Davos ski holidays: the complete resort guide

Why Davos

Davos is not a pretty little postcard resort, and it never pretends to be. It is a full working town in the Graubunden region of eastern Switzerland, sitting at 1,560m, which makes it the highest town in Europe. That altitude matters when you are booking a ski holiday, because it buys you snow. The base is high, the top of the Parsenn reaches 2,844m at the Weissfluhgipfel, and the whole area has a long standing reputation for being snow sure through a season that runs from December to April.

The numbers are genuinely large. There are around 300km of pistes here, split across five separate mountains rather than one connected bowl, and the lift pass is shared with neighbouring Klosters. That gives you a huge amount of varied terrain, from cruising motorways to long descents and off piste. What Davos trades away is cosiness. This is a spread out town with trams, traffic and supermarkets, not a cluster of wooden chalets around a church. That downside comes with a serious upside: every amenity you could want is here, at every price point, and the town does not shut down when the lifts do.

For a Davos ski holiday, the honest pitch is this. Come for the scale, the altitude and the town life, and stay for the fact that very different skiers can all find their level, eat well, and never run out of things to do.

Who it suits

Davos works best for people who value a big varied area over a tight knit village. Because the terrain is split across five mountains, it suits mixed groups particularly well. A confident skier can spend the day chasing long runs on the Parsenn while a nervous beginner builds confidence on gentler slopes, and everyone meets back in town for dinner.

Families do well here, helped by good ski schools, a proper town with everything a child might need, and plenty of non skiing activity for the days when little legs are tired. Multi generational trips also make sense, because the range of accommodation and restaurants means grandparents and toddlers can be kept equally happy without anyone compromising too hard.

Groups of friends in their twenties to late forties get a lot out of Davos too, especially the freestyle and free ride crowd drawn to the Jakobshorn. Couples who like the idea of skiing hard by day and then walking to a good restaurant, a bar or a concert by night will find plenty to fill an evening. The one group who might prefer elsewhere are those set on a compact, romantic, car free village feel. Davos is a town, and it feels like one.

Where to stay, and what it costs

Davos splits into two main hubs, and knowing the difference is the key to booking well. Davos Platz is the larger, busier end, with the main shopping street, the congress centre, the bigger hotels and the quickest access to the Jakobshorn. Davos Dorf is the quieter, slightly more residential end, and it sits right by the Parsenn railway, which is the fastest way onto the biggest ski area. As a rough rule, Platz suits people who want to be in the thick of things, and Dorf suits those who want easy Parsenn access and a calmer base.

The two are linked by a tram and regular buses, so neither leaves you stranded. Wherever you stay, the town is long and linear, so it pays to think about which lift you want on your doorstep and book accordingly rather than assuming everything is a short stroll.

On price, the market here runs from roughly £2,000 to £10,000 per week for a property, and Davos genuinely serves both ends. At the affordable end, a simple self catered apartment sleeping four to six, a short bus ride from the lifts, can land around £2,100 for the week, which works out very reasonably per person for a group happy to cook a few meals in. At the top end, a smart catered chalet or a suite in one of the grander hotels, walkable to the Parsenn railway with the trimmings you would expect, can run to £9,000 or more. In between sits a wide field of comfortable apartments, aparthotels and mid range hotels on half board, which is where most families and groups end up. The spread is real, so decide your budget first and let it point you to the right end of town.

The skiing: key runs and areas

The Parsenn is the heart of a Davos ski holiday and the reason many people come. This is the big one, a broad high area topped by the Weissfluhgipfel at 2,844m, and it is famous for its long runs. The classic descents drop all the way down to the villages of Klosters and Kublis, giving you point to point skiing of real length and a proper sense of journey rather than laps of the same slope. For strong intermediates and above, spending a day working the Parsenn down to Klosters and back is one of the great pleasures of the area.

The Jakobshorn, rising straight out of Davos Platz, is the second pillar and has a completely different character. It is the freestyle and free ride mountain, home to the parks and the younger, louder crowd, with steeper and more playful terrain. If your group has snowboarders or anyone who lives for the park, this is their mountain.

Then come the smaller three. Pischa is quieter and open, with a reputation for gentle cruising and good off piste when conditions allow. Rinerhorn is a friendly, less crowded hill that families and intermediates tend to love. Madrisa, on the Klosters side of the shared region, is sunny, gentle and especially good for children and beginners. Taken together, the five mountains cover every level. Nervous first timers have soft, uncrowded space to learn, intermediates have endless cruising, and experts have the length, the free ride and the off piste to fill a week and more. One practical note: the mountains are separate, so moving between them usually means a bus rather than a lift link, which is a fair trade for the variety on offer.

Off the slopes

Because Davos is a genuine town rather than a purpose built resort, the off slope options go well beyond a couple of gift shops and a spa. There is a real high street, proper supermarkets, sports shops, museums and a busy calendar of events through the winter, so a non skiing day never feels like a write off.

Ice sports are a particular strength. Davos has a long history with skating and ice hockey, and the town runs one of the largest natural ice rinks in Europe, which is a fine way to spend an afternoon whether you are gliding gently or watching a local match. There is also curling, plenty of cleared winter walking trails, cross country loops for those who want to keep moving on the flat, and tobogganing for the family.

Add in wellness and swimming facilities and the simple pleasure of browsing a real town, and you have somewhere that keeps rest day skiers genuinely occupied. For multi generational groups in particular, this depth is one of the strongest reasons to choose Davos.

The eating culture

Eating in Davos reflects the town itself: broad, practical and quietly good, rather than showy. On the mountain you will find the Swiss staples done properly, with rosti, sausages, big bowls of soup and the inevitable and very welcome cheese fondue and raclette at the mountain huts. The Parsenn and Jakobshorn both have solid lunch spots, and part of the fun of a long descent is planning where you stop.

Down in town the range widens considerably. Because Davos serves everyone from budget families to business travellers, you can eat cheaply on pizza and pasta one night and book somewhere smart and modern the next, without either feeling out of place. There are traditional Swiss stubli for a hearty local dinner, Italian and international options for variety, and a handful of genuinely refined kitchens at the top hotels for a special evening.

For self catered groups, the town is a real asset. Full sized supermarkets mean you can shop properly, cook well and keep costs down, which is exactly what makes the affordable end of the market work so nicely here. Eat in when you want to save, book out when you want to treat yourselves, and let the town do the rest.

Après and nightlife

Davos does not have the single, all consuming apres reputation of some smaller resorts, and that is mostly a good thing. What it has instead is choice and a slow burn. The Jakobshorn is the epicentre of the loud stuff, with lively bars at the base and a well earned name for a younger, freestyle leaning party crowd who keep things going after the lifts close.

Elsewhere the mood is more relaxed and more grown up. There are cosy bars for a quiet beer, wine bars and hotel lounges for something calmer, and because it is a proper town, the evening does not depend on a single square. You can find a late night if you want one, then walk home through a working town rather than a dark and shuttered village.

For groups of friends this balance tends to land well. There is enough energy to make a night of it, especially on the Jakobshorn side, without the whole resort being built around one loud square. Couples and families can find a gentler evening just as easily.

Getting there

The nearest airport is Zurich, which is well served from the UK and about as easy an alpine gateway as you could ask for. From the airport, the transfer to Davos is around two hours thirty by road, and the drive is straightforward and scenic once you leave the motorway.

The train option is genuinely worth it. Switzerland runs a superb rail network, and you can travel from Zurich airport to Davos by train with a change or two, arriving in the centre of town without a hire car or a transfer coach. For families and groups who would rather not drive on mountain roads, this is a relaxed and reliable way in, with the scenery thrown in for free.

Once you are there, the town works well without a car. The tram and buses link Platz, Dorf and the lift stations, and the region is designed to be used on public transport. A car gives you flexibility to reach the outlying mountains, but plenty of guests never need one.

Heritage and status

Davos has been a resort far longer than it has been a ski town. As the highest town in Europe, its clean, dry mountain air made it a celebrated health resort in the nineteenth century, drawing visitors and writers to its sanatoriums long before the lifts arrived, and that early fame helped shape the confident, cosmopolitan place it is today. It went on to become a pioneering centre for winter sport, with a deep tradition in skiing, skating and ice hockey, and it remains a serious host of international sport and, of course, the annual gathering that put its name on front pages worldwide. That heritage as a place of health, altitude and sport still runs right through the modern town.

The final word

Davos is a resort that rewards honesty about what you want. If your heart is set on a tiny, romantic, car free village, look elsewhere with our blessing. But if you want one of the biggest, most snow sure ski areas in the Alps, five distinct mountains, long runs that carry you down to Klosters, and a real town that keeps couples, families and groups of friends all happy at once, few places compete.

It flexes across budgets in a way that suits the whole mix, from a self catered apartment at the affordable end to a smart chalet or hotel suite at the top. For anyone weighing up where to stay in Davos, our advice is simple. Pick your end of town, set your budget, and let us handle the rest. Your season, sorted.