Should you choose Courchevel or St. Moritz?
Courchevel or St. Moritz? For a ski week, Courchevel: you ski from the hotel onto 150 kilometers of runs, and 600 with the lifts into Les 3 Vallées. Choose St. Moritz when the skiing is one part of the week and the rest is the lake, the races and the town.
Courchevel is built for skiing from the door. Its own runs are about 150 kilometers, per the tourist office, and Les 3 Vallées links it to the neighboring valleys for 600 kilometers in all. The hotels at Courchevel 1850, the highest of its villages, sit on the slopes.
St. Moritz spreads its skiing across the valley: Corviglia, the mountain above the town, has 155 kilometers, and the Upper Engadin has 350 across nine areas, per the lift company. The lift ticket covers the local buses and trains between them. One hotel, Suvretta House, has its own lift onto Corviglia. What it has that Courchevel does not is a winter calendar: polo and horse racing on the frozen lake, and the Cresta Run, a toboggan run with a school for first-timers.
How do Courchevel and St. Moritz compare?
| Courchevel | St. Moritz | |
|---|---|---|
| Season | December 4, 2026 to April 18, 2027, per Courchevel | Corviglia opens November 28, 2026, per the lift company; closing not yet published |
| Skiing | About 150 km; 600 km in Les 3 Vallées | 155 km on Corviglia; 350 km in the Upper Engadin |
| Highest lift | 3,230 m in Les 3 Vallées | 3,303 m on Corvatsch |
| Adult 6-day pass | €385 Courchevel, €421 Les 3 Vallées, high season; six days for the price of five | Priced by date, from CHF 55 a day; CHF 55 a day fixed for guests of partner hotels, per Snow-Deal |
| From the airport | Geneva 179 km, about 2 hours, per the tourist office; Courchevel has its own altiport | Zurich by train, about 3 hours, per St. Moritz; private flights land at Samedan |
| Michelin stars | 7 restaurants, 11 stars, per Courchevel, including three at Le 1947 in Cheval Blanc | Not published by the town |
When is St. Moritz the better week?
Late January to late February, when the lake is in use. The Snow Polo World Cup runs on the frozen lake January 22 to 24, 2027, and White Turf, horse racing on the ice, races on February 7, 14 and 21. The Cresta Run opens December 17, 2026, and a first-timer can ride it: the beginner school is CHF 700 for five rides, riders must be over 18, per the club.
St. Moritz also suits a group where not everyone skis. The town and the lake give the non-skiers the day, and the Upper Engadin lift tickets include the local trains and buses.
When is Courchevel the better week?
Any week the skiing is the reason, and especially for a strong skier. Six days on the 3 Vallées pass reach more terrain than you can ski in a week. Over Christmas, Courchevel holds a women's World Cup night slalom on Tuesday, December 22, 2026, at the Stade Émile Allais, and celebrates its 80th season all winter, per the events page.
The room guides for Cheval Blanc Courchevel and Les Airelles name the room I'd book in 1850.
What else should you compare before a ski week?
In St. Moritz, the room guides for Badrutt's Palace and Suvretta House make the call. Outside the Alps, see Aspen or Vail and Niseko or Hakuba. The ski hotel room list has every hotel.