The loveliest ski resorts for non-skiers

Not everyone goes to the mountains for the skiing.

Some of us are quite happy with a couple of mornings on the slopes, followed by a very long lunch. Others would sooner spend the week walking snowy trails, browsing the shops, taking the children sledging or working their way through the spa menu. And in most families, there’s usually a mixture of the two.

The good news is that the Alps are very good at this sort of holiday. Choose the right resort and skiing can be as much or as little a part of the week as you want it to be. The keen ones can disappear up the mountain after breakfast, while everyone else has a whole village, mountainside and very good hotel to enjoy.

These are some of our favourite ski resorts when skiing isn’t necessarily the whole point.

Megève, France

Megève is perhaps the easiest place to start. It feels like a village first and a ski resort second, with cobbled streets, old farmhouses, little boutiques and horse-drawn carriages trotting through the centre.

There are more than 400km of pistes across the wider Évasion Mont-Blanc area, so committed skiers certainly won’t feel short-changed. But there’s just as much pleasure to be found away from them. Spend the morning wandering around the village, walk through snowy woodland, book into one of the excellent spas or take a pedestrian lift up the mountain to meet everyone for lunch.

It works especially well for families and groups of friends with varying levels of enthusiasm. You can ski together for a morning, go your separate ways after lunch and still feel as though you’ve shared the day.

Where to stay

Four Seasons Resort Megève is brilliant for families and mixed groups, with direct access to the slopes alongside a huge spa, indoor-outdoor pool and excellent spaces for children and teenagers. And if you fancy seeing the mountains without skiing down them, the team can arrange helicopter flights over the Mont Blanc massif. For something more traditional, Les Fermes de Marie is a collection of timber chalets close to the village, with roaring fires, the lovely Pure Altitude Spa and its own mountain restaurant, L’Alpage, reached high above Megève. L’Alpaga sits a little away from the centre with views towards Mont Blanc and a quieter feel; its Michelin-starred restaurant, La Table de l’Alpaga, makes a very good argument for staying in for dinner.

Courchevel, France

Courchevel is serious ski territory, but you really don’t have to be a serious skier to enjoy it.

Courchevel 1850 has become a destination in its own right, with some of the Alps’ best hotels and restaurants, excellent shopping and enough beautiful spas to occupy several afternoons. Pedestrian lift passes make it easy to head up the mountain without skis, so nobody needs to miss the sunny terrace lunch just because they skipped the morning’s runs.

For families, there’s even more to play with: sledging, dog sledding, snowshoeing, ice skating and Aquamotion, with its pools, slides and wellness areas. It’s a particularly good choice for a multigenerational trip where grandparents, parents and children may all want something slightly different from the week.

Where to stay

L’Apogée Courchevel is one of our favourites for families, with ski-in, ski-out access, a beautiful spa and swimming pool, and excellent children’s clubs when little legs have had enough of ski school. Cheval Blanc Courchevel is the more glamorous option, home to a Guerlain spa, several restaurants and dedicated spaces for children and teenagers. Courchevel is also somewhere we love a private chalet, especially for larger families and groups of friends. We can arrange beautiful fully catered options with private chefs, housekeeping and chalet teams, so everyone can come and go from the mountain at their own pace – and those not skiing have a rather lovely place to spend the day.

St Moritz, Switzerland

St Moritz has never been solely about skiing. People have been coming here to enjoy winter for more than 150 years, and the social life around the mountain remains every bit as important as what happens on it.

You might spend one day skiing and the next walking beside the frozen lake, browsing Via Serlas or taking the train through the mountains. There’s ice skating, curling, horse-drawn carriage rides and, if you time your visit right, everything from polo to horse racing taking place on the frozen lake.

The Bernina Express is another good reason to give your skis a day off, winding through the Engadin and towards Italy on one of Europe’s great railway journeys. St Moritz is wonderful for couples and groups of friends, but there’s plenty for families too, especially if you have grandparents joining you who want to be part of the holiday without necessarily joining ski school.

Where to stay

If it’s your first time in St Moritz, Badrutt’s Palace is hard to resist: a proper grand hotel overlooking the lake, with a wonderful spa, indoor and outdoor pools and the shops of town close by. Kulm Hotel St. Moritz has an equally impressive history and a beautiful spa, while Suvretta House sits slightly outside the centre and feels more like a classic Alpine retreat. For families who want everything taken care of, Club Med Saint-Moritz Roi Soleil is worth knowing about too. Full board, lift passes and group ski lessons can all be wrapped into the stay, while snowshoeing, the frozen lake and horse-drawn rides mean there’s plenty of St Moritz to enjoy away from the pistes.

Gstaad, Switzerland

Gstaad suits people who like their ski holidays at a slightly gentler pace.

The skiing is excellent, but the village has enough life of its own that nobody feels stranded when the rest of the group heads for the lifts. There are boutiques and cafés along the pedestrianised promenade, miles of winter walking trails and plenty of mountain restaurants that can be reached without skiing.

You can also go ice skating, sledging or snowshoeing, take a horse-drawn carriage through the snow or head up to Glacier 3000 for the views. Equally, nobody will judge if your day’s itinerary consists of a walk, lunch and several hours in the spa.

Gstaad is particularly lovely for couples, groups of friends and families with older children who want the freedom to do different things during the day before coming back together in the evening.

Where to stay

The Alpina Gstaad is the one for spa lovers, with its Six Senses Spa, pools and peaceful position just above the village. Gstaad Palace is an icon, full of old-school glamour and atmosphere, with several restaurants and plenty happening under one roof. We also love Le Grand Bellevue, right by the promenade and a little more relaxed in feel, with a huge spa and excellent restaurants. It’s an easy choice for a couple or group of friends who want to be able to wander into the village whenever they fancy.

Zermatt, Switzerland

There’s something very appealing about arriving in Zermatt and leaving the car behind.

The village is completely car-free, with old timber buildings sitting alongside smart hotels, restaurants and shops, all beneath the Matterhorn. It’s compact enough to explore on foot and lively enough that a non-skier won’t spend the week waiting for everyone else to come home.

The mountain is remarkably accessible without skis, too. The Gornergrat Railway climbs to more than 3,000 metres for extraordinary Matterhorn views, while lifts and mountain railways open up winter walking routes and plenty of places to meet for lunch.

For families, there’s sledging and ice skating alongside ski school; for couples, some excellent spas and restaurants. And for anyone who simply likes being in the mountains, Zermatt delivers rather spectacularly.

Where to stay

Mont Cervin Palace puts you right in the heart of Zermatt and is especially good for families, with a children’s pool and Mini Cervin Kids Club alongside its excellent Nescens spa. The hotel can arrange some memorable days away from the pistes too, from husky sledging to helicopter flights around the Matterhorn. CERVO Mountain Resort is our more contemporary choice, and particularly good if wellness is a big part of the holiday: mornings might start with Vinyasa or Hatha yoga, meditation or breathwork, followed by a Japanese-inspired onsen or traditional Bhutanese hot-stone bath in the Ātman Mountain Spa. The Omnia, meanwhile, sits above the village with those wonderful Matterhorn views and feels much more intimate – one we particularly like for couples wanting somewhere peaceful to retreat to.

Lech, Austria

Lech is for anyone who wants the classic Austrian Alps without too much theatre.

The skiing is exceptional – it forms part of the huge Ski Arlberg area – but there’s a softer side to the village that makes it easy to enjoy at a different pace. Cleared winter walking trails weave through the valley, horse-drawn sleighs run through the snow and cosy mountain restaurants provide plenty of incentive to venture outside.

It’s smaller and quieter than somewhere like Courchevel or St Moritz, and that’s part of the charm. Families return year after year, hotels know their guests, and evenings are more likely to involve dinner by the fire than a particularly elaborate après-ski itinerary.

If your ideal mountain holiday involves some skiing, plenty of good food and quite a lot of time wrapped in cashmere, Lech understands.

Where to stay

Hotel Arlberg Lech is a wonderful family-run address in the heart of the village, with a beautiful spa and the sort of warm service that keeps guests coming back. Severin*s – The Alpine Retreat has just a handful of suites and feels much more private, while Aurelio Lech combines chalet cosiness with a serious spa. Lech is also a lovely place to take a fully catered private chalet, particularly for families or groups of friends. We can arrange private chefs, housekeeping and a full chalet team, giving everyone the freedom to come and go from the mountain while still having a beautiful home to return to.

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

If lunch is as important as skiing, we should probably talk about Italy.

Cortina sits among the great limestone peaks of the Dolomites, and while the landscape is spectacular, there’s a real town beneath all the ski infrastructure. Corso Italia is lined with cafés, restaurants and boutiques, and the evening passeggiata is every bit as much a Cortina ritual as an afternoon on the mountain.

Non-skiers can explore the surrounding landscape on foot or snowshoes, head out for lunch in one of the rifugi or simply enjoy town while everyone else tackles the pistes. The Dolomites also have a slightly different rhythm from the French Alps: lunches linger, coffee stops matter and nobody seems in an enormous hurry to get back on a chairlift.

With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics putting the area firmly back in the spotlight, there’s also plenty happening here right now.

Where to stay

Hotel de LEN is right in town and brings a more contemporary, design-conscious feel to Cortina, with a rooftop spa overlooking the Dolomites. Rosapetra Spa Resort is a little outside the centre and a great choice if wellness is high on the agenda, with a large spa and swimming pool. For families or anyone wanting a full resort experience, Faloria Mountain Spa Resort has generous rooms and suites, a substantial wellness offering and plenty of space to retreat to after a day outside.

Perhaps you’re only a part-time skier…

There is no rule that says a ski holiday has to involve skiing from first lift until last.

In fact, some of our favourite mountain trips leave plenty of room for everything around it: breakfast that isn’t rushed, a few hours on the slopes when the conditions are good, lunch somewhere with a view, an afternoon in the spa and everyone back together for dinner.

For families especially, choosing somewhere with plenty to do away from the pistes can transform the week. Nobody has to ski because everyone else is skiing, grandparents can come along without feeling left out, and tired children can have a day away from ski school without derailing everybody else’s plans.

If you tell us who’s coming and how much skiing you actually want to do, we can help you find the right mountain – and a very lovely place to stay when you’re not on it.