Revealed: The best last-minute ski holidays to book as the season draws to an end, from Switzerland to France
- There’s still time to strap on your boots and head to the slopes this spring
- Combine gastronomy and skiing at Austria’s Wein Am Berg food festival
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The ski season may be ending, but there’s still time to strap on your boots and head to the slopes. Try wine-tasting at the top of a glacier, visit the snow-safe pistes of the Matterhorn or grab a late-season bargain in Belle Plagne before the powder melts away.
Winter in the Austrian resort of Solden ends on a veritable high with Wein Am Berg – a wine and food festival staged partly at 11,000ft.
On the snow-sure glaciers Tiefenbach and Rettenbach, sommeliers from the Ice Q restaurant – which appeared in the James Bond film Spectre – serve some of Europe’s finest wines, all chilled on purpose-built snow bars with dramatic views across the mountains.
The experience includes a range of elegant, themed dinners at the five-star host hotel, Das Central, plus former world ski champions, including Frank Worndl, to guide guests on the slopes.
Three nights starting April 20 in a double room plus lift pass, ski guides, all meals and access to the festival costs £1,686pp based on two sharing (weinamberg.at/en).
Winter in the Austrian resort of Solden (pictured) ends on a veritable high with Wein Am Berg – a wine and food festival staged partly at 11,000ft
Flights to Innsbruck, just one hour by car from Solden, cost from £149 return.
Zermatt, with its high-altitude slopes dotted around the mighty Matterhorn and spanning the Swiss/Italian border, offers late winter snow with superb mountain restaurants.
Local guides ensure guests experience the best of the on- and off-piste terrain on this four-night trip hosted by Freshtracks, the tour operator arm of the Ski Club of Great Britain. Singles are welcome and annual adult ski club membership, necessary to join the trip, costs from £70. But it quickly pays for itself in membership benefits. Four nights’ B&B from April 27 at three-star Hotel City costs £999pp, including guiding and a Swiss Rail pass for transfers from Geneva or Zurich airports (skiclub.co.uk). Flights are extra, from £60 return.
Grab a late-season bargain and visit the ski-in, ski-out French village of Belle Plagne (above) before the powder melts away
Get your skates on for this mid-April holiday to Belle Plagne – one of the highest-altitude ski-in, ski-out villages in the Paradiski area, boasting links to the resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne.
The self-catering apartments of Les Constellations, situated in the heart of the pedestrianised resort, all enjoy sun-facing terraces or balconies.
Seven nights at a studio apartment starting April 15 costs a total of £390 (previously £487) for up to four adults sharing (pierreetvacances.com).
Return flights to Lyon, three hours away, from £60, car rental to drive to the resort from £235 (sixt.com).
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