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A week in Davos in early September

Posted by (Philadelphia) on

Hi friends,
I'm looking to travel to Switzerland on a "budget". Location is up in the air, as I will be trying to find a place to stay via Home Exchange. One town with seemingly good apartment options is Davos.

It doesn't look terribly charming, but has the conveniences I will need: supermarkets and public transportation. I will not have a car and plan to do as much hiking as physically possible (when in Switzerland...). I plan on getting a trusty half-fare card and using the rail and bus to access trail heads.

For context, this will be my 3rd trip to Switzerland, so I have a relatively good lay of the land and knowledge of other places in the country to compare Davos to.

I'm curious about a few things:
-What are your favorite hikes in the area? I'm experienced and would like to do tough ones with worthwhile views.
-How many lifts are available in summer and when do they generally shut down for the season?
-Is the town as blah as it looks on Street View?
-Food recs: for the one or two nights I'll allow myself a wildly overpriced meal out. ;)

Thanks!

Posted by
21847 posts

I have only been there in winter. Since you are using Home Exchange, you probably will not get a Guest Card, which includes city buses and rail pass for trains between Filisur and Kueblis.

It says it is the highest city in Switzerland and does feel more like a city than one of those uber-cute Swiss villages. You can always ride the train down to Klosters if that is what you are looking for.

I can't help with restaurants as I have always said at half-board hotels.

Posted by
33 posts

Ah that's good to know that the Davos hotels give out Guest Cards, like the Engadin. I loved having that while there.

Posted by
429 posts

Most of the lifts are open until mid-October, so you shouldn't have problems there. Early Sept should actually be a nice time there. Lots of mountain bikers around.
No, Davos isn't the most quaint mountain town out there (same with St Moritz), but it can also be an advantage to have more practical shops around (plus more low cost breakfast/lunch options like Migros/Coop restaurants). Klosters would be a nearby alternative and is also very well connected to a lot of good hiking.
Food: always liked going to Schneider's cafe, but the restaurant was taken over by new ownership last year and I haven't tried the new place yet. Weber's bakery/cafe on the promenade fits kind of the same bill and serves food all day until 7pm, open on Sundays too. Otherwise, don't have any great advice, nothing has ever been terrible, but not really amazing either! But that is often the case in Swiss tourist towns, especially if you are on a budget.

Some hiking ideas here https://www.davos.ch/en/activities/outdoor-adventure/hiking
Here, scroll down and you can filter hikes according to difficulty, length etc https://www.davosklostersmountains.ch/en/mountains/summer/summer-activities/hiking#cat=Hiking-main,Hiking%20Trail&filter=r-fullyTranslatedLangus-,r-openState-,sb-sortedBy-0&zc=12.,9.82246,46.7916
For a real challenge, a friend of mine loves this hike on the Walserweg (Lots of great hikes around Arosa too if you want to check that area out as well) Hike can be done in both directions so you could end in Davos https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-35/stage-15
Another challenging one https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-791 (closed but should be ok by the time you're there)
A little less intense https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-789
And if you would like to meet some people (Tuesdays) https://www.davos.ch/en/experience/events/ridge-walk-jakobshorn

In general, if you don't have it already, highly recommend Schweizmobil (aka Switzerland Mobility) website and if you sign up for the Plus service, you can plot out all your hikes on their app, which details public transport, altitude levels, etc.

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