Iglu Ski Celebrates World Car Free Day On Sunday September 22nd, Highlighting 9 Resorts Which Are Car Free.

A skiing holiday can really be made more peaceful when the constant intrusion of cars and trucks is effectively cut down to zero. In line with World Car-Free Day 2024 on Sunday the 22nd September, Iglu Ski has put together a useful list of those car-free ski resorts - and the key reasons why it matters.

France

(Parts of) La Plagne, 

La Plagne is made up of eleven villages overall, and two of its big ones - Belle Plagne and Plagne Bellecôte - are pedestrian-only. La Plagne is part of the esteemed Paradiski area, with glacier skiing, reliable snow conditions, and a fantastic range of slopes.

Avoriaz

One of the top sellers for a reason, Avoriaz offers outstanding skiing in the brilliant Portes du Soleil, and when you’re done for the day, you ski right back through the high street and to your accommodation.

Its car-free policy means the town centre really is like something from a Disney film, as people trundle along in their skis. The snow cover is also really strong - it’s a purpose-built resort 800m up from its older sibling Morzine, and has an altitude of 1,800m.

Valmorel

This quaint resort is a good pick for beginners and intermediates. You can expect good snow conditions in Valmorel as it is only ‘round the corner from the snow sure Three Valleys.

As a quieter pick than there, you can enjoy much of the same lovely food and drink on its gorgeous cobbled high street - but for a much more affordable price.

Flaine

A funky resort with lots of brutalist architecture, this 1960s purpose-built village is part of the brilliant Grand Massif ski area.

Flaine has two public funiculars which run for 24 hours a day at either end of town. These connect the higher and lower parts of the village, rendering cars meaningless for your stay.

Austria

Serfaus

This is a smaller resort than most, but it’s home to a world-record piece of infrastructure - the shortest, highest-located underground train. It makes four stops, beginning at the car park in the east, then the Church area, the town centre, and finally the cable car station in the west.

Serfaus is a great pick for a family resort, with plenty of activities going on for the youngsters.

Oberlech

A beautiful satellite resort 200m higher than Lech, Oberlech’s high altitude and car-free nature means pretty much every accommodation is ski-in, ski-out.

The resort is brilliant for intermediates, while beginners and advanced skiers won’t feel left out either.

Switzerland

Zermatt

One of the most famous resorts devoted to pedestrians, Zermatt is nestled cosily under the imperious Matterhorn (the Toblerone mountain!). Drivers park 7km away before jumping on a rustic train up to the resort, taking in some of Switzerland’s most stunning views.

The train also goes all the way up to the Gornergrat peak, where you can see the glacier right in front of you. The skiing is also extensive and top quality, with easy links over the border into the Italian resort of Cervinia.

Saas-Fee

A neighbour to Zermatt, Saas-Fee is known as the “Pearl of the Alps” - and for good reason. It’s got a glacier above, and has a lovely shell-shaped bowl for plenty of cruising.

It has one long main street, and a good choice of bars, restaurants and après to enjoy inside its pedestrian-focused town.

Wengen

Another quaint Swiss town, Wengen is a glorious place for beginners and intermediates. It shares a top-quality ski area with neighbour Grindelwald, and has a train station to serve the town.

There’s plenty to do in this car-free village, including tennis, squash, swimming and a trip to the cinema - aside from the usual food and drink establishments and après fun.

Why do car-free resorts make for a better holiday?

There are three key ways a ski holiday could improve if you visit a car-free resort.

• Eliminates the risk of collisions. This will resonate particularly strongly with young families. If you’ve got energetic youngsters to look after, the last thing you need to worry about is them running into a road and getting hit. As dark as this sounds, the icy, skiddy conditions of the mountains will always be on your mind. In a car-free resort though, you can let the children run free and enjoy their snowball fights with no fear of an out-of-control car coming on. Much more space is given back to both people and nature.
• Pollution levels will be much lower Cars - particularly combustion engines - produce emissions which not only impact climate change on a global level, but also harm local health. The combination of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and other serious diseases. Older cars are bigger culprits in general - and newer, electric cars are certainly a huge improvement in this department. That’s not to say ski resorts tend to be the most polluted places on earth - very far from it in fact. But every little helps…
• It will bring a sense of tranquillity that the mountains deserve When the cars go, so does the constant chug of engines and huge metal boxes swerving about. When the cars are left behind at the car park at the start of the resort, there’ll be no ugly sights of vehicles pulled up on pavements and huge 4x4s pulling up to lift stations.

That serene mountain landscape will really feel like one, and you can let the landscape do its thing to help you relax and enjoy your time away.