. Also within the Hotel Nevai, it’s been a hotspot since opening in 1971.
Verbier Ski Hire
We used JET Verbier as they deliver skis and all other equipment directly to your hotel or villa so there’s no need to carry them back. When you leave, they’ll also collect your equipment, a great time saver.
Where to Stay in Verbier
Hotel La Cordée des Alpes is an excellent choice, combining luxurious interiors with what many consider to be the best spa in Verbier. Most of the spacious rooms and suites have there own balcony overlooking the village.
We were impressed by the charming staff, for whom nothing is too much trouble. A handy mini-van will drop you at the base of the slopes and collect you at the end of the day.
We enjoyed relaxing in front of the log fire in the open-plan lounge area, decorated with books and vintage skiing equipment.
How to Get to Verbier
It’s a scenic 2 hour drive from Geneva airport although you could choose to take a train from Martigny to the nearby Le Châble station. We used a hire car from Tesla Transfers and were pleasantly surprised by the excellent road handling.
Verbier most definitely lives up to its reputation as the Capital of Winter and one of Switzerland’s best ski resorts. The perfect combination of good looks and world class skiing make this an unmissable Winter destination…although we’re told that it’s very popular for Summer hiking too.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this insider’s guide to Verbier – what would your favourite activity here be?
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Read all our Switzerland travel guides here.
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Verbier looks picture-perfect with its cute chalets, beautiful mountains, cosy restaurants and cafes. What a fantastic winter destination!
Miriam
www.londonkitchendiaries.com
It’s definitely one of our favourites, Miriam – so well preserved yet modern in many ways
It looks so gorgeous!! I love the alpine hotels, the view and the food looks fabulous! You’ve got me craving hot chocolate now!
Ooh I could do with a good hot chocolate too! We loved our visit to Verbier
Wow snow looks amazing I have never seen snow in real life
Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
You have to experience it, Candice – it’s just beautiful!
Verbier looks really beautiful, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place to ski! Great photos 🙂
Yes it really surpassed my expectations, I wasn’t expecting it to be so friendly as well as picturesque
Verbier is absolutely on my dream travel-list now after reading/seeing more about the destination on your blog. It looks like a wonderfully luxurious location, and it’s lovely to see a St Bernard again – I tend to associate them with Swiss mountain walks!
Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice x
Isn’t that St Bernard gorgeous! I’d have loved a photo with him
Wow this is just such a great post full of great info. I would love to go to Verbier one day and I would especially love to dine in the restaurants you recommended.
Gemma x
www.jacquardflower.uk
I’m so glad you found it helpful, Gemma and hope you get to visit Verbier – lots of lovely restaurants there
You are right, Suze, Verbier is seriously photogenic. I’d love to go skiing there. If only I didn’t live so far away from Switzerland….
Well when you’re next visiting Europe it’s easily reached 😉 Have a great weekend
The one regret I have about Verbier is that we spent all our time enjoying the facilities of The W and we do no skiing…I guess that gives me a good excuse to return. How fun that they have a Drone Slope too…probably a good thing I didn’t know that at the time 😉 !
You definitely should return and try out the drone slope – I’d certainly be tempted by that!
I reckon you will love skiing! As for fondue, can’t get enough of it
Wow, you’re so right that it’s incredibly photogenic. I’m not really a skier though. Do you think it would be a good place to visit in the summer? Would all that stuff be open during summer?
It’s a great place in Summer from what I’ve heard – the restaurants and shops are all open and there are quite a few festivals. You can also cycle down the mountains on a sort of scooter!
Wow – your images are really stunning, and really capture the feeling of the place. While the area looks great, those dessert photos stopped me in my tracks. Yum!
I’d happily return just for the desserts! Glad you enjoyed reading
Oh god. This looks incredible but unfortunately my last visit to Switzerland in August tortured my purse strings. Is it ridiculous when you are there?
It depends, there are lots of supermarkets so you can choose to eat in quite a bit and some of the restaurants are fairly reasonably priced too
Switzerland in winter looks like fairytale! No other country looks this good covered in snow:)
Also, these desserts seem to be super yummy
That’s a good point, Monika, it really does look magical in the snow. I’m slightly biased as my husband is Swiss 😉
Oooh this is the picture of Switzerland we hoped to see last year when we were there after our Rhine River Christmas cruise. Unfortunately we hit the warmest winter in 80 years and there was no snow. Oh well, there is always next time and you have given us a great suggestions on somewhere new to see.That meal looks amazing.
That’s unlucky, Lyn – normally they use ski canons but I guess it was slightly out of the ski season. You definitely should return!
I was experiencing some serious wanderlust while reading this post. I haven’t been skiing in ages and certainly no place that could even compare to Verbier. Beautiful. And that food. OMG. Mouth-watering for some cheese fondue!!
My favorite activity would definitely be the skiing and just enjoying the clean fresh mountain air. The classic wooden chalet style is such a classic Swiss look and had me remembering a ski trip I took to Zermatt a couple of years ago. The slopeslide and apres-ski food looks impressive! I’ll definitely have some cheese fondue.
What a great guide, Verbier is truly picture perfect and the chalets look really charming. What really impressed me though was the drone footage you can get. That is so cool
Oh my gosh there is a fondue tent??!! I need to go there ASAP. I love a good cheese fondue. This place really looks amazing
Skiing is definitely on my bucketlist. I hope to be able to do it someday
The place seems to have popped out of a fairy tale. It looks like a winter wonderland. Would love to learn to ski someday. The Tesla looks beautiful. So much snow everywhere and such beautiful slopes. The food also looks yum. I am sure you would have had a wonderful time.