Courchevel, France
The swishiest ski resort in the Trois Vallees, Courchevel is about as louche as high altitude antics can get. Perfectly groomed pistes wiggle through snow-dusted pine-woods, past gourmet mountain restaurants to meet a town centre filled with designer boutiques and Bentleys. But it wasn’t always the case, before the oligarchs arrived, this was a popular resort with the Brits and French for its superb, multilevel skiing, which, with eye-watering investment in snow machines and piste maintenance, just keeps getting better. Having fully embraced Courchevel’s piste-side parade of tiered seafood platters, Champagne coupés and general Michelin-starred, moneyed madcappery, skiers can snow plough into their chalet backdoors, or the plush ski lounges of the resort’s curiously varied hotels for a deep tissue take on après.
Belmond Train Journeys
Luxury train travel conjures up glamorous images of a bygone era. Belmond’s legendary trains provide a route into that Golden Age framing with renewed verve.
Enjoy breathtaking, untouched landscapes aboard the Royal Scotsman, take a whistle-stop tour of some of Europe’s most-loved cities on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, or dine in style on the Andean Explorer as it works its way across the Andean highlands. Whichever journey you choose, it’s sure to be unforgettable.
