Things to do in Davos: a whole town beyond the slopes
A whole town's worth, and a fair share of it free: about 160 kilometres of prepared winter walking, natural ice to skate on in Davos Dorf, and the paths around the Schatzalp. For anybody not skiing, take the funicular up to the Schatzalp and sledge back down through the forest, and keep eau-la-la for the wet afternoon.
Davos is a working town first and a ski resort second, and the week off the snow is better for it. There is a long promenade between Davos Platz and Davos Dorf, a serious museum, ice wherever you look, and the town does not shut when the lifts do. Somebody who does not ski will not run out of things to do, and a family with small children has the wet afternoon covered.
Start with what costs nothing. About 160 kilometres of prepared winter walking run through the valley, including the Hohe Promenade above the roofs and the Thomas Mann trail up to the Schatzalp. The Seehofseeli in Davos Dorf is natural ice you can skate on for nothing into the evening, weather allowing. And under sixes ride free with a parent or an instructor, which for a family is a week of gondolas thrown in.
For anybody not skiing, give the first afternoon to the Schatzalp. The funicular has climbed out of Davos Platz since 1899, the hotel at the top is the old sanatorium that became Thomas Mann's Berghof and still gives tours, and the toboggan run comes back down through the forest, lit late. On the Promenade, the Kirchner Museum is the cultural draw, built around a painter who came as a patient and stayed. If it pours, eau-la-la has the pools, an eighty metre slide and the saunas upstairs.
For one big afternoon, Air-Davos flies tandem paragliders with a certified pilot and sends the photographs and the video back the same evening. Klosters is twenty minutes down the pass when you want a quieter place for a day. And know the two weeks that change the town: the Spengler Cup at the end of December and the World Economic Forum in January. If your week overlaps either one, book early.
Free, and worth knowing
Natural ice in Davos Dorf, the paths around the Schatzalp, free lift rides for under sixes with a parent, and the two weeks that turn the town into an event.
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.
Then the World Economic Forum takes the Congress Centre from 18 to 22 January 2027 with over three thousand delegates, and the Schatzalp funicular switches to a twenty four hour timetable from the Sunday before, first train at seven on the Sunday morning and the last one at midnight on the Friday. If you are here for either week, book what you want well before you fly.
Davos Platz
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.
Over in Klosters, Alp Garfiun from the Monbiel car park is flat, family sized and has a horse drawn carriage running back down, which is the detail that sells it to a group with small children in it. Two panorama routes at Pischa, 1.3 km and 6.3 km, take the ridge out to Hureli at 2,444 m.
Davos Platz, Davos Dorf, and the Monbiel car park in Klosters
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.
Promenade 153, Davos Dorf
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.
The Thomas Mann trail comes up from the town on foot, so a walker who wants the whole thing for nothing can take it in both directions. The funicular has been running since 1899 and takes four minutes from the middle of Davos Platz for anybody who would rather ride one way.
Schatzalpbahn valley station, Davos Platz
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.
Davos Platz and Klosters information offices
On the mountain
The toboggan run back down from the Schatzalp, lit late and needing no booking, and a tandem paraglide for the one big afternoon.
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 · Schatzalpbahn valley station, Davos Platz · Their page
Paragliding with Air-Davos
Every flight goes with a pilot certified by the Swiss federal aviation authority, with the helmet and the briefing included, and the photographs and an edited video come back to you the same evening. The panorama tandem is a hundred and ninety francs for fifteen to thirty five minutes in the air. Ski and Fly is the winter one worth knowing about, launching on skis inside the ski area for anybody who can already ski properly.
Over CHF 50 · Their page
In the village
The wet day answer, the serious museum, and Thomas Mann's Berghof, still a hotel and still giving tours.
eau-la-la
The pool and wellness building on the promenade in Davos Platz, and the answer to most wet afternoons here. A twenty five metre indoor pool held at twenty seven degrees, a heated outdoor pool at thirty three to thirty four, a multi purpose pool with a floor that moves, a children's paddling area, an eighty metre slide called the black hole, and diving boards at one and three metres.
Price on request · Promenade 90, Davos Platz
Kirchner Museum Davos
The serious cultural draw in the town, built around Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who arrived in Davos as a patient and stayed. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from ten until six with extended hours over Christmas and New Year, and it sits on the same promenade as the ice minigolf, so the two make an easy afternoon together. The guest card takes 15% off standard entry.
Price on request · Promenade 82, Davos Platz · Their page
The Hotel Schatzalp and the Magic Mountain tour
The sanatorium that Thomas Mann turned into the Berghof is still standing at 1,861 m and still taking guests, and it runs a guided tour of itself on Tuesdays and Thursdays at quarter past two for a ten franc contribution. That is the cheapest way into the literary half of Davos by a long distance. The Belle Epoque restaurant downstairs serves a Thomas Mann anniversary menu every evening, with the last table at eight.
Under CHF 20 · Hotel Schatzalp, reached by the funicular from Davos Platz
Nearby
Twenty minutes down the pass by bus or Rhaetian Railway, and the quieter half of the destination.
Klosters, twenty minutes down the pass
Klosters Platz and Klosters Dorf sit twenty minutes down the pass on the same lift pass and the same guest card, and they are the quieter and prettier half of the destination. The Arena on Doggilochstrasse is the reason a non skier goes down: two artificial ice rinks, four curling rinks, three indoor tennis courts and a restaurant, with public skating on Friday evenings and Bavarian curling by the lane.
CHF 20 to 50 · Klosters Platz and Klosters Dorf, by bus or Rhaetian Railway from Davos · Their page
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.