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6 day ski trip to Switzerland

Looking for advice. Flying from US to Zurich (leave March 25 arrive 26 in Zurich). Depart Zurich on 3/31. We would like to ski 2 days (can be same location or 2 different locations). Traveling with 3 kids (14, 14, 16) and all are intermediate skiers.

We've been researching various locations including Zermatt, Davos, Grindelwald, etc. Would love collective intelligence to help us plan an itinerary and suggestions on travel passes. We have the follow nights schedule
25 March - Depart US
26 March - Arrive Zurich (morning arrival)
27 March - Open
28 March - Open
29 March - Open
30 March - Open (night in Zurich)
31 March - Depart Zurich (morning departure)

Posted by
6522 posts

I was in BO in the winter. It was absolutely beautiful. We did not ski though we did sled on some of the runs. I haven't been to your other possible destinations.

Have you been to Luzern? IMO, it is one of the most beautiful places in Europe. If you haven't been, you could sleep there at the end of your trip, instead of Zurich. It is an easy, reliable train ride to the Zurich airport.

Posted by
657 posts

First off, although the season is off to a good start, late March is iffy overall
for snow conditions, so be sure you pick a place that is reasonably high in
elevation.

Zermatt is of course iconic, but expensive and rather disjointed as a ski area
in my opinion. If you can cover a lot of ground, skiing into Italy for lunch is
nice.

Frankly, for the amount of time you have, I would consider going to St Anton
in Austria. It is a 2-3 hour train ride from Zurich, there is a train station right
in the middle of the village, and it is a pretty snowsure resort. Expensive, but
not as much so as many Swiss resorts.

Posted by
69 posts

Well, I just booked a similar itinerary for my DH, an avid and very good skier. I was able to secure non-stop RT flights to Zurich for a very good price, so he is quite excited. Yes, we are also limited by the Easter/Spring break school vacation time.

My dream has always been to take DH to Zermatt, but oh my, the prices are quite exorbitant! ($300-400 U.S per night). Also, many hotels there want you to stay at least a week, from Saturday to Saturday. I don't mind a splurge now and then, but I would rather save some money for a future cruise, as I am not a skier!

After a fair amount of research, I settled on Grindelwald, because it is quite close to the slopes, supposedly a bit quaint, and offers some reasonably priced hotels. It is just a few hours away from Zurich airport. We will not have a car, so instead are taking trains.

I finally booked the Grindelwald Derby hotel right next to the train station--it has decent reviews and includes breakfast (and dinner, if desired), but it does lack a pool, sadly. I would say it is like a three star hotel, but there are, of course, many higher priced hotels in the area.

Grindelwald is a good location to visit some of the other nearby villages, go to the top of the mountain Jungfraujoch (https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe/), perhaps tour some other places like Interlaken, etc., all nearby. We will miss the Matterhorn in Zermatt, but here we have the Eiger.

The night before we fly out we will return to the Zurich airport late and stay in a hotel there, so we can get up early in a non-rushed manner.

I am sure you will create a lot of wonderful family memories, so no need to go super deluxe. Make sure the teens do some advance research on Swiss food, and learn some German phrases. Have a great time planning, and enjoy your trip. GUTE REISE!

Posted by
2 posts

@PhilaLady thanks for the reply…. we actually decided on same location and same hotel last week. looking forward to a good trip.