Champery is a cozy village in the south-west of Switzerland, in the French-speaking part of it. The resort, along with other 11 resorts, is part of the grand Port du Soleil skiing area. Tourists love Champery for access to 650 kilometers of the most diverse tracks, for the wonderful nature and for the authenticity.
It is one of the oldest ski resorts in Switzerland with a centuries-old history. The first hotel in Champeries, Hotel des Dents du Midi, was opened as early as 1857. The resort was revered by the aristocracy and crowned persons of the entire continent. Champery has not lost its charm to this day. Traditional chalets with carved balconies stretch along the main street, with a 1725 bell tower in the center.
Champery is located only 20 kilometers from Lake Geneva, it is the most easily accessible resort, it has long become a favorite “weekend resort” of the Swiss. Skiers of any skill level are sure to find their ideal slopes and slopes here.
How to get there
You can get to Champery by train from Zurich (3.5 hours) or Geneva (a little more than an hour) via Lausanne with a transfer in Monthey, from the station of which there is a bus almost every half hour (journey time – from half an hour to 40 minutes).
Skating area
There are slopes of all levels, so this resort is suitable even for those who have never skied.
Specifications
Altitude of the resort: 1055m
Skiing area: 1055m – 2300m
Number of lifts: only 51
– cabin – 9
– Armchairs – 15
– Bugelni – 27
Stable snow cover in Champer is observed during the height of the ski season, which begins in December and ends in April. The Champery resort is located in the upper part of the Viez River valley, in the very center of several ridges and valleys, at an altitude of 1053 meters above sea level.
More than half of the ski slopes in Champer fall into the easy category and have blue and green markings. Champery’s red ski slopes stretch for 246 km and only 58 km of tracks are intended for experienced skiers, as their color is black.
Already from these numbers it is clear that the resort is more oriented towards beginner skiers and amateur athletes with an average level of skiing. However, due to the large number of different tracks, you can find almost any conditions for skiing here. Within Champery itself, three main skiing areas can be distinguished, each of which has the same conditions and differs only in its exposure.
In addition to ski tracks of various levels of difficulty, Champer also has several modern snow parks with three half-pipes, four zones intended for bordercross and as many as nine fan parks. All tracks are 650 km long, and the length of the ski track of 12 km takes the leading places in terms of its scale.
Ski schools in Champer
The ski resort of Champery is ideally suited for beginner skiers and people who have never skied. After all, three ski schools operate on its territory: The French Ski School, Ecole de Ski et Snowboard Internationale, Ecole de Snowboard Emery. Moreover, only the first of them employs about 120 ski instructors.
In the high season, all ski schools are full of beginners who would like to take skiing and snowboarding lessons, so it is better to sign up in advance. Not only adults, but also children can learn the basics of downhill skiing here.
Both for the younger generation and for adults, the process of learning to ski downhill can take place in a general group or individually. If you don’t intend to spend all your savings on tuition, it is better to attend lessons in a group. For five days of such alpine skiing lessons, you will have to pay 200 CHF, although one lesson lasts about two hours. An individual lesson will cost a little more – 63 CHF per hour.
Accommodation options
Today, Champery offers vacationers ten hotels from two to four stars. There are also several luxury apartments and chalets in this resort town. Modern resort infrastructure only emphasizes the classic style of this mountain Swiss village.
Chalet Les Croix 3 star hotel
Offering free WiFi and mountain views, Chalet Les Croix is an apartment located in Champery , just 400 meters from Croix de Coulet Ski Lift and 1.3 km from Gran Paradis Ski Resort. Free private parking is available to guests. The area is popular for skiing and cycling.
The apartment has 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a dining area, a fully equipped kitchen, and a balcony with garden views.
A terrace is at guests’ disposal. Ski equipment hire and ski passes are available at Chalet Les Croix.
Planachot is 6 km away, and the Marcheson ski lift is 10 km away.
The Lodge by Mrs Miggins 4 star hotel
Located in the Chablais Alps, Hotel Champéry by Mrs Miggins offers spacious, luxuriously furnished apartments with free Wi-Fi, wooden floors, cable and satellite TV. The main cable car is 300 m away.
Some apartments at Lodge Champéry have a hot tub and the garden has barbecue facilities.
From Champery you can reach Le Porte du Soleil, Europe’s largest ski area, which is 650 km away.
Champéry Lodge is a 5-minute walk from numerous bars, shops and restaurants. The lodge is located next to the Palladium Sports Center with a gym, swimming pools and ice rink.
Le White 4-star hotel
With panoramic views of the Danes du Midi mountain range, Hotel Le White is located at the entrance to the village of Champery in the middle of the huge ski resort of Porte du Soleil. Hotel Le White was completely renovated in 2015. It offers tastefully decorated rooms and suites with free Wi-Fi and free private parking.
After a day in the mountains, guests can relax in the Finnish sauna with its own outdoor sensory shower.
Hotel Le White is located in Champery in the Valais region, 100 meters from Champery Village Train Station and 800 meters from the Croix de Coulet Cable Car. In winter, a free bus stops 50 meters from the hotel.
Chalet le Petou 5 star hotel
Chalet Le Petou is located in Champeries, 200 m from the cable car and the central train station. A fitness center and barbecue facilities are available. The chalet windows offer a view of the mountains and the pool. Guests are provided with free Wi-Fi.
This 3-bedroom chalet has a living area, 7 flat-screen TVs and a fully equipped kitchen. The chalet also has 4 bathrooms, 3 with shower and 1 with bath.
Guests of the chalet can use the hot tub and sauna. Chalet Le Petou has a sun terrace and a garden where guests can relax, as well as a ski pass sales point and ski storage.
Lausanne is 62 km away and Geneva International Airport is 126 km away.
How much does it cost to stay in Champer
You can understand how much it costs to live in Champrera if you decide on the type of your accommodation, as well as the date of arrival in this ski area. As a rule, in the height of the season, the prices for accommodation in Champer are much higher than in the summer season. This is due to the large influx of tourists who enjoy skiing on the snowy slopes.
If you prefer an inexpensive stay in Champer, then you can choose an economy-class hotel with two stars. The average cost of a single room in it is 97 CHF, a double room – 180 CHF, and a triple room – 240 CHF per day.
A more comfortable atmosphere will be offered by the local hotel Le National. Here, in addition to a friendly informal atmosphere, guests will be able to enjoy new comfortable rooms with panoramic views of the mountains, as well as reasonable prices. If you book a room in this hotel for seven days or more, you will receive a 10% discount on accommodation.
When going to a ski resort with a large group or the whole family, it is best to book apartments for accommodation. They include not only rooms, but also full bathrooms and kitchens. The cost of living in such Champery apartments will cost within 300 CHF per day.
Entertainment and active recreation
There is a modern sports center with a large indoor skating rink (60x30m), a squash hall, a large indoor swimming pool (length of the path is 25 m), a fitness center, a solarium, a sauna and physiotherapy. Paragliding is also popular here – anyone can jump in tandem with an instructor. There are mountain skiing and snowboarding schools, there is a ski kindergarten. In Champer , there are 25 restaurants and cafes, a disco, more than 20 shops and boutiques.
Spa procedures in Champer
If there is time for a ride, then you need to find time to relax and improve your health.
You should come to the ski resort not only to ski the snowy slopes, but also to restore your vitality. And here exactly and in this situation, Champery SPA centers are suitable.
Thermes-Parc thermal complex is considered the most popular spa resort in Champer. On its territory, in addition to several indoor pools, there is one open one, which is heated during the cold season. The peculiarity of this institution is that all the water available on the territory of the complex is taken from the local river.
Each comfortable Champery hotel has its own spa center where you can enjoy relaxing treatments. The cost of SPA services in Champer depends on their type. To visit the thermal springs, an adult will need to pay 20 CHF per day, but you can also buy a subscription. A whole day in the SPA salon will cost everyone 130 CHF.
In the neighboring village, Val d’Hillet, there is a health park. On the territory of 110,000 square meters, there is a water and entertainment center, outdoor and indoor pools, steam room, hydromassage pool, massage and cosmetology offices, as well as a medical center. The spa center is located on three thermal springs, the water of which comes to the surface with a temperature of 20-32 ° C.
Restaurants and prices in Champer
There are 25 restaurants in Champer . There are also cafes, discos and more than 20 shops on the territory of the ski resort. The bulk of inexpensive restaurants in Champer are located in the center. They will give you the opportunity to try the legendary Alpine cuisine.
Lovers of refined and unconventional cuisine can visit the best Champery restaurant – Le Center et c21. The combined menu in it will cost everyone 85 CHF, risotto costs about 26 CHF, and the price of desserts varies from 15 to 18 CHF.
In the evening, some restaurants and bars offer tourists to taste the most exquisite cuisine, traditional and according to the latest fashion (molecular, on nitrogen). Naturally, the price for one such dish in Champery restaurants will be quite high.
If you prefer to dine in cheaper restaurants, then you should go to Champery Le Mitchell’s cafe, where the price for a plate of soup will NOT be more than 12 CHF, and the second course will cost between 17-20 CHF.
The best cafe in Champery is Bar des Guides, which is located at the Hotel Suisse. This place has become one of the most visited among Britons, Americans, Canadians and Scandinavians. Bar Mitchell’s is no less popular.
In order to better orient yourself in the local cuisine and the location of the most popular restaurants in Champery, it is better to read in advance the reviews of those tourists who have already managed to visit them.
History and modernity
The town of Champery , a classic Swiss mountain resort, is located at an altitude of 1,053 meters at the foot of the Dan du Midi (Midday) and Dan Blanc (White Tooth) mountains. The first hotel, Hotel des Dents du Midi, was opened here as early as 1857: guests have long been attracted by the beauty of the valley at the foot of the majestic mountain massif. In addition, Champery is only 20 kilometers from Lake Geneva, it is the most easily accessible resort, and has long become a favorite “weekend resort” of the Swiss. Traditional chalets with carved balconies stretch along the main street, with a 1725 bell tower in the center. It has already survived three churches (the last one is more like a huge sauna, lined with clapboards with a single crucifix decorated with fir branches), declared an architectural monument and flaunts itself on all postcards.
Especially since Champery is the only town in Switzerland where bells are still cast. In the center of the town there is a cemetery. At first glance, it is not a happy neighborhood, but on most gravestones there are mountains, the sun, the same Noon Tooth, ski slopes.
Eternity faces the mountains, among which life has passed. The cemetery here is part of the town, children play among the slabs, and on the bench near the bell tower, local residents meet the sunset. Goethe wrote that Switzerland combines “the colossal with the orderly.” Here and there are rows of tombstones and mountains in the last rays of the sun.
The town of Champerysmall: two streets, bars-shops, a monument to a cyclist, a library, a bench from the end of the 19th century that once stood near the Grand Hotel (a fragment of it was restored by the Grenon family and donated to the city in 2005), a spring with mineral water and posters in in gnarled wooden frames, placed all over the city: “Our History”, “Political Life”, “Agriculture”, “Smugglers”, “The Beginning of Alpine Skiing”. It is about this “beginning” that Champeri’s new era is based: in 1939, the first lift was built. in 1963 – a funicular on Planachaux (1800). Now a large 125-passenger car takes you to the top in five minutes, and the cabin of the old cable car is left as a memory near the high-altitude Plein Ciel ** hotel. The symbol of the new era is a huge sports complex with an indoor pool and a skating rink. If you stay in the best local chalets The Lodge / Champery at Mrs. Miggins, right next to the sports center, in the evenings you can watch hockey competitions in the huge windows, as if it were a hundred-meter plasma. The spectacle is unforgettable. Especially if you don’t just sit on the balcony, but lie in a huge barrel with warm water – they get to the residents of the first floor.
After climbing to Planachaux (1800), there are many mountain routes to choose from, but the most spectacular route leads to Avoriaz. Inconspicuously, you cross the border and find yourself in France. High 8-12-story buildings, sheathed from bottom to top with wooden panels, stand above the giant cliff. They grow out of the rocks, almost merging with them. Broken facades and roofs themselves shape the landscape. Some buildings stand on the edge of a 700-meter abyss, others are pressed against a steep stone wall. In this city – as a result of an architectural experiment of the 60s, there are no cars, everyone moves only on skis or on foot, total ski out – ski in. It is not for nothing that the famous fantasy film festival took place here for several decades: the style rhymed with the architecture. At the first festival in 1973, the Grand Prix for “Duel” went to an unknown Steven Spielberg. Luc Besson, James Cameron, Wes Craven, David Lynch began their triumphant march from the Alpine peaks.
For experienced skiers, the favorite slope of the Gate of the Sun is Pas de Chavanette – it is often called simply “Le Mur Suisse”, (“the Swiss wall”) – it is one of the steepest slopes in the world. Although it is only one kilometer long, the height difference is about 400 meters, and the slope is up to 50 degrees. The Gate of the Sun leads to endless route options. Who said that Switzerland is a small country? This is a big country. It’s just stretched not from side to side, but from the bottom up…”
