Adelboden Lenk

Adelboden is a picture-book Swiss village in the Bernese Oberland, wedged into a narrow valley with pastures rising on both sides. It hosts the Chuenisbärgli World Cup giant slalom every January, a race famous for its extreme steepness on a small hill. Beyond the marquee day, the resort links with Lenk into 210 km of piste largely aimed at intermediates and families. The village is old-Swiss traditional: wood chalets with painted flowers along the eaves, the Reformed church on a spur above the valley, cheese-making still going in the summer. It's an easy day-trip resort from Interlaken or Bern and a good week-long base too.