A high mountain town with a huge amount of skiing.
Davos is a large, high altitude town with skiing spread across several separate mountains, most famously the Parsenn. It offers a huge amount of varied terrain and the amenities of a proper town rather than a small resort.
Know the mountain before you go.
The skiing
The Parsenn's long descents to the valley villages are the highlight, and the linked Klosters side adds even more. Snow tends to be reliable given the altitude, and there is terrain for every level.
The village and the evenings
Davos is more workmanlike than pretty, but it makes up for it with shops, restaurants and a lively feel. The neighbouring village of Klosters offers a calmer alternative on the same pass.
Beyond the skiing.
Free, and worth knowing
The two weeks that change the town. Two weeks in the winter turn Davos into something other than a ski town, and both of them cost nothing to stand in. The 98th Spengler Cup runs 26 to 31 December 2026 at the ice stadium, and the town fills with it from the first morning.
About 160 kilometres of winter walking trails. The valley trails are prepared, marked and free, and the named ones are worth knowing by name. The Hohe Promenade runs the length of the town above the roofs, the Thomas Mann trail climbs to the Schatzalp, and there is a proper climb up to the Strela Pass for anybody who wants one.
The Seehofseeli natural ice rink. About two thousand square metres of natural ice on the promenade in Davos Dorf, free to skate on, with room for hockey and curling on it as well. Skates are five francs a pair for the day for anybody who has not brought any. It opens in the middle of the afternoon and runs to ten at night when the weather allows, which makes it the cheapest evening in Davos by a distance.
The Schatzalp walking paths, and the way up on foot. The Schatzalp's own winter folder puts it plainly in German: use of the toboggan runs and the walking paths is free. Four paths run off the terrace at 1,861 m. Half a kilometre takes you across to the Strelaalp restaurant, the Sonnenweg gets to the same place the long way at 2.5 km, the Wasserfallrundgang is a 4.5 km circuit, and the Eichhornliweg drops 3 km down to the Hohe Promenade and on into Davos Platz or Davos Dorf.
Over a hundred kilometres of cross country trails. Over 100 km of classic track and 75 km of skating track run through the valley and up the side valleys, and the English page on davos.ch says in as many words that use of the cross country tracks is free of charge for everybody. Hire shops and a ski school sit in town for anybody who needs the kit and a first lesson.
The buses and trains on the Davos Klosters Card. Every overnight guest gets the card at check in, on paper or on a phone, and it carries free second class travel on the municipal buses and on the Rhaetian Railway inside your own tariff zone. In a town two miles long that is worth real money every single day. Dogs travel on their owner's card with no ticket of their own, on the buses, on the trains, and free on every mountain railway in Davos Klosters.
Children under six ride the lifts free. Across the Davos Klosters Mountains a child rides free up to their sixth birthday when a parent or a ski instructor is with them, and it is confirmed in the 26/27 ticket terms rather than carried over from an old season. For a family with a small one in it that is a week of gondola rides for nothing on top of everything else.
WiFi, the libraries and the toy libraries. Both tourist information offices, Davos Platz and Klosters, run free WiFi, which is the warm half hour nobody thinks to plan for. Both towns also have a public library and a toy library, and the toy libraries hold close to a thousand items between them, which is the answer to a wet afternoon with a four year old in it.
A few of the rest
Riding up as a foot passenger. There is no pedestrian pass in Davos, which turns out to suit anybody going up once or twice rather than every day, because the lift company sells plain point to point returns instead. Fifty one francs puts you on top of the Parsenn at the Weissfluhjoch or the Weissfluhgipfel, or on the Jakobshorn, and thirty three does Madrisa or the Rinerhorn. All of them are confirmed for winter 26/27, which is more than most of this file manages. 20 to 50 euros.
The Schatzalp toboggan run, lit until eleven. Three hundred metres of descent and eighteen bends through what the operator calls the Schatzalp magic forest, dropping from 1,861 m back down into Davos Platz. The curves are lit every night until eleven, which makes this the one evening thing in Davos that needs no booking at all. Sledges are ten francs at the valley station or fifteen at the kiosk on top, and an identity card goes down as the deposit. 20 to 50 euros.
Night sledging at the Rinerhorn. Three and a half kilometres and thirty three curves down to Glaris, and on Wednesday and Friday evenings the gondola runs from seven until half past ten with the valley descent lit for the same window. Thirty two francs takes an adult up all evening, sixteen buys a single ride, and a sledge is fifteen against a fifty franc deposit or an identity card. 20 to 50 euros.
All 27 picks for Davos, dining included, live in the Ski Snug app.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.
Getting there
Zurich is about two and a half hours away, with a smooth rail link right into town.
Davos guides
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