Spent a few nights in Villars in late January to confirm a few points that were nagging us from our visit in 2023. Our questions were mainly about how this resort stacks up when there is no powder, and was Villars as high-falutin as its reputation suggests? Those questions aside, our visit did once again highlight the joyous nature of taking a train right up into the heart of the action. Hard to find a more Swiss ski experience than taking a train to go skiing.

With no powder and a cruddy off-piste (despite some light snow falling), skiing wise the resort’s spectacular backdrop of high peaks is not quite enough to disguise the less than inspiring aspects of the terrain when the snow cover is sub-optimal. Short skiable verticals are the norm in the Villars sector, but with a few very pleasing exceptions. Overlooking the resort from Glacier 300 a few days later highlighted how low the terrain here is when compared to the higher peaks.

We do love the off-piste terrain in the Villars & Les Diablerets sectors when the snow is deep, and the lift system is top notch, but without the gnarly off-piste, the offering for more advanced riders feels somewhat limited if staying for a prolonged period. And when the sun shines, as the day gets older, there can be far too many people.

Staying near the commercial centre of Villars, only 300m from the railway station, we truly enjoyed taking the train up to Bretaye first thing in the morning and starting our ski day directly from the train platform. And with no ski routes back into the town centre skiable, downloading on the train proved just as pleasing.

Midweek during January, the crowds are slow to arrive, and the ski area can feel like your own private ski hill for the first hour or two of the day. Loading onto the massive Lac Noir-Chaux Ronde 8-seat chairlift with no one else in sight was amusing. Skiing the empty, perfectly groomed black piste down Petit Chamossaire was a sheer pleasure. Trundling down the valley trail to the gondola base near Villars town through varied terrain, and at times, alongside the train or car traffic lower down is one of those quintessentially Swiss ski experiences that we enjoy so much. If you can’t ski powder, it may as well be interesting!

Villars is a pleasant town but fails to provide a true ski village experience. It has the snooty, unapproachable vibe that afflicts a few Swiss alpine villages. There is some reasonably priced accommodation available, but its overall high-priced reputation shines through. Staying here reinforced our view that for powder seekers visiting the region, staying in the more relaxed, approachable Les Diablerets village is the better option. It allows for ease of access to Glacier 3000 when the weather and snow are in tune.

The important Barboleuse gondola from the Gryon sector wasn’t running during our visit, much to the bemusement of the locals. Not sure what the issue was, but it certainly would put a downer on staying in this sector (the valley trail to Gryon was open still). Overall the Gryon sector might be ok if you are staying in one of the many holiday houses with your own transport, but otherwise it seems to be a poor option for a ski holiday base compared to Villars. Gryon’s ski terrain & a few of its mountains huts can be good, but best access it from the Villars side.

In a future laden with warming winters, Villars Gryon Diablerets is one of several ski areas with potentially an ever-decreasing lifespan. Come here if you are chasing powder on a storm day midweek or want a classic Swiss train-accessed ski experience, it will be pleasant for sure. Otherwise there are better places to ski in these incredible mountains.

Unless you are into fancy over-priced, full of pretence hotel accommodation, from a purist ski experience in this part of Switzerland, given a choice between staying and skiing at Villars-Gryon or somewhere like the relatively unknown Eischoll-Unterbach, we would take Eischoll-Unterbäch any day of the week. Why? Less people, more affordable, authenticity, better snow, huge accessible backcountry, higher elevation, awesome powder. Check them out.

See our thoughts on the pros and cons of this ski resort via our Villars Gryon Diablerets overview page.
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The town of Villars is very pleasant; very expensive if you let it be; but fairly priced if you do a bit of looking about. We caught the train up to the ski hill first thing in the morning; it has a few stops along the trip so pay attention to which one you disembark at. The last stop was our destination and initially I liked the look of it but that changed the further we explored the resort. There are a lot of lifts and skiable terrain, but I don't think it is set out in any logical fashion. There is a very long, slow link chair ride between two seperate sectors, and you will get cold. The Powderhounds have some great photos of the off-piste skiing on the Villars main page, so I'm keen to go back when fresh snow is about but otherwise probably wouldn't bother. Skiing down the hill back to town is worthwhile, time it right and you can race the train.

Putin allegedly has a place here so keep your baton tips sharp they might come in handy!
See our video here

Trail maps are important to me. Not only do they set the tone of a visit to a ski resort, but more importantly perhaps, a trail map (or piste map if you prefer!) often defines whether I will visit at all. Sadly the Villars Gryon Diablerets trail map is so understated that I had put the resort on the review backburner for years. Turns out this ski resort is way more than I bargained for, and proved to be the most pleasant of surprises.

From anywhere in Switzerland, getting to the ski resort is simply a matter of trundling along the main railway line between Montreux & Martigny to stations at either Aigle (for Les Diablerets by train, or Villars by bus) or Bex (for Villars, Bretaye or Gryon by train) and then catching the relevant connection to your favoured destination. So very Swiss. The train station at Col de Bretaye is wonderfully located in the centre of the ski area right amongst the lifts & pistes. A nice learn-to-ski area is a few steps away, as is the Grand Chamossaire chair to take freeriders up to extreme steeps. Perfect.

Intermediates will particularly enjoy the valley descents into Les Diablerets, Vers l’Eglise, La Rasse, Villars & Gryon.

For us the best zones here are the off-piste lines from the Grand & Petit Chamossaire, backside of Meilleret, and the Chaux Ronde. If you want to ski classic Swiss Alps rural landscape, drop down from Chaux Ronde for the 600m vert down to La Rasse. Gorgeous on a sunny day.

The downside of the ski area is its relatively low elevation and the shortish skiable verticals of many lifts. Whilst 2-300m of vertical when powder skiing is (and was!) great fun, it pales into insignificance when compared to other nearby locations. Having said that, there are still long, long trails here, and we barely scratched the surface on the off-piste side of things. Plus it was a helluva lot of fun.

Restaurant wish, the ski resort is a ripper. Away from the usual self-serves dotting the place, a couple to try are the lakeside Restaurant Lac des Chavonnes and Restaurant L'Etable. Restaurant Lac des Chavonnes has some resident goats and a menu with several local trout specialties. Getting there involves a fun little journey down from the bottom of the Petit Chamossaire lift. A surface tow helps you get back up from the restaurant. Restaurant L'Etable (The Stable) has numerous resident donkeys & very cute sheep. Located in the Gryon sector, it is rightfully popular for its locally sourced, house-made cuisine. Honourable mention to Hotel du Lac for its tasty food & great service.

The villages at Villars & Gryon remain a mystery to me. I never went to them. Judging from the amount of people emanating from their direction it appears they are quite popular. Having stayed in the quant Les Diablerets village and utilised its proximity to Glacier 3000 for powder days, I see no reason to stay anywhere else (with one possible exception), but I promise to check them out next time I visit. The exception is the ski-in ski-out Hotel du Lac right in the heart of the Villars sector. A night here for a powder day certainly makes a lot of sense. And of course, as with everywhere here, one can take a train nearly all the way to it.

I bargained for a pleasant ski area where I would plop along from lift to lift, trail to trail, skiing easy groomers and enjoying the Swiss countryside. Whilst I got that, I hadn’t bargained on the deep powder, steep freeride, amazing dining, and fantastic ambiance of this resort. With a Magic Pass next season I may well return for further exploration.

Read more about the pros & cons of this ski resort on the Villars-Gryon-Diableret overview page.

See our video here