winter activities

The ski area is one of Europe's best for family skiing. You will find up-to-date information from the official website www.tele-villars-gryon.ch. Recent years have seen a lot of improved uphill transport, with fast modern four- and six-seater chairlifts replacing older chair- and drag-lifts. We usually start from the Barboleuse telecabine, a 5-minute drive to the large car park. The Swiss Ski School starts from the nursery slope at Les Chaux as well as in Villars and Bretaye. If you need more variety, nearby well-known resorts roughly an hour's drive away include Verbier, the Diablerets glacier, Champery or Morgins for access to the Portes de Soleil and Crans Montana as well as a good number of smaller resorts mostly unknown to the British.

Apart from skiing, there is ice skating and swimming at Villars and superb year-round outdoor spa at Lavey, only a few minutes drive up the Rhône valley from Bex, providing a great end to a day's skiing. Fine places to explore include: the famous lakeside Chillon Chateau near Montreux; St Maurice for its religious treasures Martigny for its extensive Roman connections together with the exhibitions and cultural events at the Fondation Gianadda; Gruyeres, an ancient hilltop village well known for its cheese; Lausanne's impressive cathedral and Olympic Museum.