Best Paragliding Sites in the Alps: Top 10 for 2026

The Alps are the beating heart of world paragliding: more good launches within a day's drive than anywhere on earth. This is our pick of the ten best sites for 2026 — chosen for pilot consensus, variety of conditions and how well each one serves both visiting pilots and first-timers.

A note on how we ranked: this is a curated shortlist based on each site's reputation, accessibility and the range of pilots it suits — not a claim that these are the only great sites. The Alps have hundreds. Always check a site's current conditions and local rules before you go (more on that at the end).

The 10 best Alpine sites at a glance

Site	Country	Level	Best season	Why it's special
Annecy	France	All levels	May–Oct	The all-round world capital
Saint-Hilaire	France	Intermediate+	May–Oct	Home of the Coupe Icare
Chamonix	France	Intermediate+	Jun–Sep	Flying under Mont Blanc
Interlaken	Switzerland	All levels	May–Oct	Lakes-and-peaks tandem capital
Fiesch	Switzerland	Advanced	Jun–Sep	High-alpine cross-country
Kössen	Austria	Beginner+	May–Oct	Forgiving, school-friendly
Zillertal / Achensee	Austria	Intermediate	May–Oct	Big Tyrolean valley flying
Tegelberg	Germany	All levels	May–Oct	Multiple launch directions
Bassano del Grappa	Italy	All levels	Sep–Apr	The autumn/winter classic
Tolmin (Kobala)	Slovenia	Intermediate+	May–Oct	Julian Alps XC gem

France

Annecy is where most pilots would send a first-time visitor. The launches above Lake Annecy (Forclaz and Planfait) feed a huge, welcoming valley with a lakeside landing, a dense cluster of schools, and conditions that let a newly-rated pilot sled down in the calm morning while cross-country pilots work thermals overhead. If you visit one Alpine site in your life, make it this one.

Saint-Hilaire du Touvet, above Grenoble, is the spiritual home of free flight — and every September it hosts the Coupe Icare, the world's biggest free-flight festival. It's an intermediate-friendly site with a distinctive cliff-edge launch and a rich flying culture.

Chamonix is the dramatic one: launches high above the valley with Mont Blanc filling the sky. It rewards pilots comfortable in mountain air and is best flown in stable summer conditions. This is a bucket-list flight, not a beginner's site.

Switzerland

Interlaken (with launches around Beatenberg) is the postcard: two turquoise lakes, the Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau wall, and one of the highest concentrations of tandem operations in the world. There's flying here for every level, though the scenery tax shows up in the tandem prices.

Fiesch, near the Aletsch glacier, is a serious high-alpine cross-country base — big air, big distances, and a favourite of experienced pilots chasing long flights. Come here with airtime and mountain judgment.

Austria

Kössen is one of the most beginner-and-school-friendly sites in the Alps: gentle launches, generous landing fields, and a strong training culture — which is exactly why it also hosts competitions. A great choice for a lower-airtime pilot's first Alpine trip.

Zillertal and Achensee in Tyrol offer classic big-valley flying with reliable cable-car access. Austrian pilots often call the sport Paragleiten, and the Tyrol is its heartland — plenty of sites within a short drive, suiting improving intermediates.

Germany

Tegelberg, near the fairy-tale Neuschwanstein castle, is a favourite of German pilots for a practical reason: multiple launch directions let you fly across a wider range of wind conditions than a single-aspect site. Cable-car access, a solid landing field and nearby schools make it a dependable all-rounder for the whole family of ratings.

Italy

Bassano del Grappa, on the southern edge of the Alps, is the answer to "where do I fly in winter?" Its south-facing slopes catch sun when the north side of the range is frozen in, making it the classic autumn-to-spring destination for pilots from across the Alps and beyond. The Monte Grappa launches suit all levels in the right conditions.

Slovenia

Tolmin, with the Kobala launch in the Julian Alps, is the Alps' worst-kept secret among cross-country pilots: reliable valley flying, a welcoming scene and superb scenery, often at gentler prices than the western Alps. Best for confident intermediates and up.

Before you fly a new Alpine site

Every launch on this list has its own rules and its own aerology, and a forecast for the valley is not a forecast for the ridge. Before you fly a site for the first time:

• Fly it with locals first. A club, a local instructor or an experienced site guide will save you from the site-specific traps that don't show up online.
• Check the airspace and site regulations. Alpine airspace is complex, and some launches have seasonal or wildlife restrictions.
• Read the conditions properly. Learn to interpret the forecast for mountain flying — our guide on reading a paragliding weather forecast covers the 15-minute pilot briefing, and OutDare gives you a 7-day forecast per site with model-agreement confidence (AROME and ICON-D2 are the high-resolution models that matter in the Alps).
• Fly within your rating. New to solo flying? Make sure your skills match the site — our beginner's roadmap explains how ratings map to conditions.

When the numbers and the sky disagree, believe the sky — and if in doubt, don't launch. The Alps will still be there tomorrow.