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Ogling row-on-row of mountain boutiques, passing windows full of the latest trends, who cares about the skiing when they’re sauntering into Prada? Long gone are the days when resorts were just somewhere to hit the slopes. Behold, a list of the places you can shop as hard as you ski… or forego a lift pass altogether (unless you want to flaunt the latest in ski glamour on the piste).
Some rival Saville Row and Bond Street for unbridled spending: pack your purse with the local currency – if it bursts, buy another – and swan about in the finest couture. Others will see you suited and booted with pennies to spare – forget Black Friday, the January sales or Easter weekend bargains, it’s a savvy spender’s dream every day of the season in the duty free resorts.
Top 10 Ski Resorts for Shopping
As the town Karl Lagerfeld once decked with Chanel cable cars, you know Courchevel’s shopping pedigree’s going to be impeccable. Head to 1850’s multi-brand, Avenue Montagne, for skiwear worthy of Mrs Beckham or the Rue du Rocher for seriously slick jewels (think Bulgari or Graff Diamonds). The shopping quarter here isn’t all Cartier, you’ll also find plenty of smaller, more humanly affordable treats – the hand-crafted chocolates at Piste Noir are well worth saving your pocket money for.
A full-time mountain town, Banff’s bursting with familiar, trans-continental stores like Gap and The Body Shop. But look and ye shall find nooks of a much more off-the-wall, local flavour. The Banff Indian Trading Post’s apparently the oldest joint in town, purveying one-of-a-kind native handicrafts (always wanted a set of peace pipes?). Another local quirk and a staple in many of Banff’s clothing stores, Qiviuk’s a wool made from the musk ox: soft, warm, and fine enough to tempt Jason back onto the Argo.
Fashionistas - you haven’t died and gone to sartorial heaven on the Via Serlas, you’re just on the highest, and perhaps most timeless shopping street in Europe. The usual household names: Gucci, Chanel, and Louis V are inevitably here for “essentials”… but the area’s also a warren of little home-ware boutiques, wineries, and delicatessens for the choicest of treats: caviar, homemade coffee, or just a (not-so) simple slice of Hanselmann’s Engadine nut-torte.
It’s no secret that the Italians spend weeks here without actually touching a ski-pole. Not that the skiing’s subpar - it’s just that, for some, the time’s better spent perusing the rails of local shops. We can see their point. The famous Corso Italia’s the Kings Road of ski resorts – a hotbed of modish boutiques like Le Noir, Franz Kraler and Ballantyne. Brace yourself for hours of beautiful jewellery, antiques and even highbrow art.
Synonymous with the international jet-set, with its very own Fashion Week, retail therapy’s of the highest order for many visitors to Aspen. It balances big names like Burberry and Ralph Lauren with artisanal stores like Alpen Antiks (who sell Black Forest antiques) and 15 sports shops to get suited and booted for the slopes - there’s clearly good reason for the personal shoppers here. Worry not about losing yourself to the shelves, you’ll find a brace of art galleries (with old-masters like Rembrandt and Renoir in the Galerie Maximillian) to add substance.
Rumour has it Livigno has VAT free shopping because it was too far for the taxman to travel. Whatever the reason, we’re not complaining – if you’re willing to travel the extra mile (access is a lot easier these days), it means over 250 duty-free shops, boutiques, and delis in the massive open-air shopping centre. Pick up some of the cheapest vino you’ll ever set eyes on at Paul’s Delikatessen, or a pair of statement sunnies at Ottica Cuisini. With your remaining wealth, cross the border to extravagance on St.Moritz’s Via Serlas.
Pitching itself to the rich and the famous – Crans is home to the largest luxury shopping area in the Alps… and what a shopping area it is: wall-to-wall designer brands (of the Hermès and Prada variety) and emporiums like The Vintage Gallery, where shopping’s conducted “by appointment”. Try not to gape watching David create his fabulous edible artwork in L'Instant Chocolat (it's free to watch, but we've never had the self-discipline not to invest in some afterwards...).
Despite its glamorous persona, Kitzbuhel’s as much about the medieval structures that house Louis V and Cartier as the diamond-brands themselves. Haute-couture meets hand-crafted in this historic mining town, where you’ll find quarries of traditional goods: locally crafted woodcarvings and ceramics. Go all-out Austrian with a Dirndl or pair of Lederhosen from Eden or Sport Alm.
We’re convinced pistols have been fired at dawn on Breck’s Main Street, a double row of vibrant, wooden saloons from Victorian days. If John Wayne ever sat sipping whisky in them, he does no longer - today they’re the storefronts of 200 big ski brands, bookshops and art galleries. Keep a weather eye out for hometown stores like Vintage Sweet & Chic or the Swan Mountain Christmas shop for unique souvenirs to bring the cowboys and girls back at home…
For many, duty free status is the pearl of Andorran ski holidays. Ok, Pas’s Carrer de Sant Jordi isn’t Bond Street by any stretch, but your money’s going to go a lot further here. Try the hulking Olympia department store on Avenida d’Encamp for a bargain on perfume, well-known ski brands, jewellery and cameras. Seasoned bargain hunters should take the 30 minute bus to the capital, Andorra La Vella, for savings to make the eyes prick (3 Euro bottles of Grand Marinier aren’t unheard of).
Best ski resorts for shopping
| Resort | Best features |
|---|---|
| Courchevel | Designer brands galore, with heated streets & Michelin-starred restaurants between them |
| Banff | Proper mountain town with high street shops & charming Rocky Mountain stores |
| St Moritz | Via Serlas = highest shopping street in Europe, big designer names, charming boutiques |
| Cortina | Corso Italia with designer brands, independent boutiques & antiques stores |
| Aspen | International fashion brands, independent local stores & art galleries |
| Livigno | Over 250 VAT-free shops to explore |
| Crans Montana | Biggest luxury shopping area in the Alps |
| Kitzbuhel | Gorgeous medieval town with shops selling goods from international designers & local artisans |
| Breckenridge | Great mix of stores on the western style Main Street |
| Pas de la Casa | Duty free shopping nation, shops in resort & 30 minutes away in the capital |
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