Best Apres-Ski Resort Destinations 

Apres-ski one of the prime considerations when booking your winter ski holiday? If so, here’s the Chalet Ski Holidays favourite five apres-ski destinations in reverse order: 

5th Place – Chamonix 

A close call between Saalbach, Solden and Chamonix for fifth place, but Chamonix just scrapes it by a whisker, partly due to its ease of access and the hordes (including stag and hen parties) that arrive as a consequence. An hours drive from Geneva, Chamonix has simply become the British weekend ski retreat and bars are particularly loud and lively as a consequence on Fridays and Saturdays. One of the favourites is Chambre Neuf which is opposite the Chamonix train station. Here you will find nearly every night, throughout the winter, a live band kicking off proceedings around 6pm with dancing on tables quickly following afterwards! But Chamonix has many bars and the recently opened Moo Bar opposite is also now a particularly popular place to hang out.

Later in the evening the Terrace near the centre of town often fills up, as does many of the bars along the quaint pedestrian street of the Rue des Moulins. For those staying in Argentiere, the Office is still, many years after it rose to success, the place to be with a lively crowd, music and lots of partying into the evening. Lastly worth a mention if you are skiing in and around the Kandahar World Cup downhill piste is the Kitsch Inn in Les Houches. Most nights you will find a live band playing and a good crowd as the skiing and snowboarding finishes and the evening begins.

4th Place – Ischgl

Not on quite so many apres-ski lists – but we have no idea why as Ischgl on our view is one of the most popular apres-ski destinations in the Alps. Big on the list is the Trofana Alm which is one of the main places to be seen and apres-ski in Ischgl, rivalling other famous bars elsewhere, including La Folie Douce and the Mooserwirt which is high praise indeed!  Moving away from the Trojan Alm, live bands are often found to be playing at Hollbodenin the main town- And finally for Ischgl, last and by no means least, for the ultimate apres-ski table dancing then the Kitzloch should be sort out.

3rd Place – Verbier 

A fun up market ski resort, Verbier benefits on the apres-ski front by virtue of the fact that 95% of skiers and snowboarders finish the day at the very same place – the bottom of the Medran ski lifts (either coming back down the lift on via the home ski runs). With bars either side of the road as you then subsequently make the short stroll in to the town, for many, the temptation to pop into one of the bars simply proves too inviting – and thereafter the partying commences! One drink, becomes two, and as the party kicks in, many of us have missed dinner before we have even realised (sorry Chefs and Hosts)!

But before heading down the slopes, you may want to consider stopping first at Le Mouton Noir (at the top of the Medran Gondola – see photo above) with entertainment from around 3pm on the terrace. Heading back down the mountain, once down at the bottom, a popular call is Farinet by the Place Centrale with live music a big draw for revellers. The Mont Fort Pub continues to be a big draw and the quirky Offshore Café draws revellers in with its unusual decor! 

2nd Place – Val d’Isere

The sophisticated set, mixed with a large number of public school chalet hosts, make Val d’Isere one of the biggest ski resorts for fun on and off the slopes. Here people frequent the bars until around 7:30pm, pop-back (in some cases) to the chalet for a brief interlude and dinner, before continuing the party until 2am or 3am in the morning (and some long into the night afterwards).

Kicking off the apres-ski party, and the number one apres-ski venue in our book, is La Folie Douce at the top of the La Daille ski Gondola which has music and partying from 3:30pm onwards. It is big, and gets wilder as the week goes on with DJ’s, live music, dancers and all sorts of entertainment outside. It’s the place to be and the place to be seen with VIP guests downing Veuve Clicqout and Dom Pérignon on the terrace in large quantities!  Further down the slopes, just above the bottom of the Solaise is the Cocorico, again providing entertainment and a great atmosphere. Also lively and popular with the  British is Dick’s Tea Bar which has live music up to midnight and serves many other drinks and not just tea! It is also one of the favourite for late night boogie’s too! 

1st Place – St Anton

It wasn’t of course ever in doubt that the number one on the list would of course be the legendary ski resort of St Anton. Its skiing and snowboard is some of the steepest and best in Europe, but it pails into insignificance against the apres-ski parties that start here, generally for most beginning at the Mooserwirt before continuing in town well into the morning. If you haven’t been, and you like to apres-ski party, you really should go at least once!

Others venues worthy of a mention include the Krazy Kanguruh (legendary for decades – situated on the piste and partying until well into the evening with a short ski down afterwards – try not to forget(!)), Taps (next to the Krzy Kanguruh), Piccadilly (centre of town with live music), the Underground and Bar Cuba (great for snacks as well as drinks).  

 There we have it, five great apres-ski resorts and holidays to consider with St Anton a truly worthy number one, and in the views of all of us here at Chalet Ski Holidays, not only the best apres-ski resort in the alps, but the world – St Anton take a bow!