Verbier

Verbier is the headline resort of the Four Valleys and a magnet for strong skiers who come for its steep, wide open off piste. It pairs that serious mountain with one of the liveliest social scenes in the Alps.

The three free magic carpets. Televerbier's beginners page says it plainly: three magic carpets are free of charge, two in Verbier station itself at Les Esserts and Les Moulins, and a third over in La Tzoumaz. That is a lift a first timer can use with no pass of any kind, which is not a sentence you often get to write in Valais. Anybody who outgrows them moves on to the Verbier Station sector, the Les Esserts, Les Moulins and Le Rouge lifts, and that is chargeable.

Les Esserts sledging area. One of only two official sledge runs in the whole ski area and the only one that costs nothing. It is a dedicated zone for children and beginners with the free conveyor belt running up beside it, so a small child goes up and down all afternoon and nobody has to carry a sledge uphill. The tourist office answers the obvious question in its own FAQ: there is no fixed price for the carpet lift at Les Esserts, because it is free.

The Parc de Loisirs ice rink. Free to get on the ice, in the middle of the village, and it is three things rather than one: an open skating area, an ice path you can simply stroll along, and a mini hockey area with a soft puck and small goals. A bistronomic buvette sits beside it doing hot food, and there is a giant trampoline next to the rink. Standard ice hockey is kept off the ice for safety, which is why the mini version exists.

The La Tzoumaz ice rink. An outdoor rink on the central square in the middle of La Tzoumaz, free to skate on, and it opens a full week before the Verbier and La Tzoumaz ski season starts. For an early December stay that makes it the first thing on the list. Skates come from Monnet Sports at five francs an hour.

The seven free shuttle lines. TMR runs seven station shuttle lines in Verbier, numbered one to seven, linking the neighbourhoods, the lifts, the activity hubs and the tourist zones, and its own French page puts it in five words: les navettes de station sont gratuites. No card, no pass, no ticket, and the tourist office confirms they run all year. Line 1 goes towards Savoleyres and line 2 towards Le Hameau and Les Esserts, which between them cover most of what is in this file.

Getting up from Le Chable. Two ways up from the valley floor and they cost the same. The Le Chable to Verbier gondola is classified as public transport, so half fare cards, GA and route travelcards are all valid on it, and it runs from about a quarter past five in the morning until nearly midnight. Bus route 12.251 covers the same twenty minutes and is free to anybody holding a valid Verbier 4 Vallees ski pass. The gondola drops you at Medran, the bus at Station Poste on the central square.

The valley buses and the Sarreyer cable car. The Champsec to Sarreyer cable car is free outright. The tourist office says the journey is free, noting that it is primarily there for the people who live in Sarreyer and that visitors may use it, and that bicycles are not carried. In winter the Verbier 4 Vallees annual and season tickets also carry you on route 12.252 up to Bruson and route 12.253 down the Val de Bagnes through Lourtier and Fionnay to Mauvoisin, which is how you reach the Sarreyer cable car in the first place.

The twelve marked snowshoe routes. Twelve routes published with distances, times and climbs one by one: St-Christophe, Les Ruinettes to the Cabane Mont Fort, La Marlene, Clambin, La Crevasse, Bruson to La Cot, the Bisse des Ravines, the Boucle de Champsec, Lourtier to Posodziet to Champsec, Le Levron to the Col du Tronc and the Col du Lein, La Grange a Tienne Oeudan, and Champsec to Lourtier. Several of them start in a village and need no lift at all.

The five family winter walks. Five are published and the thing that separates them is whether you need a lift. Sonalon to La Marlene is 1.3 km and thirty five minutes with 130 m of climb, past the Mayen du Bry with benches on the way and Verbier laid out below. Suzette the Cow is a children's treasure hunt with eleven stations over an easy 1.5 km, the map comes from the tourist office and there is a small gift at the end for anybody who finishes it. The 3-D Sculpture Park runs from Les Ruinettes to La Chaux and back, 2.2 km at around 2,200 m with only 21 m of climb, with the Verbier 3-D Foundation's outdoor sculptures standing along the way.

The VIP Pass, and what a winter guest gets instead. Verbier's guest card is called the VIP Pass and it is genuinely generous. It is free, it arrives with the tourist tax as a digital Mobile Card issued by your hotel or agency, and it carries pedestrian sections on Le Chable to Verbier, Verbier to Les Ruinettes, Les Creux to Savoleyres, La Tzoumaz to Savoleyres, Le Chable to the Mayens de Bruson and Moay to La Pasay, on a one night equals one day basis, plus both Verbier pools, the Verbier Library and the Musee de Bagnes.

The La Tzoumaz toboggan run. The serious sledge run here, from Savoleyres down to Les Etablons, and Televerbier calls it one of the longest in French speaking Switzerland with the Rhone valley opening out in front of you. It is steep in places and is written up for good sledgers rather than for a family potter, so this is the one for the confident half of the group. At the bottom a shuttle bus runs you back to the cable car station in La Tzoumaz, and sledges are hired either in the resort or at the top station at Savoleyres. Over 50 euros.

Mont 4 Zipline. Unusually for a zip line, this one genuinely runs in winter, and Televerbier says so in terms: accessible in winter and in summer whenever the Mont-Fort sector is open. You launch at 3,330 m from the top of Mont-Fort, cross above the Tortin glacier at up to a hundred kilometres an hour and are braked onto a platform at the Col des Gentianes. It is 1.4 km long with a 383 m drop, and at forty five francs for the ride it is the cheapest thrill on this mountain. 20 to 50 euros.

Dog sledding with TakiTrek at Les Ruinettes. TakiTrek and the ArcoMushing Team run three quite different outings from the top of the Les Ruinettes gondola at about 2,200 m, and the difference between them matters when somebody is booking. The Tour Panoramique is the one to pick if you want to sit in the sled and be driven: 5 km, about forty five minutes, with a stop halfway to take photographs and make a fuss of the dogs, and the Val de Bagnes and the Combins in front of you. Over 50 euros.

All 22 picks for Verbier, dining included, live in the Ski Snug app.

Geneva is a little over two hours away, and the Swiss trains run efficiently to Le Châble at the foot of the resort.