Switzerland Holidays

Cradled within the Swiss Alps’ Ursern Valley, Andermatt is a quintessential Swiss village, complete with charming chalets, winding streets and a traditional folk museum. German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe summed up the surrounding region as ‘the loveliest and most fascinating’ place to visit, capturing the essence of its idyllic alpine passes and meadow-clad mountainsides. Seasoned snow bunnies can spend time mastering Andermatt’s more challenging slopes and off-piste areas on the Gemsstock mountain, while beginners can get to grips with the powder at Nätschen. If you feel more comfortable with your feet on solid ground, Andermatt holidays also cater to avid hikers, with more than 300 miles of hiking trails scattered across the valley.

Did you hear the one about the Swiss ski resort that's under three hours' drive from both Zurich and Geneva; has a picture perfect, car free and traditional wood-clad town centre; 100% snow security thank to its altitude (and glaciers for summer skiing), and 300 days of sunshine a year thanks to a microclimate created by an amphitheatre of 18 12,000ft plus peaks surrounding the town. This is no joke, although Saas-Fee (the resort in question) does refer to itself light-heartedly as the Free Holiday Republic. Welcome to arguably the most underrated resort in the Alps, and somewhere we think is only going to grow in popularity. Away from the pretty town itself, there's a decent network of lifts and runs connecting the high altitude slopes, and plenty of skiing for beginners and intermediates alike. On the subject of beginners, children are well catered for by the ski school, which even runs tips to the town cinema on the exceedingly rare white out days. For advanced skiers, heli-skiing is available for access to areas of pristine powder, and non-ski activities on offer include ice climbing, snow shoeing and via ferrata (in both winter and summer). Every visitor to the resort also automatically receives a citizen's passport to the aforementioned Free Holiday Republic, which offers free use of the bus service between Saas-Fee and its sister villages of Saas-Grund, Saas-Almagell and Saas-Balen, as well as money off activities such as curling and ice skating in town.