Lech sits in a high, sunny valley on the Vorarlberg side of the Arlberg, at 1,450 metres. Wood-clad chalets, a small parish church with an onion-domed spire, and a stream running through the middle of the village — the look is studiedly traditional and the prices reflect it. Lech has long been the choice of European royalty and old money, and the Hotel Post and the Arlberg Hotel are landmarks in their own right.
The skiing from Lech is gentler than from St. Anton — wide, sunny, mostly red and blue pistes that suit intermediates and families. Connect to Zürs above and to St. Anton over the Flexenbahn, and you have access to the full network. Après-ski is more subdued: champagne in the hotel bar rather than pints in a slope-side hut.