Après Ski in Switzerland

Known all over the mountains as the party destination of the rich and the royal, Verbier rocks from dusk till dawn. Start on the mountain, where Ice Cube below the Ruinettes chair throws the biggest piste-side bashes (just follow your ears). If the sun’s got its hat on, break up the home run with a stop at 1936’s Mongolian yurts and deck chairs or head straight back down to the village to attempt (but never succeed) to be first in the door everyone’s next stop - Pub Mont Fort. Order a Shaker (or two if it’s happy hour), and you’ll soon see why the après here’s considered some of the best on planet earth. You can’t spend a week here without a trip to the Farinet. Coiner of the phrase ‘A drink resort with a ski problem’, the parties here would blow the roof off… if it didn't already open mechanically. Ski boots on table tops, jugs of beer and big name DJ’s are the formula of a cracking evening here – and if they pop the top during snowfall it’s incredible. After nine, the Farinet crowd migrates to Le Rouge (formerly Casbah), or the uber trendy Farm Club, to dance into the early hours of the morning.

Though better known for the kinds of dinners that require dress shirts and elbows off tables, there’s a super après scene beneath Zermatt’s elegant exterior. It has the gong to prove it - winning the World Snow Awards’ title of ‘World’s Best Après Ski Resort’ a couple of years back. To start strong, make your first stopping point the Hennu Stall on the Furi run home - where gluhwein’s on the menu, but flavoured vodkas and metre-long ‘skis’ of shots are the norm. The house band and prospect of Jagertee also draw a loyal crowd to Papperla, a pub just above the village. From there you can party on to old school bangers at the Loft Club or the illustrious Broken Bar disco, where your dial’s guaranteed to be set to wild until well after the clock strikes twelve. Being one of Switzerland's oldest and ritziest, there are, of course, also a tonne of more refined bars for a talk and a tipple, like boat shaped Snowboat or subterranean Cuckoo Club, lots of them buried deep in 5* hotels. If you ask us, Heinz Julen's Vernissage crowns them all. Here you can tour an art gallery with a cocktail, sink back in an equally artistic lounge bar or on the right night, progress onto partying when the cinema's transformed into a nightclub.

Of the two towns, Crans outshines Montana in the après stakes - where, thanks to a casino and a jillion lounge bars, evenings have a polished quality. As is the alpine way, you'll still find people dancing off surplus energy on tables outside Zerodix, but inside you can hold a conversation without having to rest your voice the rest of the week... Most spend the twilight hours here sampling the best brews in the Brasserie La Marmotte (ask for their home-brewed La Blonde or La Blanche) or, if you’re more of an aspiring sommelier, at wine tastings in Ratatouille. Once you’re suitably merry, the fun really begins, when swish clubs like Pacha and Harry’s open their doors at 10. They keep them open till the early hours, with DJs spinning infectious tunes that will keep you out far longer than you intended. And it’s not just the weather that heats up in April, when Caprices Music Festival comes to town and the streets team with 10,000+ fans drawn in to watch big names like Mika and Duffy.

Everything in St Moritz is one extravagance after another – and when you’re in a town that has a cocktail named after it (a rather good one at that) you know the après has already made quite an impression. Whip off the salopettes, and “dress to impress” for a night out in the Badrutt's legendary Kings Club, one of the oldest night spots here. Then, next on the tour of the great and the good, head to the Kulm's Sunny Bar, a bar-lined homage to the Cresta run with photos and trophies on the walls and gymnasium rings hanging from the ceiling... Impress the old boys on these and you may even get invited to ride the Cresta, or at least down to the member's only Dracula club for supper. If you don't have a family fortune to burn, there's still a whole lot to do here: Roo’s is a magnet in the afternoon, with tipples ranging from elderberry vodka punch to Bernina beers, while Bobby’s classic pub grub and international brews have gained a fiercely loyal following since it opened its doors in ‘84. If the glitz and the glam inspires you to make your first million, the resort Casino, over in the Kempinski Grand hotel is open till 3.

Of the three villages in the Jungfrau region, this one's the spiciest... Between them, the bars peppered through this resort’s hotels put on quite the party. Challi Bar in the Hotel Sunstar and Espresso bar in the Spienne are buzzing earlier on, with people regaling the day’s skiing over well-deserved ice-cold pints. Not a hotel (yet), the slope-side tepee at Kleine Scheidegg also has Schnapps coffee that goes down as nicely as its views of Eiger’s North peak. The momentum lulls for dinner, building again afterwards in the glitzy Gepsi Bar of the Hotel Eiger, where the pianist charms guests who sip wine and single malt. Avocado then cranks up the tempo, with music pumping and the crowds jumping who finally return, finishing full circle, to the Hotel Spienne for the Mexican-themed Mescalero disco.

Davos moshes with the big boys of Swiss après, thanks to the A to Z of different drinking styles here (C is for casino...). Drinks start flowing at 3 and just keep on going at slope-side Jatz Hut and the Bolgen Plaza by the half pipe. Get swept up in the sea of people outside Bolgen, dance along to whatever europop the DJ happens to be playing and stream down the slopes to whichever of the bars floats your boat. Try Rotliechtli for classic cocktails with frills, or the Carigiet piano bar and Grischa's Pulsa bar if you're made of money. Bolgenschanze, in the first snowboard hotel in Europe, is where the one-plank gang hang out, while the long-standing Ex Bar brings every one back together again, proudly keeping the crowds out of bed till 6am since 1965.

Klosters has so many sophisticated spots you may have difficulty deciding where to sip your first flawlessly finished cocktail. Try out Chesa Grischuna (where Gene Kelly famously danced on the tables) on your way to the liveliest of the lot, Casa Antica, a converted three-storey barn with a cocktail menu that's been known to tempt our Royals. If you buy a bottle, they’ll keep it behind the bar throughout the week (if it lasts that long) and there’s even a nightclub here, if your mojitos turn on your mojo. Further down the price scale, Gaudy’s gets packed on a Saturday night when local bands jam, and if you’re staying in Dorf, Madrisa's bar is a strong choice for a thirst quenching pint. If you want a high altitude drinking experience, make a beeline for Skihutte Gruobenalp at the top of the Gotschnabahn lift, a rustic alpine bar teetering at 2285m.

Small villages don’t have to mean sleepy nightlife, as Saas sets out to prove. Assembly Square here, a highway of watering holes and restaurants, keeps the base pumping far into the night. You’ll probably hear the table stomping in Nesti’s before you see the drinking den of former racer Nesti, where punters are fuelled by deliciously potent cups of glühwein mixed with schnapps. The bar staff here have imagineered a drinking game involving a snapping children’s crocodile toy - which sounds innocent, but isn’t in the slightest… For a more civilised sit-down, rest those aching glutes on the Black Bull’s sun loungers while listening to the live band, and make sure to do the same another night on the rustic Dom Hotel’s squishy sofas for the live music there. When the musicians lower their instruments, it’s onto the final leg at either the Alpenpub or Popcorn bar.

Know where to look, and you can always find good craic in Wengen. For a warm up after skiing, Marys Café next to the Innerwengen lift has a roaring fire and their signature coffee comes laced with Schnapps… If you’d rather remain in the great outdoors, Snow Bar is a piste-side watering hole decked out with sun loungers and bean bags. At village level, crowds gather in Sinas to listen to the roof-raising, dancefloor-filling tunes coming from the DJ booth every night – you can attend or avoid Thursday’s karaoke night as you see fit. With Guinness on tap, Rocks is the place to have a conversation without shouting yourself hoarse. When night falls, things are just heating up; hit up Blue Monkey’s for an electronic playlist bound to keep you busting those moves for hours.

Thanks to its terrific connections to a number of resorts, skiers and snowboarders flood back to Interlaken once the Jungfrau lifts close. With good reason - this laid-back, year-round town has a lot to offer in terms of bars, restaurants and night clubs, with themes ranging from Irish to Mexican and rock to reggae. For cocktails, Barracuda on Hauptstrasse serves mojitos with flair and raspy mule's with edge, while those in search of good beer, live music and pub grub will find all that and plenty of craic besides at The Three Tells. Per Bacco’s your port for good vino and a classier atmosphere, or if you’d prefer to throw back tequilas to Mexican beats, it’s all about El Azteca. If that’s not enough to fill your ski boots with, Caverne and Balmers are just a couple of the late-night institutions here.