Grindelwald

Grindelwald sits in a stunning bowl beneath the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and the scenery here is among the finest in the Alps. It shares the Jungfrau ski region with Wengen and Mürren, all connected by a lovely web of mountain railways.

The World Snow Festival, 18 to 24 January 2027. The forty second edition, free of charge, and the theme this time is animal worlds. Teams from Italy, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the USA, Argentina and Latvia carve giant snow sculptures on the Barplatz and the Eiger+Nordwandplatz in the middle of the village, with two further teams working up on Mannlichen.

Lauberhorn week in Wengen, 12 to 17 January 2027. The oldest and longest downhill on the World Cup circuit, run in the next valley on the same lift pass, and standing in the village to watch it costs nothing. Downhill training runs Tuesday to Thursday at half past twelve, the Super G is on Friday 15 January at half past twelve, the downhill itself on Saturday 16 January at half past twelve, and the slalom on Sunday 17 January with runs at ten and at one.

The free bus, and what else the guest card carries. Every overnight guest gets the Grindelwald Guest Card from their accommodation, and it carries the local bus and the ski bus free of charge. On top of that it gives free use of the Grindelwald cross country trail and free borrowing of everything in the Graben library against a refundable deposit, which is the best wet afternoon answer in the village for a family with readers in it.

Children ski free on Saturdays. Up to three children aged six to fifteen get a free day pass on a Saturday when an accompanying adult buys a one day or afternoon ticket at the list price. It is confirmed for 26/27, and for a family of five it is worth building the shape of the week around, because Saturday is normally the day everybody writes off to travelling.

Over a hundred kilometres of winter hiking trails. Prepared trails run across all three ski areas and the ones that start on the valley floor cost nothing at all. The ones worth the lift ticket are named and timed. First to Waldspitz to Bort is about three hours, dropping from 2,275 m to 1,530 m, with a detour to the Bachalpsee worth taking. Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg is about two and three quarter hours with the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau in front of you the whole way.

The Liechtliweg, lit by nineteen thousand lights. About two kilometres of winter walking trail lit by more than nineteen thousand LED lights, which turns an ordinary evening walk into the thing everybody photographs. It costs nothing and it needs no lift, which puts it in a very small group in this valley.

A free ride to the Schilthorn on your birthday. On the day itself, the return trip by cable car from Stechelberg or from Murren up to the Schilthorn is free. That is a hundred and fifteen franc ticket handed over for nothing, which makes it worth checking the passports of everybody in the party against the dates of the holiday before anybody books anything.

Wengen and Murren, the two car free villages. Both villages sit on shelves above the Lauterbrunnen valley and neither has cars in it, which means walking them is the activity rather than the way of getting to one. The valley below them has seventy two waterfalls coming off its walls, so the train ride in is half the outing.

The Jungfraujoch. The railway climbs through the Eiger and the Monch to a station at 3,454 m, and from the terminal at the bottom of Grindelwald it takes forty five minutes: fifteen in the Eiger Express tricable gondola up to the Eigergletscher, then twenty six minutes on the Jungfrau Railway itself, including a five minute stop at around 3,160 m so everybody can photograph the ice. Over 50 euros.

Grindelwald-First, and what actually runs in winter. The gondola leaves from the middle of the village, ten minutes on foot from Grindelwald station, and takes twenty five minutes up to First at 2,168 m by way of Bort and Schreckfeld. At the top the First Cliff Walk, a walkway bolted to the rock face, runs forty five metres out into the void, and the First View platform gives seven separate outlooks over the Bernese Alps. Both are open in winter and neither costs anything extra once you have paid to get up. Over 50 euros.

Over fifty kilometres of toboggan runs. Sledging is the strongest thing here for somebody not skiing, and one pass covers all of it. The famous one is the Big Pintenfritz, 10.7 km from the Faulhorn down to Bussalp and on to Weidli, dropping from 2,552 m to 1,153 m, and it begins with about two and a half hours of walking up from Bussalp or First to the summit at 2,680 m. Allow three and a half hours for the whole thing and treat it as the day rather than part of one. 20 to 50 euros.

All 22 picks for Grindelwald, dining included, live in the Ski Snug app.

Fly to Zurich or Geneva and take the trains in, changing at Interlaken, with the final stretch a scenic climb.