Grindelwald
Skiing beneath the north face of the Eiger.
- The village316m below the median of 1,350m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 1,034m
- Top of the skiing197m below the median of 2,697m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 2,500m
- Lift-linked from the village4km above 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.
- 150km
- SeasonThe standard Alpine season, shared by 42 of the 55 resorts we cover.
- December to April
Is Grindelwald right for you?
Grindelwald sits in a stunning bowl beneath the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and the scenery here is among the finest in the Alps. The village sits at 1,034m and the skiing tops out at 2,500m, 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.
Grindelwald at a glance
- Ski area
- Jungfrau Ski Region
- Best for
- Non skiers · Families with young children · Couples
- Fly to
- Geneva or Zurich
- Transfer
- About 2h30 by road from Geneva
- Doorstep skiing
- Limited, use lifts
Who Grindelwald suits, and who it suits less
Best for
- Non skiers. Non skiers can take the railway through the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch at 3,454 metres, then sledge the long toboggan runs or walk the cleared paths.
- Families with young children. First, above the village, has friendly rolling blues and reds, and the long, well marked toboggan runs are a favourite with families on rest days.
- Couples. Long lunches on the terraces at Kleine Scheidegg under the Eiger, postcard walks and quiet evenings in the village suit couples who value the view.
Less good for
- Mileage chasers. The area is joined by trains and gondolas rather than one big lift network, so skiers chasing huge mileage and steep laps may find it spread out.
- Après. This is a scenic, family leaning resort rather than a party town, with relaxed terraces and a few livelier bars, so loud nights are not the draw.
Skiing from 1,034m to 2,500m, village at 1,034m.
Where these heights are
- Lowest skiing
- 1,034mGrindelwald, the bottom of both Grindelwald-First and Grindelwald-Wengen.
- Village
- 1,034m
- Top of the skiing
- 2,500mOur measurement of the highest marked piste.
- 55km blue42%
- 57km red43%
- 19km black15%
We found no official split by colour for Grindelwald, so this is our own measurement of the marked runs around it, from the piste map.
No green: Swiss pistes are graded from blue.
- Black piste
- 19km, 14% of the pisteMore than the median of 11% across the 55 resorts we cover.
- Of which double black
- 2.9km
- Ski area
- Jungfrau Ski Region, 211km
- Cross country
- 10.5km of trails
Sources
- Village height: jungfrau.ch
- Lowest skiing: jungfrau.ch
- Cross country: jungfrauregion.swiss
- Ski area: jungfrau.ch
- Top of the skiing: our measurement of the highest marked piste
- Piste by colour and the steep end: our measurement of the OpenStreetMap piste map
The published figures were read on 29 October 2026.
150km from the village. The pass says 211km.
- 55km blue42%
- 57km red43%
- 19km black14%
- Improvers, blue into redA real strength, on an even spread
- Confident intermediatesA real strength
- Strong skiersFine
The spreadSomething for everyone. It scores 0.92 for evenness, where 1 is a perfect three way split between blue, red and black, the ninth most even spread of the 55 resorts we cover. A mixed group should all find their level here.
Longest pistePiste 23, 5km of red with 700m of vertical.
The Jungfrau Ski Region pass covers 211km across three separate areas that are not all joined to each other. From Grindelwald you can ski 150km without getting on a bus, train or car.
Our own measurement of the run geometry around Grindelwald comes to 132km of graded piste, and that is what the profile below is drawn from.
Sources: skiresort.com
Grindelwald among its Swiss peers
Know the mountain before you go.
The skiing
The skiing is mostly gentle and intermediate, perfect for families and cruisers, with the famous long run from Kleine Scheidegg a real treat. Experts will want to explore the wider region for more bite.
The village and the evenings
The village is a working one with farms alongside the hotels, which keeps it grounded and pretty. The evenings are relaxed rather than raucous.
Beyond the skiing.
Free, and worth knowing
The World Snow Festival. 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. 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 one day a week. 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.
A few of the rest
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 CHF 50.
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 CHF 50.
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. 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.
17 places we would send you to
At the top of the First gondola, which makes it the default lunch for anyone on that side and busy accordingly.
The one to book when the evening matters.
The local bar rather than the tourist one, with a fire inside and a deck outside facing the mountain.
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
Fly to Geneva or Zurich and take the trains in, changing at Interlaken, with the final stretch a scenic climb.
- Genevaabout 2h30 by road
- Zurichabout 2h by road
Bern is closer, about 1h, but has little or no direct service from the UK, so most people fly to Geneva, where flights are more frequent and usually cheaper.