SILVER white winters that melt into spring’ are, canonically, favourite things when it comes to the Alps, but perhaps Messrs Rodgers and Hammerstein could have spared a verse for the summertime, too. After all, a linguist (or a pedant) might tell you that the word ‘alp’ means a high mountain pasture for grazing livestock in season, rather than a mountain itself, so there’s always been more to these peaks than ski runs and raclette.
It’s not that going chronologically off-piste is a new idea or that we’re letting you in on a secret. In the early 1800s, summering in the Alps was de rigueur. However, there has been a boom in recent years, fuelled by a number of factors: pandemic-era rediscovery by locals, those seeking (relative) respite from scorching heatwaves inland, active types biking, hiking and flinging themselves off high things and those seeking some real R&R. More hotels are opening for, and actively promoting, the summer season. Restaurants, too, with a veritable constellation of Michelin stars on the French side alone (to quote Anthony Bourdain: ‘God bless the French. They can’t go too long—not even down a mountain—without eating well’).
Jetset-magnet towns, such as Chamonix, St Moritz and Gstaad, are transformed in T-shirt weather, with lively shopping streets, alfresco dining and nary a salopette in sight. The weather’s great, the air is clean, the wildlife is plentiful and there are some spectacular panoramic train routes, so you can dispense with hire-car stress or even airports, if you so wish.
Denne historien er fra April 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
