the times Saturday May 28 202238 Travel
Refuge de la Traye, above the French resort of Méribelsite zip line, archery and e-biking, with
lots more to do in the valley below.
Details Seven nights’ half-board for a
family of four from
£1,071pp (refugedelatraye.com). Take the
train to MoûtiersSchubert in the
Bregenzerwald
Music fans, lend me your ears. There
are still places available at the world’s
finest Schubert festival, courtesy of this
week-long guided tour from the
cultural travel specialists Kirker.
Based in Bregenzerwald in Austria,
you’ll attend five concerts at the
Schubertiade Schwarzenberg,
with the BBC broadcaster and
journalist Oliver Condy your
expert guide. Among the
highlights are the Viennese
maestro Elisabeth Leonskaja
playing the mercurial “Reliquie”
piano sonata and the young star
Konstantin Krimmel singing
Winterreise. Ravishing walks
through the foothills of the Alps add to
the allure. You’ll be staying in the four-
star Gasthof Krone in nearby Hittisau.
Details Seven nights’ half-board from
£2,849pp, including flights and concerts,
departing on June 19 (kirkerholidays.com)Climbing and yoga
in the Val di Mello
Don’t just look at the Alps, on this
five-day trip you’ll feel them beneath
your fingertips as you learn the basics
of rock-climbing in the Val di Mello
Natural Reserve in Italy. Thanks to the
many granite cliffs the valley is known
locally as Little Yosemite, but don’tThe best of Mont Blanc
WSeven-hour train journeys via Paris
bookend this Mont Blanc highlights trip
— it’s the perfect excuse to put your feet
up before and after a moderately
strenuous, unrelentingly magnificent
week of guided hiking above Chamonix.
On five-day trips from a shared chalet
you’ll cherry-pick the best bits of the
Tour du Mont Blanc circuit, walking six
or seven hours on each one and climbing
2,500-3,000ft. This is not especially
demanding terrain, but the sight of that
snow-capped, 15,773ft (4,809m) monster
will make every footstep epic.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from
£1,548pp, including rail travel
and most meals (exodus.co.uk)
La Plagne flying lessons
One of the most mind-boggling
mountain experiences is a tandem
parapenting flight accompanied by an
experienced pilot. Once you’re airborne
the steep slopes drop away and suddenly
you’re thousands of feet in the air. In
the French resort of La Plagne you can
deepen the thrill by learning how to
handle one of these giant kites yourself.
The five-day course of seven-hour
lessons starts on terra firma — with
solo flights feasible by the end (£515,
parapente-la-plagne.com). Book one
of the comfortable apartments in the
Résidence Lodges 1970, Plagne Centre.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for
four from £145pp (laplagneresort.com).
Take the train to Aime-la-Plagne
Mountain bikes and
mindfulness in Les Gets
Your bike-mad brood will love you for
taking them to the French resort of Les
Gets. Not only is it home to a legendary
mountain-bike park, but they’ll also
receive top-level tuition at the Les Gets
Bike School (five three-hour lessons
£157pp, including lift pass, lesgetsbike
school.com). Then, once you’ve waved
them off, you can sneak back to the hot
tub at your chic Marmottes Suisses
apartment, or perhaps join a guided
walk and Pilates lesson on the forested
peaks above the village (from £10pp,
facebook.com/lesgetsenergym).
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for
four from £256pp (chalets1066.com).
Fly to Geneva
Sustainable St Anton
Looking for a low-impact summer
holiday that’s as lush and green as an
Alpine meadow? Then catch a train to St
Anton. The journey, via Paris and Zurich,
isn’t cheap (£180, raileurope.com), but in
only 13 hours it will deliver you to
Austria’s soaring Arlberg and a resort that
generates all its own electricity (courtesy
of the Kartell hydroelectric plant). The
luxe modernist Hotel Arlmont adds the
finishing touches, with its solar panels
and dramatic rooftop pool. The nearest
mountain lift is next door, with big hikes
(or gentle rambles) beyond.
Details Half-board doubles
from £173pp (arlmont.at)
Take milk and hay
baths above Méribel
There’s a lot more to the spa at the
Refuge de la Traye than a sauna and
some massages. Above the French
resort of Méribel, at an altitude of
5,400ft, this secluded collection
of chalets offers a rustic vision
of luxury, up to and including its hay and
milk baths. Meanwhile, more active
members of the family will enjoy the on-
clear your plates after each (substantial)
meal. But in return, you get an action-
packed mountain holiday that includes
all your food, equipment and guiding.
Take its Argentière hostel: here, in one
of the world’s most exciting mountain
playgrounds, you can sample four
separate activities in a six-day blast of
adventure — climbing, Alpine hiking,
rafting and mountain biking. Anyone
aged 18 to 45 is welcome.
Details Six nights’ all-inclusive from
£560pp (action-outdoors.co.uk).
Fly to GenevaPure air in Arosa
No matter how good your hotel’s spa,
you’ll never get the full benefit of
a mountain holiday unless you head
outdoors. So the Tschuggen Grand in
Arosa has wisely developed a Moving
Mountains programme, which takes the
search for wellbeing into the open air
of Switzerland. As well as relaxing into
one of its signature Immune Recovery
full-body massages (£170), you can join
a mountainside yoga session, take a
guided hike or go swimming in one of
the lakes. Meanwhile, back at base, the
hotel’s hypnotic indoor-outdoor pool
awaits, with a waterfall cascading
down its rippling stone wall.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from
£2,235pp, including flights
(momentumski.com)A bike enthusiast’s
dream stay in Austria
Opened in 2015, Solden’s Bike Republic
has become one of the Alps’ mightiest
mountain-biking hubs. And it’s not just
for experts: two of its dozen purpose-worry — you won’t be attempting a mini
El Capitan. From your base at the
Rifugio Luna Nascente mountain hut
you’ll tackle easy, top-roped routes
and boulders. Even better, you’ll be
mixing your aerial gymnastics with
four serene outdoor yoga classes.
Details Four nights’ full board from
£794pp (slow-adventure.com).
Fly to Milan or BergamoOn foot in the Bernese
Oberland
For visual punch, nothing in the Alps
quite matches the northern faces of
the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
Here it appears Mother Nature
made her mountains simply by
swinging a giant axe and dusting
the sheer-sided peaks with
snow. This wall of rock will be
your visual companion for five
days on this self-guided,
Switzerland High Route hike,
during a series of big walks from
Grindelwald to Kandersteg. Car-free
Mürren is the prettiest stop, and the
final ten-mile hike — up 4,700ft to
cross the Höhturli Pass — the biggest
challenge. En route you’ll stay in one
mountain guesthouse and a range of
three and four-star hotels.
Details Seven nights’ half-board
from £1,595pp, including rail travel
from London (inntravel.co.uk)Affordable Alpine
adventure in France
Three cheers for the UCPA, France’s
champion of affordable adventure
sport. Yes, OK, you sleep in dorms
(usually for four to six people) andTrack bears in
the Slovakian Tatras