For accommodation for a family we always go for the cheapest possible – normally a family room in a hostel. The hostels are all impeccably clean, not rowdy and very practical. In Saas-Fee a very pleasant, inexpensive family-run hotel in a good location is the Hotel Bristol.

There is plenty of day skiing within easy striking distance of Zurich. Flumserburg is a favourite because it is so easy to get to and has a great range of slopes, but as a result it is also very busy with the weekend crowd and much better to visit midweek. In fact pretty much anywhere is better midweek than at weekends, with many of the smaller resorts having almost empty pistes and no queues. Although there are some very pleasant small resorts quite close to Zurich, such as Elm, Braunwald, Pizol, Hoch-Ybrig and Obertoggenburg you have some genuinely world-class ski areas only a couple of hours from Zurich by car, train, or a train and bus combination. At weekends I would recommend Lenzerheide, Arosa and Davos/Klosters (where you have a choice of moutains) in Graubünden. Slightly further away are the Aletsch Arena, Saas-Fee, Lauchernalp or Belalp in Valais and Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland. Although they are distinctly less busy midweek you should definitely check out Flims/Laax and slightly further away but iconic resorts, Wengen/Grindelwald and Zermatt.

Most resorts have tobogganing and many have night skiing. You can check out which resorts have tobogganing at the MySwitzerland web site here and which resorts with night skiing here. Remember that night skiing often only takes place on selected nights and public transport tends to become less frequent and slower as the evening progresses.

You will find the folk at the English Forum very useful for any specific questions you may have about day trips from Zurich. Incidentally I find using Chrome as a browser useful because you can have it automatically translate pages into English if you find yourself at a resort web site in German.

Thanks for taking the time to set up this site. I live in Zurich (from Canada) and had friends out to visit in Jan. I finally figured out how to get them to Flumsburg, ( English is my only language) but over all the day was a clinic. I wish I had found your site first. What do you recommend for skiing that is not too far from Zurich (day trip even if it is a long day?)

Is there any night skiing, tobogganing around Zurich that you can enjoy and still make it back to Zurich for the the night (no need to overnight)?

Thanks again … the English Form is lucky to have you to contribute

I go day skiing from Basel every week, and I go to the Alps – as do many other skiers and snowboarders from Basel, Zurich and Bern. It really isn’t a lot of hassle, even if it is 90 minutes or more to get to the slopes. Firstly there is the snow’n'rail deal you get from the station which provides discounts on the combined pass and ticket. Secondly there is just the amazing efficiency of the Swiss transport infrastructure which make getting there and back totally painless and delivers you right to the slopes. My advice is get up early and take a snack and entertainment for the journey (or just sleep), get kitted up on the train and before you come back get a couple of beers to enjoy on the trip home. Most stations and bottom stations have lockers so you can always dump some stuff there if you don’t want to carry it on the mountains, although I just travel light, often leaving home with my boots on.

So where to go first? The very nearest good skiing is at Engelberg, and it is very good with plenty of off-piste, a glacier and a near 2km vertical drop. For altitude and extensive pistes, Jungfrau is good, with Grindelwald, Wengen or Mürren as potential destinations there. Zweisimmen for Gstaad Mountain Rides is not as high, but there is plenty of piste, often has good snow cover and is very easy to get to. Although Zermatt takes a little longer to get to, it really is one of those resorts everyone should get to at least once in their lifetime. Davos similarly (with Klosters as the better station to get off at) and also Andermatt.These places are all directly connected by rail.

If you are prepared to take a bus connection (and it really is no more hassle than a train connection), Adelboden is relatively easy to get to and has some great slopes. Laax is do-able for a day trip and is a favourite with boarders. There are also a bunch of resorts in the Valais, like Lauchernalp, and Belalp that are small but high and with plenty of off-piste as well as enough good groomed runs for a day out.

So, my advice is get up early, catch some zeds on the train and be prepared for some awesome boarding. With the warmish weather and limited snow, I’d recommend somewhere where a lot of the best runs are high and not all south-facing like Mürren (Schilthorn) or Engelberg. Andermatt normally has good snow on the Gemsstock, but the cable car can be a bit of a bottleneck at weekends. Engelberg reputedly has the best snow cover in Switzerland at the moment.

Thank you

thanks and regards,
RCN