Switzerland packs an astonishing variety of ski holidays into a small country: car-free villages under glaciers, a freestyle capital in Graubünden, a duty-free valley on the Austrian border and the Matterhorn itself. These are 15 of the best Swiss ski resorts, with the heights, connections and practical details that set each one apart.
Engelberg: Titlis glacier skiing above a 900-year-old abbey
Engelberg grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in 1122, and the monastery church still anchors the village at about 1,000 m in the canton of Obwalden. Above it rises the Titlis (3,238 m), the highest summit north of the Susten Pass. The Titlis Rotair, billed as the world's first rotating cable car, turns a full circle on its way to the Klein Titlis station at 3,028 m, where a glacier, restaurant and viewing terrace wait.
The big Titlis side, reached by the Titlis Xpress gondola (opened in 2015) via Trübsee and Stand, holds the steep, high terrain and freeride slopes that give Engelberg its reputation. Across the valley, the south-facing Brunni area, reached by cable car to Ristis and a chairlift to Brunnihütte, has gentler runs for beginners and families. The season usually runs from December to April, with high glacier skiing on the Titlis from about October to May. Hourly InterRegio trains run from Lucerne to Engelberg, which also hosts a round of the ski jumping World Cup. For the views from the top, see our piece on Titlis Cliff Walk: The High-Alpine Bridge and the View Around It.
Laax: the freestyle heart of Flims Laax Falera
Laax sits at 1,050 m in the Surselva region of Graubünden, and its ski history began in 1962 with the opening of the Crap Sogn Gion lift. Today it shares one large ski area with neighbouring Flims and Falera, climbing to the Vorab glacier. Laax is best known as one of Europe's leading freestyle resorts, with several snow parks and a superpipe that host the annual Laax Open.
The ski area works just as well for cruising skiers: wide, sunny pistes run down towards all three villages, and the lift base at Laax Murschetg puts many hotels close to the gondola. Book lessons early in school holidays, and choose your base by how you want to spend the evening: Flims has the larger village, Laax Murschetg the slope-side convenience.
Saas-Fee: car-free village among thirteen 4,000 m peaks
Saas-Fee lies at about 1,800 m in the Valais, ringed by 13 peaks over 4,000 m, more than any other resort in the Alps. The village centre is car-free: visitors park outside and small electric vehicles shuttle luggage between hotels and lifts. Postbuses run about every half hour from Visp and Brig.
The ski area reaches high onto the Fee glacier. The Metro Alpin, the world's highest underground funicular, climbs to the Allalin area, where a revolving restaurant at around 3,500 m is the highest of its kind in the world. Thanks to the glaciers below the Dom and the Allalinhorn, Saas-Fee is one of the few places in the Alps where skiing is possible far beyond the normal winter season; check the operator's calendar if you plan an autumn or summer trip.
Samnaun: duty-free shopping and the Silvretta Arena with Ischgl
Samnaun is a remote valley in the far east of Graubünden, with its church at 1,844 m. In the 19th century the valley could only be reached by road from Spiss in Austria, so it was left outside the Swiss customs area, and it still enjoys duty-free status today. A road from Martina in the Lower Engadine followed in 1905. Residents speak a Bavarian-type German dialect unique in Switzerland, although Romansh was spoken here until the late 1800s.
On the slopes, Samnaun shares the Silvretta Arena with Ischgl in Austria: about 238 km of pistes and 44 lifts between 1,400 and 2,875 m. Samnaun is also home to the world's first double-decker cable car, carrying 180 people per cabin. Watch the clock on cross-border days so you catch the last lifts back over the ridge.
Zermatt: skiing below the Matterhorn, with a link to Italy
Zermatt sits at about 1,620 m at the head of the Mattertal in the Valais, below the 4,478 m Matterhorn. The town has banned combustion-engine cars to protect its air and its views; most visitors take the shuttle train from Täsch or through trains from Visp and Brig.
The skiing is spread over four areas: Sunnegga, Gornergrat, Schwarzsee and the Klein Matterhorn, whose Matterhorn Glacier Paradise station is the highest lift point in the Alps. From the Plateau Rosa glacier you can ski across the border to Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy with the international lift pass. The Gornergrat Bahn, Europe's highest open-air rack railway, takes about 29 minutes to climb to 3,089 m and makes a superb half-day with non-skiers. More from the area: the Matterhorn landscape near Zermatt and Solvay Hut on the Matterhorn: A Shelter Reserved for Emergencies.
Flumserberg: a family favourite above the Walensee
Flumserberg occupies a sunny terrace above Flums in the canton of St. Gallen, looking across Lake Walensee to the jagged Churfirsten. Its villages lie between 1,160 and 1,344 m, with Tannenbodenalp the highest of the three main settlements. The operator lists 65 km of slopes and 17 lifts and gondolas, with practice areas and plenty of easy and intermediate runs.
Being close to Zurich makes Flumserberg a classic day trip and weekend resort for Swiss families. Arrive early on sunny weekends, or stay a night or two to enjoy the quieter weekdays and the lake views.
Davos Parsenn: long descents between Davos and Klosters
Parsenn is the largest and most modern of Davos's five ski mountains, with about 35 runs. The red Parsennbahn funicular climbs some 1,100 m from Davos Dorf to the Weissfluhjoch ridge, and from Klosters a large cable car rises to Gotschna and connects into the same area.
The Parsenn is famous for its long descents: classic runs drop for well over ten kilometres down into the Prättigau valley, a rare thing in the Alps. Davos is a busy town with every service, while Klosters is the smaller, quieter village on the other side of the mountain. Plan a meeting point for mixed groups before setting off on the long runs.
Toggenburg: Chäserrugg and the Churfirsten
The Toggenburg is the valley of the river Thur in the canton of St. Gallen, framed by the Säntis to the north and the seven peaks of the Churfirsten to the south. The main skiing is around Wildhaus, Unterwasser and Alt St. Johann. From Unterwasser (911 m), the Iltios funicular, opened in 1934, climbs to Iltios (1,339 m), where a cable car from 1972 continues to the Chäserrugg (2,262 m), the easternmost Churfirsten peak.
The reward on top is a wide view over the Walensee far below and across to the Glarus Alps. Toggenburg is relaxed, good value and easy to reach from eastern Switzerland, which makes it a fine choice for families and weekenders.
Chäserrugg and Toggenburg mountains
Adelboden: World Cup slopes in the Bernese Oberland
Adelboden sits at 1,350 m at the end of the Engstligen valley in the Bernese Oberland. Every January the Chuenisbärgli hosts men's World Cup giant slalom and slalom races, and its giant slalom course is regarded as one of the toughest on the circuit. Above the valley head, the Engstligen Falls drop 375 m, one of the most impressive waterfalls in the Bernese Highlands.
The Adelboden-Lenk ski area links the two villages via Hahnenmoos and offers runs for every level, plus around 40 km of winter walking trails. Access is easy by public transport: trains on the Lötschberg line stop at Frutigen, from where postbuses climb to the village. Book well ahead if your stay overlaps the race weekend.
Adelboden-Lenk visitor information
Lenzerheide: the western half of Arosa Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide spreads along a high valley around the Heidsee lake between Chur and the Albula Pass. In the 2013/14 season the Urdenbahn cable car joined its slopes to Arosa's, creating Arosa Lenzerheide, one of the largest ski areas in Graubünden with 225 km of pistes: 111 km easy, 87 km intermediate and 27 km difficult.
The highest point is the Parpaner Rothorn, reached by cable car from the Lenzerheide side. The Rothorn, Scalottas, Danis and Stätzerhorn give the area a mix of open, sunny slopes and sheltered tree runs, and Lenzerheide regularly hosts World Cup and biathlon events. The Rhaetian Railway's Albula line passes nearby; read more in The Albula and Bernina Railways: Read the Engineering in the Alpine View.
Arosa Lenzerheide visitor information
Arosa: a mountain-bowl village at the end of the line
Arosa sits at the very end of the Schanfigg valley above Chur, in a sunny bowl of mountains. Most visitors arrive on the narrow-gauge Rhaetian Railway line from Chur, a scenic climb through gorges and over viaducts. Its own slopes around the Weisshorn and Hörnli are gentle and sunny, ideal for intermediates, and the Urdenbahn takes stronger skiers over to Lenzerheide for a full day on the linked area.
Arosa is a car-light, relaxed resort with good winter walking and sledging. Families can ski the home slopes while confident skiers make the trip across; just agree on a time to return over the Urden link before the lifts close.
Obersaxen Mundaun: a Walser enclave in the Surselva
Obersaxen is a German-speaking island in the mostly Romansh Surselva region of Graubünden. Walser settlers founded it in the 13th century, and the community still consists of 28 small settlements grouped around the central village of Meierhof (1,281 m). In 2016 it merged with neighbouring Mundaun to form the municipality of Obersaxen Mundaun.
The ski area, now marketed as Obersaxen Mundaun Lumnezia, is relatively large yet far less known than nearby Flims Laax, which keeps queues short and prices reasonable. Because the accommodation is spread across many hamlets, pick a base close to the lift you will use each morning.
Obersaxen Mundaun visitor information
Grimentz: old timber village in the Val d'Anniviers
Grimentz lies in the Val d'Anniviers, a side valley of the Rhône in the French-speaking Valais. Since 2009 it has been part of the municipality of Anniviers. The village is known for its old dark-timbered houses and granaries, and above it lies the Lac de Moiry reservoir, completed in 1958.
In 2013 a cable car linked Grimentz with Zinal, creating a combined area of about 120 km of slopes. Grimentz is also known for its freeride terrain; book a mountain guide for anything off the marked runs.
Zinal: under the Imperial Crown of 4,000 m peaks
Zinal sits at 1,675 m at the head of the Val de Zinal, surrounded by a famous ring of high summits: the Bishorn, Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn and Ober Gabelhorn, all above 4,000 m, plus the Dent Blanche. The skiing climbs from the village to the Sorebois area and connects to Grimentz, together offering about 120 km of slopes.
Zinal also has 19.5 km of cross-country trails, and in summer some 300 km of marked paths lead to huts such as the Grand Mountet, set among glaciers. It is a quiet, authentic village for skiers who prefer mountains to nightlife.
Lenk: family skiing and spa at the head of the Simmental
Lenk is the highest municipality in the Simmental of the Bernese Oberland. The river Simme rises nearby at the Siebenbrunnen springs below the Wildstrubel, and the village has a long spa tradition: its mineral springs fed a medicinal spa from 1843, later a grand hotel and, since 1969, a modern spa and indoor pool.
The family-friendly Betelberg rises on one side of the valley, while lifts on the other connect to Adelboden in the Adelboden-Lenk ski area. Lenk is the terminus of the railway from Zweisimmen, which makes it easy to reach without a car.
Related reading
- Bon and Montant’s Wing-Assisted Eiger Descent
- Titlis above Engelberg
- Solvay Hut on the Matterhorn: A Shelter Reserved for Emergencies
Sources
Resort pages: engelberg.ch, flimslaax.com, saas-fee.ch, samnaun.ch, matterhornparadise.ch, flumserberg.ch, davosklostersmountains.ch, chaeserrugg.ch, adelboden-lenk.ch, arosalenzerheide.swiss, obersaxen-mundaun.ch, valdanniviers.ch.
Reference: Wikipedia entries for Engelberg, Laax, Saas-Fee, Samnaun, Zermatt, Flumserberg, Parsenn, Chäserrugg, Adelboden, Arosa Lenzerheide, Obersaxen, Grimentz, Zinal, Lenk.
The first version of this list drew on an introduction by ski writer Peter Hardy. Photos: resort images from the Swiss ski-resort gallery.
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