For plenty of skiers, the best part of the day starts when the lifts stop. Après-ski — the drinking, dancing and general refusal to take your boots off that follows a day on the mountain — is half the reason some resorts get booked out at all, and it is the one thing a piste map will not tell you about.
Some resorts do it better than others. Below are the twelve European resorts with the best après-ski for the 2026/27 season, and the specific bars worth walking to in each one — from the slope-side institutions of St Anton to the champagne terraces of Verbier.
The 12 resorts at a glance
- St Anton, Austria — the benchmark. Two legendary bars on the piste home.
- Ischgl, Austria — big-name concerts and a season-closing party of its own.
- Val d'Isère, France — La Folie Douce, and a wine bar for the morning after.
- Sölden, Austria — party until 3am without leaving the village.
- Verbier, Switzerland — smart, expensive and genuinely fun.
- Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria — the widest choice of bars of any resort here.
- Les Deux Alpes, France — young, loud and good value by Alpine standards.
- Zell am See, Austria — lakeside terraces and live bands most nights.
- Kaprun, Austria — glacier skiing and a long season to drink through.
- Flachau, Austria — traditional, boisterous and easy to reach from Salzburg.
- Serfaus, Austria — the one to pick if you have children in tow.
- Gerlos, Austria — small village, disproportionately large night out.
1. Après-ski in St Anton
If there is a single resort that defines European après-ski, it is St Anton am Arlberg. The skiing is serious — this is not a beginners' mountain — and so is the drinking, which begins on the piste and works its way down to the village over several hours.
Where to drink in St Anton
- MooserWirt — the most famous après-ski bar in the Alps, and it behaves like it. Sitting directly on the run home, it fills up from mid-afternoon with dancing on tables, trays of beer carried overhead and a sound system aimed squarely at people in ski boots.
- Krazy Kanguruh — a hundred metres further down the same slope and the long-standing rival, owned by the Olympic slalom champion Mario Matt. Slightly younger crowd, same principle. Both are on the piste, which means the ski down afterwards is a genuine consideration.
- Basecamp — at the bottom of the Gampen lift, and the sane option: live music, DJs, and somewhere to sit down and watch the sun go off the mountain before deciding whether to continue.
2. Après-ski in Ischgl
Ischgl has built a reputation on excess, and maintains it deliberately — the resort books stadium-scale acts for its opening and closing concerts, and the bars are sized to match. It is also high, snow-sure and connected to Samnaun across the Swiss border, so the skiing justifies the trip on its own.
Where to drink in Ischgl
- Trofana Alm — carved wood, traditional Tyrolean fittings and modern dance music at volume, which sounds like it should not work and does. Good food, too, if you need ballast.
- Kuhstall — next to the Silvrettabahn and reliably heaving. The DJ plays après-ski standards without irony and the room sings along.
- Pacha Ischgl — the late option. A proper club with international DJs and a dress code that rules out most of what you skied in.
3. Après-ski in Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère manages to be a serious ski resort and a serious night out at the same time. The village is linked to Tignes across the Espace Killy, the season runs long, and the après-ski spreads across everything from open-air stage shows to fireside wine lists.
Where to drink in Val d'Isère
- La Folie Douce — up on the mountain, and the reason a lot of people come. Live singers, dancers and DJs on an outdoor stage, with the whole terrace on the tables by mid-afternoon. It winds down in time for the last lift, which is the only thing keeping it civilised.
- Cocorico — at the foot of the Solaise, and the most straightforwardly enjoyable bar in the village. Live music, cold beer, a mixed crowd of seasonaires and holidaymakers all shouting the same choruses.
- Le Petit Danois — the Scandinavian favourite. Cheaper than its neighbours, easy to fall into conversation in, and the source of a great many regretted mornings.
- Le Blizzard — the grown-up choice: a hotel bar with a fire, a long wine list and no dancing on anything.
- Doudoune Club — the village's nightclub, for when the bars close and you have not.
The resort's own site has current lift opening dates and event listings: Val d'Isère tourist office.
4. Après-ski in Sölden
Sölden packs an unusual amount of nightlife into a fairly compact village, and has two glaciers behind it, so the season starts early and finishes late. The bars cluster along the main street, which makes an evening here a walk rather than a taxi ride.
Where to drink in Sölden
- Fire & Ice — right on the slope, and open from mid-afternoon until the early hours. If you only want one venue for the whole night, this is the one that will still be going.
- Philipp — the antidote: warm, wood-lined, and the right place for a beer or a mulled wine when you have no intention of dancing.
- Kuckuck — modern music, traditional room, popular with people who live there. A good place to start.
- Almrausch — the centre of the cluster locals call Sölden's Bermuda Triangle, which tells you most of what you need to know.
5. Après-ski in Verbier
Verbier is expensive and knows it, but it is not stuffy — the après-ski here is genuinely raucous, just with better champagne. The mountain is one of the most demanding in Europe and the crowd is thoroughly international.
Where to drink in Verbier
- Farinet Après-Ski Bar — repeatedly named one of the best après bars in the world, with live bands and a roof that opens. Fills from late afternoon and does not thin out.
- Le Rouge — a large terrace at the bottom of its namesake run, resident DJs, and a cocktail list that justifies the prices. Works as a long lunch or a full evening.
- Pub Mont Fort — the seasonaires' local since the seventies. Happy hour, nachos, a sunny terrace and no pretension whatsoever.
Lift and event information: Verbier tourist office.
6. Après-ski in Saalbach Hinterglemm
Saalbach Hinterglemm has more après-ski per square kilometre than anywhere else on this list. The Skicircus is a large, well-linked area, and the two villages between them hold everything from cow-shed bars to full nightclubs.
Where to drink in Saalbach Hinterglemm
- Goaßstall — the icon of Hinterglemm. A huge sun terrace facing the mountains for the afternoon, a DJ and a packed interior for the evening.
- Bauer's Schi-Alm — not one bar but several under one roof, from the gentle Kulimuuh-Bar to the distinctly less gentle Inferno. The sun terrace is the draw.
- Hinterhag Alm — up above Saalbach and the most traditional of the group: live music, schnapps and table-dancing from around four.
- Der Schwarzacher — beside the Unterschwarzachbahn, so you can click out of your skis and straight into it. Smarter than its neighbours, no less busy.
- Castello — Saalbach's late-night club, for the ones still standing.
7. Après-ski in Les Deux Alpes
Les Deux Alpes draws a young, international crowd and prices itself accordingly, which makes it one of the better-value party resorts in the French Alps. It also has the highest skiable glacier in Europe, so the snow holds when lower resorts struggle.
Where to drink in Les Deux Alpes
- Umbrella Bar — at the foot of the slopes with a retractable roof and DJs from lunchtime. The obvious first stop.
- PanoBar — up at 2,600m by the Jandri Express, with daily DJs and a view that does a lot of the work. Starts early in the afternoon.
- Smokey Joe's — bar, restaurant and live music venue, and the answer if you need a proper meal somewhere in the middle of the evening.
- Smithy's Tavern — friendly, busy, with a dance floor and regular live bands.
8. Après-ski in Zell am See
Zell am See is the prettiest resort on this list — a lakeside town below the Schmittenhöhe, with a glacier at Kaprun next door on the same lift pass. The après-ski is spread between slope-side huts and bars in the town itself.
Where to drink in Zell am See
- Crazy Daisy — several floors of bands and DJs and a terrace over the lake. The busiest room in town most nights.
- SchnapsHans Alm — on the mountain on the Schmittenhöhe, party from mid-afternoon, and a schnapps list you are meant to work through.
- Off Piste Bar — live music nightly and an international crowd; the best place here to actually dance.
- Pinzgauer Diele — traditional, warm and local, with proper Pinzgau food alongside the beer.
9. Après-ski in Kaprun
Kaprun sits beneath the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, which gives it one of the longest seasons in Austria, and shares its lift pass with Zell am See. The village is quieter than Saalbach or Ischgl but the bars are good and close together.
Where to drink in Kaprun
- Baumbar — the standout: a modern room with a sliding roof, equally comfortable for a quiet cocktail or a very late one.
- Pavillon — central, popular with locals, and the one most likely to still be dancing when the others have given up.
- Kitsch & Bitter — relaxed, good drinks, small plates. A sensible place to begin an evening.
10. Après-ski in Flachau
Flachau is part of the huge Ski amadé area and only about an hour from Salzburg airport, which makes it one of the easiest resorts here to reach for a short trip. The atmosphere is family-friendly by day and considerably less so from four o'clock.
Where to drink in Flachau
- Hofstadl — by the Starjet 1 valley station and locally reckoned the region's best après bar. Cosy hut one minute, full party the next.
- Dampfkessel — at the Spacejet 1 valley station, with a large open-air terrace and regular live acts.
- Musistadl — traditional, warm and built around live Austrian music rather than a DJ.
11. Après-ski in Serfaus
Serfaus is the resort to choose if the group includes children. It is car-free, has an underground air-cushion railway running through the village, and its après-ski is lively without being the kind you have to steer a seven-year-old around.
Where to drink in Serfaus
- Patschi Pub — just above the Komperdellbahn valley station and the centre of the action, with a DJ inside and a terrace outside.
- BamBam Bar — an open-air bar at Hotel Gabriela; drinks, snacks and a relaxed crowd of all ages.
- Praemontan — a lounge-style bar for a glass of wine or a mulled wine somewhere quiet.
12. Après-ski in Gerlos
Gerlos is a small village in the Zillertal Arena with a nightlife well out of proportion to its size. It draws a young crowd from across Europe, and the three main bars are close enough together to make a circuit of.
Where to drink in Gerlos
- Cin-Cin — the best-known bar in the village. Live music, a mix of locals and visitors, and the natural place to start.
- Luigi's Turbo Bar — loud, energetic and regularly hosting live acts. The Turbo shot is compulsory at least once.
- Little London — an English pub for a pint and a conversation before the volume goes up elsewhere.
Where to stay
In a party resort, the walk home matters more than the room. Staying within a few minutes of the bars — or of the run that ends at them — is worth more than an extra star, particularly in the larger areas where the nightlife is split between two villages.
Hotelgift's guide to the best winter sports destinations in Europe covers the resorts here in more detail, and a Hotelgift card can be spent on hotels in all of them.
Planning a UK ski holiday around après-ski
- February half term is the expensive week. It is the one school holiday that lands squarely in the best snow of the season, and prices in every resort here reflect that. The weeks either side of it, and mid-January, cost substantially less for the same conditions.
- Pick your airport before your resort. Salzburg serves Saalbach, Flachau, Zell am See and Kaprun; Innsbruck serves St Anton, Sölden, Serfaus, Ischgl and Gerlos; Geneva serves Verbier and Val d'Isère; Grenoble and Lyon serve Les Deux Alpes. Transfer times vary from under an hour to well over three, which is a real part of the cost of a short trip.
- Check what your booking protects. A package booked through a UK tour operator carries ATOL or ABTA protection; flights and accommodation booked separately do not. Worth knowing before a resort closes its lifts on you.
- Book après-ski for a group. The smarter bars in Verbier and Ischgl take reservations in high season and fill up. For a group of more than six, ring ahead.
The verdict
If you want the definitive version, go to St Anton and give MooserWirt an afternoon. If you want the party to be the holiday, Ischgl or Sölden. If you would like the skiing to be as good as the drinking, Verbier or Val d'Isère. And if you are travelling with people of several different ages and temperaments, Serfaus or Zell am See will keep everyone happy.
Après-ski FAQs
Which European resort has the best après-ski?
St Anton am Arlberg is the usual answer, and MooserWirt is the usual reason. Ischgl runs it close and does it on a larger scale, with concerts by internationally known acts at the start and end of the season. If you want the après-ski without the crowds, Saalbach Hinterglemm offers the widest choice of bars of any resort in the Alps.
Which ski resorts in Europe have the best nightlife?
Nightlife and après-ski are not the same thing. Ischgl, Sölden, Val d'Isère, Verbier and Les Deux Alpes all have proper late-night clubs that keep going after the après bars close. St Anton, by contrast, is famous for the afternoon rather than the small hours.
What time does après-ski start?
Around 3pm or 4pm, when the lifts stop running, though the slope-side bars in Val d'Isère, St Anton and Les Deux Alpes get going considerably earlier. On-mountain venues have to close in time for the last lift down, so they start and finish earlier than anything in the village.
What should I wear for après-ski?
What you skied in, in most places — ski trousers, a warm mid-layer and your boots are the standard uniform, and on-mountain bars expect nothing else. The exceptions are the late-night clubs in Verbier and Ischgl, where you will want to have gone back and changed.
Is après-ski suitable for families?
In the right resort, yes. Serfaus is built around families and its bars reflect that; Zell am See, Kaprun and Flachau all have early-evening entertainment that works with children. Ischgl and St Anton are not where you want to be at five o'clock with a pushchair.
Can you enjoy après-ski if you don't ski?
Easily, and plenty of people do. Most of the bars here are reachable on foot from the village, and the on-mountain ones — La Folie Douce, PanoBar, SchnapsHans Alm — can be reached by taking the lift up and back down as a foot passenger.
Are there alcohol-free options at après-ski?
Yes. Alcohol-free beer is standard across Austria and Switzerland now, and hot chocolate, alcohol-free mulled wine and fruit juices are on every menu. The atmosphere does not depend on what is in the glass.
What do people drink at après-ski?
Beer first, then schnapps. In Austria you will also be offered Jagertee — black tea with rum, sugar and spices, served hot and stronger than it tastes. Mulled wine is everywhere, and champagne is the house drink in Verbier and Val d'Isère.
Give a ski holiday, not a jumper
An Experiencegift gift voucher lets someone choose their own trip — a hotel in any of the resorts on this list, the flights to get there, or an activity once they arrive. You can personalise it with a photo and a message, send it by email or post it, and it is valid for two years, so a card given at Christmas comfortably covers next season.
They can spend it with any of our partner brands, and if you are buying for the December run-in, our Christmas gift vouchers are the same thing in seasonal packaging.