Davos or Ischgl: a real town, or the higher and louder mountain
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Davos and Ischgl both sell themselves on the same three things: a big ski area, snow you can count on, and plenty to do once the lifts close. Our engine puts Davos among the closest matches to Ischgl of all 55 resorts we cover, and on a brochure page they read much the same.
They are not the same week. Davos is a full working town, with trams and a high street, spread beneath several separate mountains. Ischgl is a compact Tirolean village under one linked, high ski area, with one of the loudest après scenes in the Alps. So the question is less about snow than about how you want the skiing joined up, and how you want the evening to sound. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Davos | Ischgl |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,560 m | 1,377 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,808 m | 2,868 m |
| Linked ski area | Parsenn, 95.5 km, shared with Klosters. The rest of the pass is separate mountains | The Silvretta Arena, linked to Samnaun in Switzerland. Quoted at 239 km, not checked by us |
| Lift pass | 300 km official, 224 km independently measured across the same areas | The Silvretta Arena |
| Piste we measure around the village | 144.6 km | 152 km |
| Blue and easier | 62.5 km, 43% of the piste | 42.6 km, 28% of the piste |
| Black | 20.7 km | 26.8 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 13.3 km | 10.6 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 23% | 34% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 31% | 30% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 78% | 90% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to May |
| Nearest airport | Zurich | Innsbruck or Zurich |
The size rows look level, and on our ruler they nearly are. The rows that are not level are the ski area, the height of the piste and the steep, and Ischgl takes all three.
Altitude: Davos is the higher town, Ischgl the higher skiing
Davos sits at 1,560 metres, 183 above Ischgl's 1,377, and is billed as the highest town in Europe. Up the hill it reverses. Ischgl's skiing tops out at 2,868 metres by our measure against 2,808 at Davos, and far more of it sits high. Ninety percent of the piste we measure at Ischgl is at or above 1,800 metres, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. At Davos it is 78 percent. Half of Ischgl's piste is above 2,363 metres, half of Davos's above 2,106.
63 km blue and easier 43%61 km red 42%21 km black 14%
43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Davos 13 km, Ischgl 11 km.
Both count as snow sure on our measure: 78 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres at Davos, up to 2,808, and 90 percent at Ischgl, up to 2,868. Nobody can promise snow, but Ischgl has more of its skiing well up the hill, and its season is longer at both ends, late November to May against Davos's December to April.
Size: level on the ground, but only Ischgl's joins up
Davos's lift pass is 300 kilometres officially. Measured independently across the same lift areas, it is 224, so the official figure sits 34 percent above the measurement. And it is six separate mountains. Only the Parsenn, 95.5 kilometres, is genuinely shared with Klosters by lift. The Jakobshorn, Rinerhorn, Pischa and the rest need a train, a bus or a car, and Schatzalp needs its own pass. Around the town itself we measure 144.6 kilometres of piste.
Ischgl's Silvretta Arena is quoted at 239 kilometres, a figure we have not checked. We measure 152 kilometres of piste around the village, about 8 more than at Davos, and it is one linked area, with the lifts carrying on across the border to Samnaun in Switzerland. So on our measure the two are much the same size. The difference is that at Ischgl you click in at Idalp and ski all of it, and at Davos you choose a mountain each morning.
That has an upside. The Parsenn's long runs down to Klosters and Küblis are a proper journey, and the variety across Davos's mountains means a group can split up by ability and still meet in town for dinner.
The skiing: Ischgl is the steeper mountain, with more black
At Ischgl, 34 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 23 at Davos and 26 at a typical resort we cover. Swiss and Austrian runs are graded differently, so this measured share, not the colour on the map, is the fair test across the border.
63 km blue and easier 43%61 km red 42%21 km black 14%
43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Davos 13 km, Ischgl 11 km.
The black points the same way. Ischgl has 26.8 kilometres of it, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, about 6 more than Davos's 20.7, which is itself the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. Ischgl's blacks average 29.9 percent, against 25.8 at Davos. Those are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Strong skiers will find more to work with at Ischgl.
Off piste, Davos edges it: 13.3 kilometres of marked itinerary against 10.6. Neither is an off piste resort first, but the Jakobshorn draws a freeride and freestyle crowd, with the parks to match.
Who each one actually suits
Davos suits mixed groups, families and anyone travelling with someone who will not ski every day. It is a real town: a high street, proper supermarkets, restaurants at every level, museums, one of the largest natural ice rinks in Europe, curling and cross country loops. You can come by train from Zurich airport. Davos Dorf puts you by the Parsenn railway, Davos Platz by the Jakobshorn and the busier end of town. The evenings are relaxed by default, with the Jakobshorn bars for anyone who wants a late one. It suits least the group set on a compact, car free village.
Ischgl suits couples and groups of friends who want big days followed by big nights. The bars at the bottom of the slopes fill in ski boots by mid afternoon, the clubs run late, and the season opens and closes with huge open air concerts. The village is compact, with most stays a short walk from the gondolas. Skiing over to Samnaun for lunch and duty free shopping is a day out in itself, so take a passport. Young families can make it work by staying away from the loudest streets, but it is a lively place first.
The bit nobody tells you
Davos has 20 more kilometres graded blue, so it looks like the easier mountain. Measure the slopes and the gap mostly disappears. Thirty percent of Ischgl's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 31 at Davos. Ischgl's blues average 15.8 percent, Davos's 16.2. And the reds average 20.7 percent at both, to the decimal point.
So an intermediate who spends the week on red will find the two mountains feel much the same underfoot. Ischgl simply grades more of its piste red, and has more black on top. Where Davos is genuinely better for the less confident is in how much is labelled blue, and in having separate, quieter mountains to learn on away from the crowds.
So, which one
you want a real town as well as a ski area, someone in the party will not ski every day, the group is spread across abilities and happy to pick a mountain each morning, or you would rather arrive by train.
you want the higher, linked area, more of the steep and the black, a season from late November into May, and an evening with some volume in it.
It gives you more of its skiing up high, all of it joined up from one village, and more for the strong skiers without costing the intermediates anything. Davos is the right answer when the town matters, or when you want the nights quieter than Ischgl ever is.