The modern resort does not have a huge amount of architectural charm to shout about, but its location on a sunny 'balcony' with superb views of the Alpes Vaudoise is a great natural asset.

Leysin traditionally took a large chunk of the schools and students market, with educational establishments of its own on its lower slopes and school parties arriving on holidays from across Europe. This youthful attitude was no doubt a major factor in the early growth of snowboarding in the area. During the '90s however, Leysin built another reputation as a conference venue, with excellent facilities for this type of event.

In the current era of high altitude super resorts and snow making, Leysin, rather like Crans Montana, has to pull off a bit of a marketing trick by both promoting the fact that it has a wonderful, sunny, south facing position making it a delightful place to take a holiday, but also counter-acting the train of thoughts this starts in the skier's mind, Hmmm, south facing, sunny, not a huge altitude... Crans Montana, which has a higher base and slopes a thousand metres higher and a glacier, now plays down its sunny reputation, but Leysin is still proud to shout about it.

Though Leysin is a resort that is best suited for beginners, there is some cracking terrain for both intermediate and expert skiers and snowboarders. Though the altitude isn’t the highest and the resort is south facing, if you are in need of some better snow, one of Europe’s top year round ski centres, the glacier at Les Diablerets only half an hour away and is included on your pass.

Leysin is also linked - by lift - to the Diablerets village, Villars and Gryon. This means that you have access to a vast array of terrain. Leysin itself has some great runs and a separate nursery area within the village. The lower pistes are wooded, however, the higher areas are made up of wide fast runs that are mainly blues and reds.

For the freestylers out there, Leysin does have a terrain park that offers you a number of jumps and a halfpipe.

The Highlights

- Wonderful sunshine
- Vast array of pistes
- Les Diablerets glacier is nearby
- Stunning views

For more resort profiles click here. Or, to find a good transfer company to take you to Leysin click here.

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