ONE OF THE LIVELIEST APRES-SKI SCENES IN THE ALPS AND IT GOES ON AT LEAST UNTIL 4.00AM

As skiers and boarders come off the slopes in the afternoon, the packed Papperla Pub is a key rendez-vous point, although it has not been so good since changing hands, but the addition of an outdoor hot-tub, shared with the Schnee Witchen underneath, has proved interesting. The bar of the Avena, just opposite is a good, rather more grown-up, calmer, alternative spot. Many people also spend more time lingering at the lower mountain restaurants, such as the Olympia on the Sunnegga side and Blatten and the Hennu Stalle on the Klein Matterhorn side. In the Bahnhofstrasse, Grampi's is another lively apres-ski spot with a bizarre piano player.

The North Wall, The Pipe and the Brown Cow are the places to find the ski bums and the resort workers as well as the new Sparky's . Potters Bar, in the Viktoria Centre by the station, is designed to appeal to the same crowd and specialising in screening live sport on big screens. The Vernissage is a lively, modern bar-gallery-cinema, where Robbie Williams famously gave an impromptu performance around Christmas 2001. It was designed by the renowned Zermatt-based artist and furniture-maker Heinz Julen and was recently re-modelled. (Be sure to check out the chandeliers and his trademark cube chairs in his shop next door.) The most chic bar in town is probably the tiny Elsie's, where the beau monde squeezes in to drink champagne and eat snails or oysters.

For 43 years up to 2001, Karl Ivarsson’s Hotel Post was the heart of Zermatt. Of course it continues to function well under the new management, but for the moment things just ain’t quite the same as they used to be. However, it remains a key Zermatt venue with its plethora of bars, restaurants and nightclubs. It houses the Broken (a traditional disco famous for the barrel on which you dance), the Village (for House music),the Pink (a cocktail bar with live music) and Papa Caesar’s (a lounge bar).

There is a huge choice of other late-night drinking and dancing establishments in Zermatt. The bizarrely decorated Hotel Alex has several bars, but it has recently axed its kitsch 1970s-style disco and replaced it with a very grown-up, cool new lounge bar - where the popular, Irish Murphy Brothers perform on Friday nights. The T-Bar in the Hotel Pollux is a fun bar/disco with ski-lift decor, including some wonderful old chairlift seats. For the youngest crowd (predominantly late teens and twenties) the Schnee Witchen, beneath the Papperla Pub, is a popular hangout with loud music, a small but packed dance-floor and a few quiet corners. It shares the hot-tub with the pub.

For a quiet but sophisticated drink in almost urban designer surroundings, Josef's Wine Bar in the chic annexe of the Hotel Mirabeau is the place to go. It has a very impressive wine list as well as some unusual snacks to accompany your wine - red wines are sometimes served with chocolate shavings, for example.