Davos
A high mountain town with a huge amount of skiing.
- The village210m above the median of 1,350m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 1,560m
- Lift-linked from the village50km below the median of 146km across the 24 resorts we have a connected figure for. That is piste you can reach from the village without a bus, not what the pass covers.
- 96km
- Top of the skiing111m above the median of 2,697m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 2,808m
- SeasonThe standard Alpine season, shared by 42 of the 55 resorts we cover.
- December to April
Is Davos right for you?
Davos is a large, high altitude town with skiing spread across several separate mountains, most famously the Parsenn. The village sits at 1,560m and the skiing tops out at 2,808m, and the season runs December to April. On the piste it is a real strength for improvers moving from blue into red and confident intermediates. The pass covers 253km. From the village you can ski 96km without getting on a bus.
Davos at a glance
- Ski area
- Davos Klosters
- Best for
- Snow sure · Mileage chasers · Non skiers
- Fly to
- Zurich, Innsbruck or Milan Malpensa
- Transfer
- About 2h05 by road from Zurich
- Doorstep skiing
- Limited, use lifts
Who Davos suits, and who it suits less
Best for
- Snow sure. Davos sits at 1,560 metres, we measure 78 percent of its piste above 1,800 metres, and the Parsenn takes the skiing to about 2,800 metres.
- Mileage chasers. The Parsenn's long descents run all the way down to Klosters and Küblis, giving point to point skiing with a real sense of journey across five mountains.
- Non skiers. As a full working town, Davos has museums, one of the largest natural ice rinks in Europe, curling, winter walks and a real high street for rest days.
- Families with teenagers. The Jakobshorn, rising straight out of Davos Platz, is the freestyle and free ride mountain with the parks, which suits teenagers who live for jumps and rails.
Less good for
- Couples. Davos is a long, busy town with trams, traffic and supermarkets, so couples set on a romantic, car free village will prefer quieter Klosters next door.
- Beginners. On the lift company's own split, Davos has 96 kilometres of red against 60 of blue, so first timers have less gentle ground than the size suggests.
Skiing from 810m to 2,808m, village at 1,560m.
Where these heights are
- Lowest skiing
- 810mKüblis, at the foot of the Parsenn valley descent.
- Village
- 1,560m
- Top of the skiing
- 2,808mOur measurement of the highest marked piste.
- 60km blue33%
- 96km red52%
- 27km black15%
The resort's own figures, covering the Davos mountains: Parsenn (shared with Klosters), Jakobshorn, Rinerhorn and Pischa.
Plus 39km of ski routes, kept out of the colours.
No green: Swiss pistes are graded from blue.
- Black piste
- 21km, 14% of the pisteMore than the median of 11% across the 55 resorts we cover.
- Off piste itinerary
- 13kmMarked routes, not pistes, and never added to the piste figures.
- Ski area
- Davos Klosters, 253kmParsenn is shared with Klosters. The other mountains are reached by train or bus.
- Lift pass
- Davos Klosters pass, 300kmThe tourist office gives about 300km over six mountains.
- Cross country
- 136km of trails
Sources
- Village height: skisolutions.com
- Lowest skiing: onthesnow.co.uk
- Piste by colour: davosklostersmountains.ch
- Cross country: davos.ch
- Ski area: davosklostersmountains.ch
- Top of the skiing: our measurement of the highest marked piste
- The steep end: our measurement of the OpenStreetMap piste map
The published figures were read on 29 October 2026.
96km from the village. The pass says 253km.
- 63km blue43%
- 61km red42%
- 21km black14%
Plus 13km of off-piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total. The longest is Müli, 3km with 836m of vertical. It is an itinerary, not a piste.
- Improvers, blue into redA real strength, on an even spread
- Confident intermediatesA real strength
- Strong skiersFine
The spreadSomething for everyone. It scores 0.91 for evenness, where 1 is a perfect three way split between blue, red and black, the tenth most even spread of the 55 resorts we cover. A mixed group should all find their level here.
Longest pisteGruobenalp to Wolfgang, 3.3km of black with 419m of vertical.
The Davos Klosters pass covers 253km across six separate areas that are not all joined to each other. From Davos you can ski 96km without getting on a bus, train or car.
Our own measurement of the run geometry around Davos comes to 145km of graded piste, and that is what the profile below is drawn from.
Six separate mountains. Only Parsenn (95.5km, 18 lifts) is genuinely shared between the two villages; the rest need a train, bus or car. The lift company's 253km, ski routes included (the tourist office says 300km), sits 13% above the 224km measured across the same ten lift areas. Schatzalp-Strela is privately owned and needs its own pass.
Sources: davosklostersmountains.ch, skiresort.com
Davos among its Swiss peers
Of these five, Davos has the second highest village, 1,560m. The median across the 55 resorts we cover is 1,350m.
Six separate areas on one pass, so a week here is a plan rather than a lift map.
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. 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. CHF 20 to 50.
The Schatzalp toboggan run, lit after dark. 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. CHF 20 to 50.
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. CHF 20 to 50.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.
21 places we would send you to
Central on the Parsenn slope and busy with it, so the terrace goes first on a clear day and the room fills behind it.
Up the Sertig valley and worth the journey, which is about twenty minutes by road from Davos Platz.
The apres stop at the foot of the Jakobshorn, thirty seconds from the lift and the bus stop, with a warm chalet room inside and a sun terrace outside.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Opening times and ownership 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.
- Zurichabout 2h05 by road
- Innsbruckabout 2h45 by road
- Milan Malpensaabout 3h05 by road