With 30 years’ experience of organising luxury chalet holidays in Verbier, we would like to share with you why we believe that Verbier is the World’s greatest ski resort.
Verbier vs Val d’Isere
When it comes to picking your ski holiday destination, there are many boxes to tick to ensure you choose the one that works best for you. The terrain needs to suit your skiing ability, the facilities on offer must match your requirements and above all, it has to be a nice place to spend your time (and money!). First question is which country do you go to; Switzerland, France, Austria, Italy, USA, Canada, the list goes on and on… The top 2 ski destinations have to be France and Switzerland, so we wanted to compare Verbier to one of the most sought after French resorts – Val d’Isere.
As one of the best known ski resorts in the world, Val d’Isere is a hard resort to come up against, but as ever we are confident that Verbier stands up to the test. Let’s start at the beginning – you’ve packed your bags, navigated the airport, endured the flight and have made it to Geneva airport. Now what? Do you really want to sit in a taxi for a further 3-3.5hrs to Val d’Isere, winding up a long mountain road only to have travel-sickness and an already tired and grumpy family? Or does a simple transfer to Verbier in under 2hrs sound a bit more appealing? We think so. Another great thing about Verbier is you have travel options – you could choose to take a much more cost effective and greener route by using the train. And being Swiss they are always on time! The train station is literally in the airport and after just 1 simple change you can be in Verbier in under 2.5hrs, sanity and bank balance intact. To get to Val d’Isere you absolutely give up a days worth of serious travel before even arriving and it totally rules it out for short breaks. It’s just not worth the schlep – as soon as you get there it’s time to come home!
Now let’s look at the ski area. Val d’Isere shares it’s ski domain with (the aesthetically challenged) Tignes, called the Espace Killy. Whilst there is no denying it’s a fantastic area to ski with plenty of variation, you cannot argue with the numbers. The Espace Killy offers 300km of piste compared with the 4 Valley’s 410km. In the interests of balance, we will concede that elevation wise, Val d’Isere is higher – the highest point is at the 3,456m compared with Verbier’s 3,330m.
Verbier has a rich history and heritage combined with an exclusive high-end feel. You can include the glitz and glam if you want to, or simply enjoy it as a pure skier’s resort! In contrast, Val d’Isere is well known as one of the most popular resorts to spend a ‘gap year’ ski season, with 18-year-olds flooding the après bars and hurtling down the pistes you maybe better to slope off to Verbier to enjoy a more sophisticated, luxury chalet holiday.
We have unrivalled experience as Verbier chalet operators and an intimate knowledge of Verbier and all it has to offer. Each and every one of our clients receives a personal service, from the moment you begin planning your ski holiday, to the journey home. We believe that it’s the combination of our expertise, obsessive eye for detail and the understated luxury of our chalets that produce the ultimate ski holiday experience in Verbier.
Whether you are new to Verbier, or are Ski Verbier Exclusive regulars, we very much look forward to welcoming you to Verbier this winter.
