Sunniest Ski Resorts in Europe & Canada

Who doesn’t love a blue bird day on the slopes?

France – Alpe d’Huez

Alpe d'Huez is known as the “Island of the Sun” and has earned a reputation for being the ski resort with the most days of sunshine, with more than 300 sunny days a year. The resort is on a fully south-facing plateau at 1860m and is surrounded by a snow bowl with masses of sunny skiing. If you’re a sun worshipper, we suggest visiting in April when you’re likely to get up to 11 hours of sunshine. Enjoy lunch and après in the beautiful sunshine – but make sure you watch out for that goggle tan!

Italy – Dolomites – Val di Fassa

Tucked beneath the famous Rosengarten (“rose garden”) in the Dolomites lies Val di Fassa, it’s up there with Alpe d’Huez as one of the sunniest ski regions in Europe and certainly the sunniest in the Italian Alps with more than 300 sunny days every year. It's on the Sella Ronda circuit – part of the Dolomiti Superski, Europe’s largest ski area. With over 1200 km of pistes on your doorstep, a week spent in Val di Fassa, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the famous Italian hospitality, is time well spent.

Andorra - Soldeu

Soldeu has a reputation for offering wide, sunny slopes – it’s sandwiched between Spain and France in the Pyrenees mountains and so it gets a fair bit of sun. Sunny Soldeu is a great spot for beginners -skiing is hard enough without having to battle weather conditions too, so the wide, sunny slopes are welcomed here. After a long day on the slopes we recommend enjoying some tapas in the resort bars and restaurants – where else can you get true Spanish tapas on the slopes?

Canada – Banff Sunshine Village

It’s in the name. Banff Sunshine Village is part of the ‘SkiBig3’ ski area in Banff National Park. It’s location in the heart of the Canadian Rockies and high altitude village means that snow is never a problem here. Up to 9 metres of snow falls in a season, which lasts from early November to late May – that’s 7 months of amazing snow and skiing. Visit the Sunshine village later in the season, and you’ll have temperatures of as high as 9 degrees. And the heat doesn’t stop there, even the bubble lifts are heated in Banff – now that’s luxury!  

Austria - Obergurgl

Otherwise known as the ‘Diamond of the Alps’, Obergurgl enjoys guaranteed snow -  thanks to its high altitude, you can ski up to 3082m! Snow conditions are usually great well into May – so you can rest assured you’ll still have good conditions for some spring skiing in the sunshine. Obergurgl is a great resort for families – and with sunshine, snow and skiing you’re sure to have a successful family trip.

Switzerland – Zermatt

Talk about sunshine skiing – Zermatt takes it to the extreme. Skiing is possible all year round, with the highest and largest summer ski resort in Europe. You can ski 365 days per year on Theodul glacier on the 3,883m high mountain Klein Matterhorn. During the summer, 21km of red and blue slopes are open - offering perfect skiing, especially in the early morning, when the sun is not too blazing on the glacier yet. But even in the winter months, the spring skiing is great due to the high altitude glacier skiing. Ski over to Cervinia for a day to enjoy some Italian sunshine and some tasty (and cheaper) Italian cuisine.