The 10 greatest ski resorts in Switzerland

Ski holidays in Switzerland have it all – charming villages, giant mountains and brilliant skiing - Melody Sky/Verbier.ch

The Swiss claim to have invented modern skiing in Europe, thanks in part to pioneering British visitors to classic resorts such as Davos, St Moritz, Wengen, Grindelwald and Mürren. However, the truth is that skiing evolved in several countries around the same time during the late 19th century. Purists would even argue that Norwegian-born miners in California were already downhill racing for fun on weekends some 40 years earlier.

In the early 1960s, Austria eclipsed Switzerland in the popularity stakes among British skiers, but they in turn were soon overtaken by France as it developed purpose-built destinations. The league table remains unchanged today, with Switzerland sitting comfortably in fourth place behind Italy.

Yet it has traffic-free mountain villages like Zermatt and Saas-Fee, dramatic mountain scenery, impressive ski runs and outstanding mountain restaurants. What’s more, most destinations can be reached directly by train from Geneva, Zurich and other hub airports.

The reason, of course, for its fourth place is cost. There’s no escaping the Swiss Franc’s strength against the pound, making prices for British visitors almost prohibitive in the big-name resorts. Even in the cheaper, lesser-known Swiss villages, day-to-day costs on the ground are higher than in the average resort in Austria, France or Italy.

However, it’s still possible to enjoy a superb ski holiday here by shopping around carefully for budget-conscious accommodation and avoiding buying lunch up the mountain. Hotel prices can be prohibitive and self-catering often makes the best sense. You’ll also need to factor in the local tourist tax (Taxe de Sejour or Kurtaxe), which is CHF 3 (£0.79) to CHF 6 (£5.58) per person per night on top of your accommodation fee. To avoid a nasty surprise on checkout, find out if it’s already included in the quoted price.

Here’s our pick of 10 Swiss ski resorts that are definitely worth visiting this winter.

1. Verbier

Best for experts

Other Swiss resorts may match Verbier for luxurious chalets and hotels and vibrant après, but none quite have its cool cachet – and that’s largely because few can rival its challenging high-altitude terrain. Anyone who can handle Verbier’s itinerary routes, never mind its couloirs, can consider themselves pretty darn good.

The itineraries (which, though loosely marked, are not formally avalanche-controlled or checked by the ski patrol) are where many experts spend their time, treating them like pistes. Epic highlights are the 900m-vertical route from Col des Gentianes to Tortin, and the 1,000m vertical Vallon d’Arby down to La Tzoumaz on the edge of the ski area.

The 67 lifts access 412km of runs, including some of the best lift-served off piste in the Alps. From Mont Gelé (3,025m) there are steeper itineraries and serious off-piste routes, while the top of Mont Fort (3,330m) offers a black mogul run on the front and adventurous off-piste routes off the back that end down in Siviez. An alternative front-face descent is by zip-wire – reaching speeds of 130kph.

Verbier has some of the most daring terrain in the Alps - Melody Sky/verbier.ch

The resort is a gentle sprawl of chalets, hotels and apartments, few of which are ski-in/ski-out – but the free ski bus system is generally efficient. Resort life revolves around the après hub of the Place Centrale, the main lift base at Médran 500m away, and the buzzing street between the two.

This winter, the 1970 gondola on the upper section of Savoleyres will be replaced by a ropeway with a mix of six-person chairs and 10-person gondolas. The lower section will be replaced for winter 2026/27, therefore providing a smooth link between the sectors of Verbier and Savoleyres – La Tzoumaz. A new chairlift will also replace the old Lac II lift, connecting the Lac des Vaux to the Col de Chassoure.

Where to stay

The three-star Hotel Montpelier is 10 minutes’ walk from the resort centre and has a ski bus stop on the doorstep. From £1,005, B&B, with Alpine Answers. Excluding travel.

Alternatives

Andermatt’s main mountain, Gemsstock, is an expert’s dream, with some seriously steep pistes and challenging off-piste routes. The resort is now in partnership with Vail and lifts are included in the multi-resort Epic Pass.

All of the main sectors in Zermatt have long, testing marked itinerary runs; there are also epic off-piste routes from several points. Zermatt also has one of Europe’s biggest heliskiing operations.

2. St Moritz

Best for intermediates

In St Moritz, ski trains and buses give fairly efficient access to a wide variety of intermediate slopes in six widely spread sectors. The two largest are Corviglia, accessed from town, and Corvatsch, a 25-minute free ski bus ride away. All sectors go up to around 3,000m, and offer fabulous panoramic views. The wide, open slopes above the treeline make for particularly attractive piste cruising. In Corviglia, the old Randolins–Munt da San Murezzan lift has been replaced by a high-speed six-person chair.

St Moritz is famous for being the world capital of winter glitz, attracting a clientele with stratospheric income. However, with its 350km of sunny, reliably snowy pistes, there’s more to it than bling. The resort village is divided into two main parts. St Moritz Dorf is the largest and where most of the five-star hotels, swanky clubs and restaurants are located. Quieter St Moritz Bad has the cross-country track around St Moritz Lake as its focal point.

Skiing in St Moritz reaches 3,000m and is ideal for intermediates - Engadin St. Moritz

Overall, the resort offers a huge range of quality leisure facilities, notably ice-skating, tobogganing, bobsleigh, and the famous Cresta Run for skeleton – which is, infamously, still only open to men. Most unusual is golf (using red balls), cricket, horse-racing, show jumping, and polo – all on the frozen lake. St Moritz is now included in the Ikon lift pass, which gives access to over 50 resorts worldwide.

Where to stay

Club Med Roi Soleil is in St Moritz Bad, with a shuttle bus to the nearest lift. The all-inclusive hotel has an open bar, with all meals and drinks included, as are ski school classes, lift passes, mini clubs, and evening entertainment. From £1,675, with Iglu Ski. Excluding travel.

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Alternatives

Davos has an extensive network of linked intermediate pistes on offer in its six separate sectors of slopes, shared with its smaller neighbour Klosters. The main ski area, Parsenn, links the two resorts. Laax and neighbouring Flims share 224km of almost entirely intermediate slopes.

3. Saas-Fee

Best for beginners

The gorgeous traffic-free village of Saas-Fee looks a bit like a small Zermatt with its age-blackened wooden chalets, and it is surrounded by magnificent glaciers and mountain peaks, including the Dom, the highest mountain located entirely within Switzerland. The ideal time to visit is later in the season, when the village gets a decent amount of sun.

The ski area is relatively small, with 100km of pistes, and is best suited to beginners and intermediates. The nursery slopes are long, gentle, quiet and only a short walk from the main street – plus the glacier area and most of the top half of the mountain are ideal for beginners with glorious easy blue runs at altitude. Even runs that are marked red here are generally very gentle, and would be classified as blue in many resorts. Last winter, the resort’s Metro Alpin, the highest underground funicular in the world, leading to the glacier, was extensively modernised. The journey between the Felskinn and Mittelallalin stations now takes just four minutes, with carriages for up to 95 people.

There's plenty to keep the family entertained in Saas-Fee - SaastalTourismusAG-AmarcsterMedia

Saas-Fee has a friendly atmosphere and is good for families as there is plenty of après-ski entertainment to keep everyone occupied, including the state-of-the-art Aqua Allalin pool and spa complex. The Feeblitz Rodelbobbahn (a bobsleigh/rollercoaster hybrid) makes an excellent afternoon’s entertainment – especially when the weather closes in.

Where to stay

The three-star Allalin Apartments are located a 12-minute walk from the village centre. The apartments are managed by the hotel of the same name and you can opt to eat in the hotel’s restaurant. Accommodation ranges from studios to two-bedroom flats. From £709, based on four sharing, self-catering, with Inghams.

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Alternatives

Villars is a reassuringly slow-paced resort where novices can make first turns in a relaxed, low-pressure atmosphere. The gentle nursery slope is at village level. Laax has plenty of long, easy blue runs from high on the mountain back to the village for beginners looking to move on from the nursery slopes.

4. Grimentz

Best for charm

The largest and most attractive of the four resorts in the beautiful Val d’Anniviers, Grimentz shares a ski area with linked Zinal. Nearby St Luc and Chandolin are also included on the lift pass. Grimentz has the most restaurants, bars and accommodation. It is reached by a dramatic winding road that zigzags up from Sierre in the Rhone Valley, fringed with sheer drop-offs. The reward for this scary initiation is the feeling of discovering a secret Alpine hideaway. The village has a charming centre with ancient wooden chalets and some 1970s additions that are less appealing – think uncommercialised Zermatt on a much smaller scale.

Even though Grimentz is no longer so secret, its offbeat location means that it has not been overexploited by the demands of tourism and it is all the better for it. The ski areas total 210km of pistes served by 46 lifts. Grimentz-Zinal is on one side of the valley, while St Luc-Chandolin is on the other. It’s best to have a car to get between the two as the bus service isn’t great.

Life on an off the slopes in Grimentz is charming - Peter Cade/Getty

Together, the ski areas offer the quantity and variety of pistes needed for a full week’s entertainment. While there is a substantial amount of easy and intermediate terrain, the steeps and off piste are big attractions. The World Cup black run at Grimentz, is a proper challenge, but it pales into insignificance when compared with the black Piste du Chamois on the Zinal side. The winching of a piste-bashing machine here is an impressive testament to Swiss engineering expertise. The off-piste opportunities to be discovered with a mountain guide are stupendous. For the less gung-ho, St Luc is home to more benign runs against a quite beautiful Alpine backdrop.

Where to stay

Chandolin Boutique Hotel has the atmosphere of a chalet, combining temporary design with wood and rustic fabrics. It has an award-winning restaurant. From £1,766, B&B, including transfers, with OTP Swiss Holidays. Excluding flights.

Alternatives

Mürren is pretty, with narrow lanes lined by small chalets at an altitude high enough to more or less guarantee snow on the rooftops. It’s also car-free. Saas-Fee is traffic-free aside from its electric carts and taxis, and the buildings are mainly in traditional Alpine style – look up, and tumbling glaciers loom above.

5. Zermatt

Best for partying

Après that starts on the mountain in mid-afternoon is a well-known feature of Austrian resorts, and is being propagated in big-name French resorts through the Folie Douce franchise – but it’s arguably been going on longer in Zermatt in the cute huts that dot the lower part of the Matterhorn sector of slopes.

These days, it isn’t just amiable sing-songs fuelled by schnapps concoctions. Bars such as the Hennu Stall at the bottom of the Matterhorn sector and Cervo at the bottom of Sunnegga have live bands generating an atmosphere to rival anything in St Anton.

Later on, Zermatt suits all tastes, from the panelled Elsie’s Bar for a glass of wine (and maybe oysters or snails) and the popular Papperla Pub, to having your eardrums assaulted in one of the various venues in the Hotel Post.

Visiting Zermatt offers the chance to ski in the shadow of the Matterhorn - Getty

Zermatt has lots of other attractions too – 360km of varied, extensive slopes including those of Cervinia in Italy, which is linked across the Klein Matterhorn. There are testing off-piste itinerary runs; heliskiing on tap; quality mountain restaurants; a characterful, car-free village; and, naturally, fabulous views of the Matterhorn from around almost every corner. Zermatt is also included in the Ikon lift pass, which give access to over 50 resorts worldwide. This winter, the 22-year-old Riffelberg–Gifthittli six-pack chairlift has been upgraded to an eight-seater.

Where to stay

Argos is a self-contained apartment on the ground floor of Chalet Ulysse, a five-minute walk from the Matterhorn Express gondola station, with the possibility of skiing back to within 200m of the door. From CHF 3,500 (£3,265) total, based on four sharing, self-catering with Matterhorn Chalets. Excluding travel.

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Alternatives

Verbier presents the full range of après options, starting with lively bars on the mountain and progressing through to happy-hour live bands and seriously expensive night clubs. Laax has succeeded in attracting lots of young people, mainly snowboarders, who fill the bars early and late, particularly at the Laax lift base.

6. Wengen

Best for families

Essentially car-free (with the exception of taxis), Wengen might have been specially designed for families. At its heart there’s a snow-covered field that serves as a combined playground and gentle nursery slope. For children progressing beyond this stage, one of the two ways up the mountain is by cog railway that also gives access to the village from Lauterbrunnen down in the valley. The other main lift is the speedier Männlichen cable car.

Wengen is one of the original Swiss villages that attracted British tourists - Inna Zabotnova/Getty

The village sits on a sunny shelf and is made up of a mix of small chalets and bigger, more institutional-looking hotels. Wengen shares a ski area with Grindelwald, and most of the slopes are above its neighbour – lovely long red and blue runs under the towering north face of the Eiger. The Jungfrau region lift pass covers the slopes of neighbouring Mürren, as well as Wengen and Grindelwald – 265km of pistes in total served by 63 lifts, as well as the mountain railways that form the backbone of the uphill transport system. Lift passes are free for those under six, and reduced up to age 19. Over 62-year-olds also benefit from reduced prices.

There are plenty of family-friendly activities on offer, including 50km of toboggan runs. The most popular of these is the 4.5km run from Wengernalp down to the train station in town, but there are also long runs from the top of the mountain going in the opposite direction towards Grindelwald. In the middle of the village, there’s indoor curling and outdoor skating.

Where to stay

Hotel Falken is a historic hotel built in 1895, with a restaurant, piano room and bar. The village centre, nursery slopes and train station are all a short walk away. From £1,399, with Sno.

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Alternatives

Arosa is a child-friendly winter sports village with an unintimidating ski area, traditionally enjoyed by all family members – be they toddlers, skaters, cross-country enthusiasts, walkers, and alpine skiers. If you stay in participating hotels and apartments, you can benefit from free ski school lessons for those under 17.

7. Andermatt

Best for powder

Andermatt sits in a prime high-altitude position for attracting snow cover. In one of its two separate ski areas, steep and shady Gemsstock, most of the slopes are between 2,000m and 3,000m.

There are often high-quality conditions in Andermatt when the cover in the Valais region – Switzerland’s main concentration of major resorts – is mediocre. Although it does have several intermediate pistes, Gemsstock is really an expert’s mountain. The main face of 900m vertical consists almost entirely of black runs and off-piste routes to mid-mountain, and the one run to the valley is also a black, although an easy one.

Andermatt has some of the best powder snow in the Alps - Roman Tyulyakov / Andermatt-Urserntal Tourismus

However, Andermatt’s other sector, Nätschen-Gütsch-Sedrun, has a whole expanse of intermediate slopes, bringing the total pistes on offer in Andermatt to 120km. A network of modern lifts and pistes links Nätschen-Gütsch with Sedrun, 15km away to the east.

The link is part of an ongoing £1.2 billion redevelopment of the resort, backed by Egyptian entrepreneur Samih Sawiris. Once only linked by train, there is now a series of red and blue pistes and lifts, including six-seater chairs and a fast 10-person gondola from Oberalppass to Schneehüenerstock. For this season, the old four-person chairlifts Val Val–Cuolm and Val Val–Calmut, which date from 1988, have been replaced by modern six-seater chairlifts.

Vail Resorts has now acquired a controlling share in the resort’s development and the transaction includes a £130 million investment in the skiing infrastructure and guest experience, as well as the wider Andermatt Swiss Alps real estate business. In effect, Andermatt was Vail Resorts’ first acquisition in Europe and Epic Pass holders now have unlimited access to the Andermatt-Sedrun ski area.

Where to stay

The Radisson Blu Hotel Reusson in Andermatt is a modern hotel, set in the most recently built enclave, with shops and restaurants. It’s a short walk from the railway station, and a shuttle bus takes you to and from the lifts. From £1,395, B&B, including rail transfers, with Ski Solutions.

Alternatives

With its village at 1,500m and slopes up to 3,330m, Verbier’s altitude ensures there’s a strong chance of good snow throughout the season. Engelberg is a favourite of Zürich weekenders. Not far north of Andermatt, it has a similarly well-deserved reputation for snow – although the village is quite low, most of the slopes are high (up to 3,030m).

8. Laax

Best for terrain parks

The ski area shared by the villages of Laax, Flims and Falera targets a youthful market, and the area’s key appeal lies in its five terrain parks, high up on Crap Sogn Gion (the local dialect generates some awkward names – Crap translates as “peak”).

In total, the parks have over 90 features such as rails, boxes and kickers as well as two halfpipes (the larger one is the world’s biggest, a massive 200m long, 22m wide and 6.90m high). The resort also has an indoor freestyle facility at the Freestyle Academy, with a skate bowl, ramps, jumps, trampoline and airbag.

Laax has freestyle options for all abilities - Laax Tourist Board

The 224km ski area served by 30 lifts also has lots to offer freeriders, with a good range of ungroomed but marked and patrolled freeride runs, as well as vast off-piste areas. However, the sunny orientation of the slopes means snow conditions can be highly variable, especially late in the season.

This winter, a new eight-person cableway replaces the Crap Masegn–Fuorcla–Vorab gondola lift, which had been operating since 1978. The fifth stage of the FlemXpress, a pioneering on-demand gondola connecting Segnes to Ils Cugns, opens at the start of this season. The gondola only sets off when passengers are on board, saving 50 per cent on energy consumption.

There’s a wide choice of places to stay, from the quiet backwaters of Falera and Laax Dorf to the roadside hotels of Flims Dorf, the wooded seclusion of Flims Waldhaus or at the Laax lift base.

Where to stay

The wellnessHotel3000 is modern and clean with 41 rooms. It houses a swimming pool, spa, restaurant, games room and bar. From £1,039, B&B, with Heidi.

Alternatives

Davos is a great area for freeriders when the snow is good, with long runs from the top of the mountains down to the valley, but its appeal to freestylers is equally compelling – the Jakobshorn sector has an extensive terrain park and a superpipe. Saas Fee has plenty of wide, well-groomed pistes and an impressively big and varied terrain park up on the glacier.

9. Leysin

Best for value

The key to getting value for money, particularly in Switzerland, is to steer clear of the high-profile, fashionable resorts. In this respect, it’s hard to beat Leysin. It’s known as a resort for schoolchildren and also snowboarders, mainly for the reason that prices here are lower than in the big, well-known resorts.

Drinks in particular are reasonably priced by Swiss standards. Originally, Leysin was the setting for tuberculosis sanitoriums, thanks to its sunny climate and proximity to Geneva, about a 90-minute drive away. These days, it’s a traditional ski resort with chalets scattered across a sunny meadow, although a few larger buildings of institutional architectural style bear witness to its health-tourist history. A cable car and a quad chair provide the main mountain access from the edge of the village.

The slopes in Leysin are quite compared to top Swiss resorts - Lee Christensen/Getty

The slopes best suit beginners to intermediates, with 100km of pistes going up to 2,200m and a terrain park with areas to suit all levels plus a halfpipe that’s good enough to host the Junior World Snowboard Championships in halfpipe each January. There is also a 7km cross-country track meandering through the forest. The lift pass includes nearby Villars and Les Diablerets.

Where to stay

Ski-in/ski-out Leysin Lodge offers studios and apartments with balconies. Apartments have a living area with a fireplace and a sofa bed, plus a dining area and kitchen. From £941, self-catering in a two-bedroom apartment, including rail transfers, with Heidi.

Alternatives

Engelberg has a relatively low international profile, and three-star hotels outnumber four-stars eight to one. Local prices are about as low as Swiss resort prices go. Andermatt has undergone a lot of change of late with upmarket new developments, but the original old village still offers modest hotels and prices (for Switzerland).

10. Crans-Montana

Best for weekends

Grabbing a quick weekend at short notice when snow conditions are good is a very appealing prospect. Crans-Montana is a great place for a bit of short-break indulgence, with a wide choice of seriously good hotels and restaurants, and it is easily reached from Geneva. Trains run from the airport to the valley town of Sierre, from where a funicular zips up to Montana, a total transfer time of about two hours and 40 minutes.

Last-minute weekends are a particularly good idea, because while it has a scenic, extensive and varied ski area, virtually all its slopes face south or south west. This means that although around a third of its 140km of slopes are covered by snowmaking, it is exceptionally vulnerable to the sun after midwinter.

Crans-Montana is popular for weekend breaks - Didier Marti/Getty

It’s a big place – a merging of the two towns of Crans and Montana with centres a mile apart – in a prettily wooded setting. The panoramic views are fabulous, particularly from the mountain restaurant terraces, but it lacks a resort-village atmosphere. For ski tourers, there are 15 uphill ski touring routes ranging from easy to difficult. For skiers who travel to the mountains several times in one winter, Crans-Montana is included in the multi-resort Epic Pass.

Where to stay

Hotel Valaisia is a four-star hotel in a quiet part of Crans-Montana, close to the Cry d’Er lift. It has a brasserie, bar, swimming pool and spa. From £1,445, B&B, with Ski Solutions.

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Alternatives

Villars is just over two hours from Geneva airport by train. The slopes, though rather limited for a week-long holiday for those beyond beginner level, have plenty to offer for a weekend. Champéry is about two and a half hours from Geneva airport by train. Champéry is the main resort on the Swiss side of the cross-border Portes du Soleil circuit, which also takes in Avoriaz and Châtel in France.

Unless stated otherwise, package prices are per person, based on two sharing a double or twin room, half-board, for seven nights, including flights and transfers.

About our experts

Peter and Felice Hardy

In a lifetime as a professional ski nomad, Peter has visited 528 destinations worldwide, co-written 25 books on skiing with his wife, Felice, and has been reporting on skiing for The Telegraph since 1991. He first skied in Samedan in the Engadine in 1962 and has been returning to Switzerland ever since. His favourite resorts include Zermatt and Verbier.

Felice’s first time skiing was in St Moritz at the age of three. In her 20s, she spent three seasons in the Alps, including one in Mürren and Wengen. She has been writing about skiing for The Telegraph since 2010.

Peter Hardy, Telegraph Ski’s expert

This article was first published in October 2022 and has been revised and updated.

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