There are countless reasons why a skier who’s been to Davos/Klosters, Switzerland, would want to go back. The resort has two distinctly delightful and different sides. On one hand, you have Davos, an urban jewel surrounded by towering peaks, which is actually the highest town in Western Europe at 5120 feet above sea level.
Conversely, on the other side of the mountain, you have Klosters, a tiny, fairy-tale ski village so charming and magical it enchanted the world’s most famous king (Charles III of the United Kingdom), who visited the resort almost every winter for 45 years.
There are a host of other excellent reasons too, like the massive scale and diversity of the resort, with something for everyone on the skier spectrum, from steeps, to cruisers, to off-piste powder, and terrain parks. There’s also the boundless number of fine dining options at the resort, whether you’re on skis or walking in town.
There’s the myriad of other winter activities you can indulge in, like skating, sledding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and winter hiking, to name a few. But none of these is the true reason why I decided to visit Davos/Klosters last February…so full disclosure, the true reason why I booked my trip to this alpine paradise was to watch a professional hockey game, as I’m a big fan of the fastest sport on ice.
During a round of golf in Davos in the fall of 2023, a local friend who knew I was a huge hockey fan asked me if I’d ever been to a Swiss League game. I told him I’d never been to one, but knew they were quite a spectacle as ice hockey is hugely popular in Switzerland, and most especially in Davos, the home of the Spengler Cup, the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world (it began in 1923).
So when he invited me to come back last winter, and told me he’d scored tickets to see Hockey Club Davos, one of the Swiss League’s most iconic and historic clubs (they’re like the Montreal Canadiens of Swiss hockey) play their arch-rival, Zurich’s ZSC Lions, I couldn’t resist.
With that said, here are a few tips that may come in handy if you choose to visit Davos/Klosters during the winter months – whether it’s to ski and dine like a king, or to cheer like a maniac when Hockey Club Davos drills a puck past a ZSC goaltender in front of thousands of rabid hockey fans raising holy heck in an arena that happens to be located in one of the world’s most heavenly ski resorts.
TIP 1: SKI RESORT FACTS & FIGURES
Located in Switzerland’s majestic and wild Grisons canton (aka Graubünden in German), Davos/Klosters’ skiable footprint is gigantic, with 255 kilometers of slopes to explore, spread out over five different mountains – Parsenn (aka Parsenn-Gotschna), Jakobshorn, Rinerhorn, Pischa, and Madrisa. Thanks to its high elevation (Parsenn’s peak is over 9,300 feet above sea level), the resort’s winter season begins in November and ends in April. In terms of infrastructure, the resort’s 82 marked pistes are serviced by 44 cable cars and lifts – and one of them (connecting Klosters to Davos) is even named after King Charles III, who was a huge fan of the resort, and skied and stayed at the resort annually between 1977 and 2022. For more ski-related info on Davos/Klosters, click here.
TIP 2: LIFT PASS INFO
Thankfully, lift pass pricing at Davos/Klosters is extremely reasonable, and you don’t have to be a king to ski here. The resort’s regional ski pass, for example, ranges from CHF 93 for a one-day adult pass with access to all five mountains to CHF 423 for seven days, with the option of adding days for CHF 59 per day. For more info on lift passes, click here.
TIP 3: ON-PISTE & OFF-PISTE SKI OPTIONS
Davos/Klosters’ five mountains offer a cornucopia of terrain types with something for everyone regardless of their ability level, and each mountain has a top-to-bottom run that will get you from peak to valley pretty much from December into April when the mountain is covered head-to-toe in snow.
As mentioned earlier, Davos/Klosters is divided into five mountains, each one with an individual flavor of its own. Parsenn is the largest with more than 100km of marked trails. All manner of skiing is on offer from the top of Parsenn’s Weissfluhgipfel peak, from leisurely cruisers that will take you into Klosters, to stuff with a more “back country” kind of vibe down the backside of this section of the resort.
For off-piste aficionados, Pischa is definitely option number one as this part of the resort is never groomed and Mother Nature has free rein on sculpting the mountain into a freerider’s dream.
If you’re looking for a nice, quiet stash of powder to slay, you’ll likely find it at Madrisa, the peak towering above Klosters. This part of the resort is often sunnier and less crowded and has a nice mix of family-friendly groomers, but it also has lots of off-piste terrain that doesn’t get the traffic other parts of the resort get.
Another great part of the resort that has a nice mix of on and off-piste options is the Jakobshorn ski area, which also has a great terrain park (Jatzpark) if jumps, half-pipes, boxes, and rails are what you’re looking for.
TIP 4: ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS
Accommodation options in Davos/Klosters are beyond plentiful at an assortment of price points. In the past, I’ve stayed at the palatial Steingenberger Icon Grandhotel Belvédère and the luxurious and sporty Hotel Waldhuus Davos. Both hotels were exquisite in relation to quality and service, and I would not hesitate to visit them again.
On my latest trip, I had the good fortune of booking into the 4-star Mountain Plaza Hotel, which was absolutely fabulous both in terms of location (a 2-minute walk into the heart of Davos Platz), accommodation, service, and amenities.
My room had gorgeous views of the surrounding mountain peaks and was decorated with beautiful sepia-toned, vintage photos of ski life in Davos from the early 20th century. The room also had a very inviting bench and table nook area that I enjoyed using in the evenings for a little writing work before bedtime.
The hotel has two outstanding restaurants, Plaza Restaurant and Stübli, with exceptional menus, and as the case is for many of you out there who love to ski in the Alps, the breakfast spreads are out of this world delicious…but more on that later!
Mountain Plaza Hotel also has a super chill wine bar (Vergoni) with a great selection of vintages, and a very spacious lounge area with a pool/billiards table for guests to enjoy. If spa time is part of your après ski ritual, the hotel’s 10,000 square foot wellness area with saunas, thermal baths, and an indoor pool is a great place to spend an hour or two after your time on skis. For more information on Mountain Plaza Hotel, click here.
TIP 5: GEAR RENTALS
One of the things I love most about Davos/Klosters is the abundance of gear rental options you have that allow you to zip into town without a cluster of ski equipment bags in tow. I’ve rented gear from Ettinger Sport, Intersport Andrist Davos, and Paarsen Sports in the past and have never been disappointed with great service and top-quality equipment available at these ski shops.
On this trip, I had the extreme luxury of renting equipment at a great ski shop called Angerer Sport Mountain Plaza Hotel…located very conveniently in the lobby of the Mountain Plaza Hotel where I was staying! This family-owned and operated shop (since 1949) has fantastic service, a great selection of skis, boots, and other alpine necessities to choose from, and everyone I interacted with spoke English perfectly. To find out more about renting equipment at Angerer Sport Mountain Plaza Hotel, click here.
TIP 6: DINING OPTIONS
One of the things I love most about dining in Davos/Klosters is the cosmopolitan nature of the restaurants you can walk to in town or reach on your skis or snowboard. With more than 140 restaurants to choose from (more than 40 of them ski-in/ski-out dining establishments), you can find all manner of classic alpine fare, like fondues and schnitzels. But if you’ve got a hankering for something less traditional from another part of the world, you won’t have to look very hard to find it.
FUXÄGUFER
My visit to Fuxagüfer was perfectly timed as I’d been in the Alps for three weeks and had a massive craving for Thai food. When I mentioned this to my friend, who is a local, he told me he knew the perfect place to go – Fuxagüfer.
Perched on a sunny slope on Jakobshorn at 2200 meters above sea level (that’s over 7,200 feet), this remarkable restaurant is housed in a striking, super-sized, rustic log chalet with a ginormous outdoor dining terrace with an open-air Asian stir-fry kitchen.
I was starving after a bluebird morning of non-stop corduroy shredding, so I started my lunch with a scrumptious “Steinpilzcremesuppe” (stone mushroom cream soup) and followed it up with a delicious red Thai curry with chicken dish served up with jasmine rice. I’ve never had Thai food at high altitude in ski boots; it was an experience I’ll never forget, and I can’t wait to do it again!
Despite being full to the brim with my Thai curry, I couldn’t resist saying yes when my buddy suggested we split a plate of Kaiserschmarrn with apple sauce for dessert, Thai food with an Austrian dessert on a sunny terrace high up in the Swiss Alps, definitely something I’d like to repeat!
PEAK RISTORANTE
When my Thai food cravings subsided, my Italian food cravings kicked in, and on my second day on skis, I skied down into Klosters, popped my skis off, and strolled into Peak Ristorante to try what a local told me would be “one of the most delicious and original lasagnas in the Alps outside of Italy.”
The menu at this very elegant restaurant is outstanding, and when I saw lobster bisque as an option, I decided to switch into surf and turf mode for this very special ski lunch. Simply put, the lobster bisque was to-die-for, and was topped with a succulent de-shelled claw in its entirety! The lasagna did not disappoint either, and was made with green spinach pasta, chamois deer ragout, and garnished with red currants – definitely one of the best interpretations of a very classic Italian dish that I absolutely adore. If Garfield the Cat is reading, I’m sure he’s salivating looking at the photos below. Oh, and millefeuille for dessert, OMG it was amazing!
PLAZA RESTAURANT – MOUNTAIN PLAZA HOTEL
If you’re staying at the Mountain Plaza Hotel while in Davos, definitely dine in at least once. The Plaza Restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the ivory-blanketed mountains surrounding Davos are a beautiful sight during breakfast in daylight, but are even more jaw-droppingly stunning when the lights are dimmed, and you sit down for dinner at this charming restaurant.
I chose a wonderfully tasty coconut and beetroot cream soup for my starter and followed it up with a juicy Swiss beef entrecote, served with au gratin potatoes, and delicious Café de Paris sauce paired to perfection with a 2022 Maienfeld Blauburgunder red from the Grisons region. For dessert, and oh my goodness, it was great with the wine, a delectable chocolate brownie served with ice cream, maple syrup, and crumbled walnuts.
EX BAR
If a gourmet cheeseburger dinner at a really cool sports bar before you go to your first-ever Swiss League ice hockey game (more on this as you keep reading) is something you’d be interested in experiencing, then I can strongly recommend a meal at EX Bar located in the heart of Davos.
My burger of choice was an HCD (Hockey Club Davos) Burger, made with mouthwatering, super-melty Swiss raclette cheese. The burger was incredibly delicious, and CHF 3 was donated from the price to my favorite Swiss League team, Hockey Club Davos.
TIP 7: APRÈS SKI OPTIONS
There are a kazillion après ski options both on and off-mountain in Davos/Klosters, here are a few I hit when I was there…
JATZHÜTTE
Perfectly positioned a few meters away from the Jatz Quatro chairlift on Jakobshorn is one of the coolest and liveliest ski resort restaurant/bars in the Swiss Alps – Jazzhütte and its little outdoor satellite bar “Jatzhüttli.” I would strongly recommend a visit if imbibing in a libation or two before, during, or after your skiing activities is something that turns your crank.
I paid Jazzhütte two visits while ripping around Jakobshorn, one for an ice-cold shot of Appenzeller, and then later on for a hot glass of “Kafi Sex” (I’m not making this up) topped with a decadent dollop of whipped cream. I know coffee was part of this magnificent elixir, some sort of boozy liqueur, and hopefully nothing else. I will definitely be going back for another round of Kafi Sex on my next visit, it was that good.
SKIHÜTTE GRUOBENALP
My favorite boozy-hot-coffee-with-whip-cream type drink before, during, and most especially après skiing is a delicious Swiss concoction called Schümli Pflümli. This ambrosial alpine potion is made with sugar, plum liqueur, coffee, and always topped off with a very generous splattering of whipped cream.
I’ve tried it and enjoyed it all over the Swiss Alps, and I have to say one of the best samples I’ve ever quaffed was brewed up at Skihütte Gruobenalp. This darling little log chalet, decorated with unbelievably stunning wooden carvings, is perched on a little plateau almost 6,700 feet above sea level in the Gotschna-Parsenn part of the resort with heart-stopping views of the rugged Wolfgang Pass and idyllic Landwasser Valley. I highly recommend pitstopping here if you’re in the mood for a coffee with a little zing to it!
WUNDER BAR
There is nothing more refined than a glass of champagne in your ski boots after a beautiful day of skiing in the Swiss Alps – and one of my favorite places for some bubbly is Wunder Bar, located on the doorstep of Peak Ristorante in Klosters Platz. And fear not, if your visit extends past ski lift operation hours and you’re a little tipsy, you can catch a very fast train back into Davos from the train station, literally a fifteen-second walk across the street from Wunder Bar.
PARSENN BAR
Drinking on the street is a no-no in North America, but it’s legal in Davos when you park yourself at one of its streetside bars, like the Parsenn Bar located just outside the Hotel Parsenn. I managed to swish down an ice-cold Calanda beer and an Aperol Spritz in no time after a long day on the mountain…what can I say, I was parched!
TIP 8: WELLNESS OPTIONS
Spa time is an important part of the ski trip experience for many people, especially for folks who’ve skied in the Alps and grown fond of relaxing and healing their achy bones and muscles in saunas, hot pools, and steam rooms once you’re out of your ski gear.
There are a lot of spas in Davos/Klosters to enjoy, and almost 20 of them are located at the resort’s hotels, and many are open to paying non-guests.
I was fortunate to have a magnificent, 10,000 square foot spa and wellness center located inside the Mountain Plaza Hotel, where I stayed. The Mountain Plaza Hotel’s wellness and spa facilities included a massive indoor swimming pool, a gorgeous sauna chalet, and dreamy relaxation rooms with panoramic views of the mountains, which I put to good use every afternoon like Swiss clockwork.
TIP 9: MUSEUMS
Did you know the world’s first T-bar ski lift was erected in Davos in 1934? I didn’t, but I now know it was invented by an engineer named Ernst Gustav Constam, and that it was also Switzerland’s first ski lift. I also know that it ran on Davos’ Bolgen slope, and that you can see it at the Davos Wintersport Museum, along with a lot of other really, really, really cool ski (and ice hockey) art and memorabilia. Click here to find out more.
TIP 10: FUN OFF THE SLOPES
Last but not least, the best tip I can share about fun off the slopes in Davos/Klosters is to go and see a Swiss League ice hockey game if Hockey Club Davos is in town during your visit.
Yes there are tons of other ways to have fun off the slopes here (sledding, snowshoeing, skating, winter hiking, cross-country skiing etc…), but watching a live, elite level hockey game (Switzerland’s Swiss League is one of the top professional hockey leagues in all of Europe) surrounded by thousands, and I mean thousands, of frenzied, hockey-mad fans is truly an unforgettable experience.
Whether you’re a die-hard sports fan or just someone interested in a true spectacle on a grand scale, do whatever you need to do to score a ticket, and prepare yourself for the wildest hockey game experience in the world.
For more info about Davos/Klosters, go to: https://www.davos.ch/en/
Getting to Davos/Klosters:
Davos/Klosters is easily accessible via bus, train, car, and is only a two-hour drive from Zurich Airport. I took the train to Davos/Klosters and used Travel Switzerland’s all-in-one Swiss Travel Pass to get there. The Swiss Travel Pass lets you use trains, buses, and boats with one ticket for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days. This pass will also get you into over 500 museums in Switzerland for free, as well as get you discounts on other travel-related excursions in Switzerland.
For more information on the Swiss Travel Pass, go to:
Related Posts
Nothing found.