Some ski resorts are famous for perfect pistes, long lunches and après bars where dignity quietly disappears somewhere around 4pm. Others have also had the extra glamour of appearing in films or TV, usually while somebody glamorous hurtles downhill, delivers a dramatic one-liner, or has a life crisis in a luxury chalet.
And really, ski resorts are made for the screen. Big scenery, dramatic weather, expensive-looking outfits, people behaving emotionally at altitude – it is all very cinematic before anyone has even clicked into a binding.
So if you like your ski holidays with a side order of movie trivia, here are 12 ski resorts and mountain locations that have appeared in films and TV. Some are Bond-level famous. Some are more quietly iconic. All of them are places you could quite happily “research” in person.
Sölden, Austria – Spectre
Sölden got the full Bond treatment in Spectre, with the striking ice Q restaurant on Gaislachkogl transformed into the Hoffler Klinik. It is the sort of building that already looks like it belongs in a spy film anyway, so the casting directors were hardly fighting the location.
Away from the Bond glamour, Sölden is a serious ski resort in its own right. It is high, modern, snow-sure and built for people who want to get on with skiing rather than spend the week admiring quaint shutters. The two glaciers help give it a long season, and the terrain suits confident intermediates and advanced skiers especially well.
If you want a resort that feels dramatic before you have even ordered coffee, Sölden does the job nicely.
Best for: snow-sure skiing, modern lift systems, big mountain scenery and Bond fans who enjoy a slightly villainous lunch spot.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – For Your Eyes Only
Cortina and Bond are a very believable pairing. For Your Eyes Only used the resort as the setting for one of the series’ snowy action sequences, and it is hard to imagine a more fitting backdrop. Cortina has glamour, winter sports pedigree and Dolomite scenery so theatrical it looks like somebody has adjusted the saturation.
This is one of those resorts where the off-slope experience matters almost as much as the skiing. The town is elegant, the food is excellent, and the whole place has an old-money winter chic that makes even a simple wander to dinner feel a bit cinematic.
The ski area is broad rather than overwhelming, and the real magic is the complete package: style, scenery, mountain history and a resort atmosphere that feels unmistakably special.
Best for: Italian mountain glamour, scenic skiing, stylish trips and anyone who wants a little Bond energy with their espresso.
Mürren and the Schilthorn, Switzerland – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
If we are talking iconic ski-film locations, the Schilthorn is right up there. Its revolving Piz Gloria restaurant was used as Blofeld’s lair in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which is honestly a hard thing for any other mountain lunch stop to compete with.
The beauty here is that the location is not just a film set with a good publicist. Mürren is a genuinely gorgeous, car-free Alpine village with proper Swiss postcard charm, while the views across the Bernese Oberland are the kind that make people suddenly go a bit quiet.
The skiing is not the biggest in the Alps, but that almost feels beside the point. This is a place for atmosphere, scenery and character. It is one of those resorts that feels memorable before you even get into what colour runs you skied.
Best for: scenic skiers, Swiss village charm, Bond fans and anyone who wants lunch in a revolving villain lair.
St Anton, Austria – Chalet Girl
Chalet Girl is one of the more obvious ski-film pairings because St Anton already feels like it could be a movie set on a normal Tuesday. It has smart chalets, dramatic slopes, lively social energy and the kind of resort reputation that says, “Yes, we ski hard, but we also know where the fun starts after the lifts shut.”
The film leans into the classic seasonal fantasy – snowboarding, romance, rich-people chaos and resort life – and St Anton pulls it off convincingly because it already has so much personality.
As a real holiday resort, it is best for strong intermediates, advanced skiers and groups who like a bit of proper buzz. It is not the easiest first-timer choice in Austria, but for ski heritage, terrain and après, it is hard to ignore.
Best for: confident skiers, lively groups, chalet-week vibes and people who like a resort with real swagger.
Kitzbühel, Austria – Kitz and Downhill Racer
Kitzbühel has managed the rare trick of being both classic and very screen-friendly. Netflix’s Kitz leaned into the town’s glamorous image, using it as the setting for glossy drama involving privilege, secrets and emotional mess. Which, to be fair, is one way to use a beautiful ski resort.
Long before that, Kitzbühel also had its name linked to ski-racing cinema through Downhill Racer, which gives it a nice blend of modern TV appeal and old-school sporting credibility. The resort’s Hahnenkamm history does a lot of the heavy lifting here. It is one of those places where ski heritage is not just a marketing line – it genuinely hangs in the air.
As a ski holiday base, Kitzbühel is a lovely all-rounder, especially for intermediates and people who want a proper town rather than a purpose-built resort block.
Best for: traditional Austrian charm, racing heritage, stylish ski breaks and people who like their resorts polished but not soulless.
Megève, France – Emily in Paris and Charade
Megève was practically born to appear on screen. It is chic, pretty and beautifully put together in a way that feels almost unfair. So when Emily in Paris headed there for a snowy getaway, it made perfect sense. If one French ski resort was going to deliver immaculate coats, romantic lighting and luxury-weekend energy, it was always going to be Megève.
It also has older screen credentials thanks to Charade, which helps cement its long-running image as one of the Alps’ stylish greats.
As a resort, Megève is not about shouting the loudest. It is about atmosphere, food, elegant streets and a ski experience that feels civilised. The skiing is enjoyable, the village is gorgeous and the whole place suits couples and mixed groups particularly well.
Best for: romantic ski trips, French style, leisurely lunches and anyone who believes a ski holiday should look as good as it skis.
Ischgl, Austria – Downhill
The Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus film Downhill used several Tyrolean resorts, and Ischgl provided many of the on-slope ski scenes. That works brilliantly because Ischgl looks exactly like the sort of polished, high-functioning resort where a family holiday could look perfect on paper before quietly unravelling.
Ischgl is high, efficient and very good at delivering a proper ski week. The lift system is excellent, the cross-border skiing into Samnaun adds scale, and the resort has a lively atmosphere that definitely does not fade into a sleepy early night.
For stronger mixed groups and confident intermediates, it is a cracking option. It is not subtle, but then that is part of the appeal. Ischgl knows exactly what it is and sees no reason to apologise for it.
Best for: modern ski infrastructure, reliable snow, lively après and groups who want the resort to feel properly alive.
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, Austria – Downhill
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis also features in Downhill, with Fiss used for some of the hotel and resort scenes. It makes sense: the place has that polished, practical, “this should be the perfect family ski break” energy that the film then gently pokes at.
In real life, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is one of Austria’s strongest family and mixed-ability ski areas. It is sunny, spacious, well organised and unusually good at making a ski week feel easy rather than exhausting. The terrain suits intermediates particularly well, while beginners and children are also very well served.
This is the kind of resort people come back to because the holiday just works. Not in a flashy, dramatic way. In a “nobody had a meltdown and we all had a nice time” way, which is often much more useful.
Best for: families, mixed groups, practical ski weeks and anyone who values smooth logistics over alpine drama.
Wengen, Switzerland – Downhill Racer
Wengen is one of the loveliest old-school ski villages in the Alps, so its appearance in Downhill Racer feels extremely on-brand. The village sits above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, is reached by mountain railway, and has enough scenic charm to make even mildly grumpy people soften a bit.
The resort is forever tied to the Lauberhorn, one of the most famous downhill race courses in the world, so it already comes with a built-in sense of ski history. That gives it a nice extra layer if you are drawn to resorts that feel rooted in the sport rather than simply designed around lift capacity.
For a holiday, Wengen works beautifully for scenic intermediates, couples, families and anyone who likes a traditional Swiss village atmosphere with genuinely superb views.
Best for: classic Swiss scenery, rail-access charm, ski history and mountain villages with proper character.
Aspen, Colorado – Aspen Extreme
Aspen is one of the few ski resorts that feels like it arrived in pop culture long before some people even considered skiing. Aspen Extreme made it famous on screen as the dream destination for ski bums chasing powder, status and mountain-town mythology, and the resort has never exactly shaken off that larger-than-life image.
The thing with Aspen is that it really does have range. You get high-end hotels, excellent restaurants, smart shops and a proper town atmosphere, but you also get serious skiing spread across four mountains. It has glamour, yes, but it has substance too.
Aspen is one of those ski places people already “know” from film culture, even if they have never been. It is a proper screen icon rather than just a place a crew once visited.
Best for: big-name resort appeal, town life, strong all-round skiing and anyone who enjoys ski culture with a side of celebrity sparkle.
Breckenridge, Colorado – Dumb and Dumber
This one is a very fun inclusion because Dumb and Dumber is famously associated with Aspen, but a number of the snowy resort scenes were actually filmed in Breckenridge. Which feels delightfully on-brand for that entire film: even the location is slightly chaotic.
Breckenridge is a great resort in its own right, with a lively historic town, a large ski area and a more relaxed feel than the pure-posh image people often attach to Aspen. It is one of those places where the off-slope life really adds something, and it has enough personality to stand up as more than just a stand-in.
So while it may be best known here as the “actually filmed there” half of a Dumb and Dumber fact, it deserves a proper mention for being a genuinely good mountain town too.
Best for: lively town atmosphere, broad skiing appeal and anyone who enjoys a film-location fact that is just a bit ridiculous.
Sun Valley, Idaho – Sun Valley Serenade
If you want a classic Hollywood ski connection, Sun Valley is a lovely one. Sun Valley Serenade helped cement the resort’s glamorous winter image decades ago, and it remains one of the most recognisable old-school ski names in North America.
This is less about modern action scenes and more about ski-resort screen history. Sun Valley has long had a reputation for stylish winter holidays, and the film link taps into that golden-age view of skiing as something elegant, social and just slightly dazzling.
For a modern ski trip, the resort still has plenty going for it: a strong reputation, quality grooming and a sense of heritage that many newer destinations cannot fake. It is a good reminder that “cinematic ski resort” does not always have to mean explosions, spies and emotional meltdowns in chalets.
Best for: classic ski glamour, old-school resort heritage and anyone who likes a touch of vintage movie romance in the mountains.
So which film-famous ski resort should you actually book?
If you want the strongest Bond-style mountain drama, head straight for Sölden, Cortina or Mürren/Schilthorn. They are the headline acts for cinematic ski scenery and all have a proper “I’ve seen this somewhere before” thrill.
If you want a brilliant actual ski holiday first, film trivia second, then St Anton, Kitzbühel, Ischgl, Wengen and Megève are probably the most practical Ski Demon-style recommendations. They each have a strong resort identity even without the screen connection.
For families and easy mixed-group weeks, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is the most obviously useful choice.
And if you like the idea of a few big-name North American legends, Aspen, Breckenridge and Sun Valley give the post a broader, more iconic finish.
The bigger lesson here is fairly simple: film crews tend to pick the same places skiers do. Big scenery, strong atmosphere, memorable villages and resorts that already know how to put on a show.
