Touchnote: Most Scenic Ski Resorts in the World

Following the Winter Olympics, where the US earned 15 medals in skiing competitions, the buzz of winter sports is at its peak, with search interest for “best places to go skiing” soaring 5,000% globally over the past 90 days.

Intrigued, TouchNote analyzed thousands of Google Street View images at ski destinations around the world to score each on the natural beauty of its local surroundings to find the world’s most scenic destinations and countries to ski in 2026.

The world’s most beautiful skiing destinations, revealed:

From 563 ski resorts analysed by TouchNote, Minschuns in Val Müstair has been crowned the world’s most beautiful skiing destination

This was determined by uploading 10 panoramic Google Street View images for each destination into a multimodal model called CLIP (Contrastive Language–Image Pretraining) to measure how well each image aligns with a given textual prompt. For this study, that meant ranking destinations positively for scenic elements such as mountains and natural landscapes, and negatively for urban or built-up environments.

Therefore, statistically, Minschuns’ untouched Swiss Alpine landscape and high average elevation (1788m) earn the skiing destination a perfect score of 100/100. The resort in Val Müstair, located in the secluded Lower Engadin valley of Graubünden, is the only destination in the entire study to receive a perfect scenic score, with lifts reaching 2,700m and powder conditions to rival anywhere in the Alps.

Neighbouring Sontg Antoni, Alvaneu (96.59/100) sits on the celebrated route between St. Moritz and Davos, favored by ski tourers for its solitude and sweeping terrain.

Norway takes third place as the world’s most scenic skiing destination

Norway’s Eikesdalen valley is considered one of the most magnificent valleys in Romsdal. The mountainous, coastal location, with an average elevation of 988m, scores a scenic score of 95.84/100.

The best countries for scenic skiing destinations

Romania takes first place for the most stunning ski landscapes, study reveals

When it comes to the best countries to enjoy a range of picturesque skiing, the ranking looks slightly different, with Norway outside of the top 10.

However, with a commanding 9.7/10, Romania emerges as the study’s standout country, outscoring Switzerland despite the latter’s global reputation as a ski powerhouse.

With an average elevation of 975m across its top-performing destinations, the Carpathian Mountains deliver serious alpine drama. The image analysis placed Romania’s resorts consistently among the highest-scoring for natural scenery, with forested mountain backdrops and unspoiled valley settings helping the country pull clear of the field.

Its highest-scoring individual destination, Miercurea Ciuc (83.11), sits at the foot of the Harghita Mountains in the heart of Transylvania’s Székely Land, a region where the peaks rise sharply above a compact, characterful town largely unknown to international visitors. Second is Vatra Dornei (82.20), the so-called Pearl of Bukovina, a historic spa town set where four Carpathian ranges converge, combining ski terrain with some of the most atmospheric mountain scenery in Eastern Europe.

“When we think of skiing, our minds usually think of the usual hot spots: the snowy peaks of France, Italy, or Switzerland, but the data shows there are some really underrated locations out there,” commented Craig Law, Head of Marketing and spokesperson for TouchNote. “Seeing Romania and Bulgaria appear before classics such as Italy or France can be surprising, but Eastern European landscapes are often overlooked in favor of what we usually consider to be ‘picturesque’.

“Thanks to unconventional destinations featuring in the top five of our ranking, we’re happy to show that skiing in beautiful locales doesn’t have to be a financially exclusive activity. After the Olympics, we are seeing a surge of interest in the sport, and this shows that you can go somewhere more affordable and still send back a postcard with some breathtaking views.”

More information at  https://touchnote.com/uk/postcards/.