Verbier Village

Verbier looks like picture-postcard chalet heaven from afar, but in town there's too much traffic and commercial development.

Unless it has just snowed three feet, Verbier never looks quite as good as you feel it should. The main reason is the traffic which roars up the hill through the centre, revving hard to cope with the gradient, dividing busy après ski areas and scaring pedestrians. It doesn’t compare well to the picture postcard view of town from Savoleyres on a sunny day, from where Verbier looks like a snow-laden chalet heaven. The effective one-way system at least allows the essential bus system to run well.

From La Place Centrale up to the Medran lift is Verbier's key street – it’s the route to the main pistes with good ski shops scattered between the bars and tea rooms that line both sides up to the lift station. Going down the hill from the central square are more shops and some accommodation. The entire area feels sufficiently swamped with English speakers that you might expect the statistics to be the opposite of the reality: 40% of Verbier's visitors are Swiss, with just 12% English.

The further you go from the centre of Verbier, the more traditional charm there is in the shape of big old chalets. Newer ones have also appeared, with some of the finest around the Savoleyres area dividing the old ski routes down into town.