Luxury chalets for sale in the Swiss Alps. Swiss Alps. Villars: skiing, ecotourism and gastronomy Property prices
The Swiss Alps are one of the most sought-after resorts in Western Europe. This is where famous top models, show business stars, politicians and oligarchs come to ski.
Switzerland is a country that is famous not only for its highly developed and stable banking system, but also for all kinds of natural beauty. This is simply a unique area, combining the purest lakes, endless valleys, snow-capped mountains, covered with virgin forests. All this natural beauty is intertwined with magnificent architecture and works of art.
Real estate prices
If you are thinking about buying a home abroad, then you need to pay special attention to houses in mountainous areas. The cost of a chalet in the Alps will be quite high, since almost all the real estate in these parts is elite. However, this is an excellent investment of your money, as housing prices in this region are constantly rising.
If you have already decided to buy a chalet in the Alps, you should know that there are three most popular places to invest:
- chalet in the Austrian mountains;
- chalets in Swiss resorts;
- chalet in the French Alps.
The most elite housing, of course, is in Switzerland, so its cost will be significantly higher. Buying a chalet in the Alps is not so easy, even if you have money. Purchasing a house abroad is, in principle, a rather labor-intensive process, so it is better to entrust such work to professionals.
Is it necessary to resort to the help of intermediaries?
Our professional agency, which specializes in selling real estate abroad, has a high-quality website where you can see current offers and prices.
We advise you to contact our specialists to be confident in the transaction and not to “donate” a lot of money to scammers who put up non-existent living space for sale. Believe me, there are plenty of dishonest people out there. Why take such a risk? ATRealty works transparently and therefore provides guarantees.
Selling chalets in the Alps has become a very popular trend these days, because many want to buy a piece of paradise in an ecologically clean part of the Earth. This purchase will be your best investment!
Villars is a resort in the Swiss Alps, where you can find something to your liking both in the warm season and in winter. Botanical trails, oven-melted cheese, apricot liqueur, palm tree bar for Après-ski, Ollon vineyards and the best views in our Villars guide.
In the photo: vineyards in the vicinity of Villars
The pastoral resort of Villars lies on a natural balcony of the Vaudois Alps at an altitude of 1300 meters. Below is Lake Leman (or Lake Geneva, as they used to call it) with Lausanne (), Montreux and Vevey, where you can go at any time if you miss city life.
In the photo: Swiss Alps, landscape around Villars
And here, at the height, everything that is customary to love about the Swiss Alps was revealed. At any time of the year - piercing fresh air and views of the tops of Mont Blanc, in summer - wooden houses with flowers and meadows with well-fed cows, in winter - picturesque snowdrifts.
In the photo: lake and mountains in the vicinity of Villars
Villars can be reached by bus, but we recommend taking the narrow gauge railway (about 45 minutes from Montreux and Vevey, 30 minutes from Montreux and Vevey). The train is similar to a tram and makes its way through exceptionally picturesque places, and forest creatures like roe deer can easily come out to stare at you.
By the way, thanks to exceptional care for nature, Villars is considered one of the most environmentally friendly places in Switzerland. For a winter holiday, Villars was once chosen by Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, the Duchess of Westminster, the Royal Family of Belgium, Roger Moore, Phil Collins and Sophia Loren. And when David Bowie moved to Lake Leman from America in the 70s, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards visited the town of Breteuil, located in Villars, for skiing.
LATE SPRING, SUMMER AND EARLY AUTUMN
In the warm season, Villar is good primarily for walks. Wander through the mountains and forests, along pastures and inhale the smell of alpine flowers and herbs. The resort has about 300 kilometers of hiking trails and 50 kilometers of mountain bike trails. A number of walking routes are designed to explore the flora and fauna, they were developed jointly with the University of Lausanne and biologists.
In the photo: pastures in the vicinity of Villars
Unity with nature is addictive. As our new friend, the dear Guy Chanel from the Villars tourism office, said, he used to live in Lausanne, but then moved to the mountains, every day he breathes the Alpine air, drinks coffee with a view of the mountains and is very happy.
Ecotourism can be continued by exploring vineyards and farms. The town of Ollon is famous for its vineyards, which are worth admiring during the green seasons.
By the way, the estates of two wine celebrities of the region are located in Ollon - winemakers Bernard Cavet and Pierre-Alan Meylan. Look for Bernard Cave and Pierre-Alain Meylan wines in restaurants; we especially recommend the red varieties Pinot Noir, Gamaret and Gamay, and the white varieties – traditionally Chasselas. Swiss wines are excellent in quality and taste.
In addition, until mid-autumn (farms close for the winter), you have the opportunity to visit one of the Villars cheese dairies to see how to prepare Etivaz, the crown variety of the canton of Vaud.
VILLARD IN WINTER
Villars is one of the most important Swiss ski resorts, with a total length of slopes of 125 km. The resort has a long season, which lasts from December to March.
The most pleasant time is February and March, when Europeans come to the resort: everything is open, snow and sun are in abundance. The ski area includes Villars, Breteuil, Gryon, Les Diablerets. It was there that Grace Kelly, the Belgian royal family, Roger Moore and the Rolling Stones honed their skiing skills.
In the photo: train to the ski resort
If skiing doesn’t appeal to you, then we inform you that many people go to Villars for the ambiance of Swiss Alpine resorts: sunbathing in a sun lounger with a view of the Alps (remember Audrey Hepburn at the beginning of “Charade”?), Après-ski cocktails, raclette and apricot liqueur after a frosty day.
Those who are hesitant to master skiing can go for a walk in the mountains on snowshoes, accompanied by an instructor, and also frolic on sleds or ice skates.
We asked regular Villar about the best places in winter:
“A favorite place to start an Après-ski is Le Bar Chez Jimmy with palm trees, music and sun loungers for mountain beachgoers. From there you have a beautiful view and it is very nice to have a glass of wine or champagne before descending to Villars. Eating in the mountains is L’Etable.
Pictured: dessert from Eurotel Victoria with alpine flowers
There the chef prepares dishes with the addition of alpine herbs and flowers. In December, a café by the Australian chef, Cookie Bar & Restaurant, opens in a new location (at the Hotel du Lac), which makes a successful mix of European and Asian cuisines.”
In the photo: Eurotel Victoria chief collecting herbs
Let's add about the excellent Chalet Royalp & Spa hotel: with a terrace overlooking the Alps, spacious designer rooms in the style of wooden chalets and a spa center of 1200 square meters, which received the World Luxury Spa Awards and N°1 Spa Hotel by Trip Advisor's Choice .
GASTRONOMY
If you are in Villars in the summer, be sure to eat fish from Lake Leman (trout and perch) and dishes with freshly picked herbs and flowers. In winter, expect solid mountain cuisine - fondue, local mushrooms in melted cheese, sausages, raclette and Vacherin Mont-d’Or. It is best to try this kind of cuisine in traditional establishments, ideally in some house on the top. Fondue is more or less known, but let’s look at the last two dishes in more detail.
To prepare raclette, a wheel of cheese is suspended over an open fire, and when it is sufficiently melted, pieces are cut off and placed on a plate. Raclette is eaten with pickles and boiled potatoes.
For Vacherin Mont-d’Or they take cheese, which is sold in a special wooden basket. The basket is wrapped in foil, white wine is poured on top of the cheese, a couple of cloves of garlic are stuck in and placed in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. The finished dish is eaten with bread or jacket potatoes.
The Swiss follow a rule for all dishes with melted cheese - you cannot wash it down with water, only wine, otherwise it will be difficult for the stomach to digest the food.
In the photo: Pierre-Alain Meylan winery
At any time of the year, try the excellent local wines from Ollon, and if you need to warm up, apricot or pear vodka (Abricotine and Williamine) will come in handy. Traditional desserts are meringues with double Gruyere cream and chocolate fondant, which is also served with thick Alpine cream.
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Lyudmila Egorshina- Lyudmila Egorshina is a former columnist for Afisha magazine and host of columns about travel, culture and fashion on the website elle.ru. She has traveled half of the world, but has a special penchant for Asian culture and Italian cuisine.
In the vicinity of the village of Châtel (Haute-Savoie, 3 km from the Swiss border, this is a ski resort) there are 38 farms that mainly produce cheese. The tourism office organizes an excursion to one farm once a week.
The name of the cheese "Abondance" (Abundance) comes from the name of the Abondance valley in Haute-Savoie, where the monks of the Abbey of Abondance began producing cheese in the fifth century. They also developed a breed of cows. In 1381, Abondance Abbey was chosen as the official supplier of cheeses to the table of the conclave meeting to elect a Pope. More than 1,500 kilograms of Abondance cheese were sent to Avignon. At one time, this cheese even served as a cash coin.
Abondance cheese has been protected by the AOC certificate since 1990 and is now produced on 60 farms. It is made all year round, but the best is considered to be made from summer milking.
The farm has 35 Abondance cows. These cows are small, brown, with a speck around the eye, and are adapted for life in the mountains. 
Cows are milked twice a day, the milk is poured into a copper vat, an enzyme is added, heated, it sours for a day, and the consistency of liquid cottage cheese is obtained. Then they take a special linen rag, scoop this cottage cheese into it and put it in a mold under a press. It turned out to be five heads of cheese. When it has been sitting for a while, the rags are replaced with dry ones and left under pressure for a day. 
The remaining milk is used to fatten the pig. 
After lying under pressure for a day, the cheeses are taken to the cellar and placed on special spruce boards 
.
There are about 400 cheeses in the cellar. All are marked: date, manufacturer's number. Green color means farm cheese. 
Next, pay attention, every head of cheese (about four hundred!) every day turn over. The head weighs from 7 to 12 kg, depending on the amount of milk produced. Some people coat it with coarse salt, and some wash it. 
The cheese lies in the cellar for three months, then it is handed over to the cooperative (lack of space), and there it ripens for another three months, then it is sold. In summer, cows graze in the mountains, on the ski slopes. The farmer lives at this time in a second chalet in the mountains and makes cheese there. There are only two people working on the farm - he and his wife. No vacations, no weekends, no trips, but he said that he really likes his life and doesn’t need anything else.