Is Davos a Good Ski Resort? An Honest Answer for the 2026/27 Season

Yes – if you want variety: six separate ski areas, 253 kilometres of piste, altitudes from 810 to 2,844 metres and a 12-kilometre descent that is the longest in the region. No – if you expect one lift-linked area outside your hotel door. Because that is exactly what Davos Klosters is not: only Parsenn and Gotschna are joined by lifts. Every other area is reached by bus or train; with the guest card, local buses are free and, depending on where you stay, so is the train to Davos or to Davos Laret. We have taught in Davos and Klosters since 2003, and this is where we answer the questions guests ask before booking.

Davos Klosters in numbers

A note on the kilometres, because you will find three different figures online. The lift company states 253 km across 44 lifts. The tourism office of the same destination writes 300 km and 57 lifts. Other portals say 274, 279 or 320. The gap comes from whether the 46 km of marked ski routes are counted, whether the Schatzalp is included even though it belongs to a different operator, and from older marketing figures that never died. There is also an inconsistency inside the operator’s own page: its detailed table adds up to 250 km while the headline says 253. We use the operator’s 253 kilometres and say plainly that its own breakdown sums to 250. Anyone looking for the biggest figure will find one somewhere.

The six areas – and what each one really is

If you want the geography of the valley straight in your head first, our overview of the 6 mountains in Davos describes each one on its own – access, character, and who it is built for. Here is the short version:

Two things worth knowing in advance that no brochure mentions:

Pischa is no longer a ski area in the usual sense. Its official tariff line now reads “Pischa Freeride – gondola operation only, no prepared slopes”. Go up with piste skis and you are standing in open terrain. For freeriders and snowshoers that is precisely the appeal – what that terrain demands, and how to approach it safely, is covered in our guide to freeride and ski touring on Pischa.

The ski pass is not valid on the Schatzalp. That is stated in the official tariff sheet. Skiing the Schatzalp means paying separately.

Who Davos is right for

If you want a different mountain every day. The areas differ enough to make that worthwhile: Parsenn for long descents, Jakobshorn for the park and the buzz, Madrisa for families, Rinerhorn for quiet days, Pischa for open terrain.

If you are a beginner. There are sheltered practice slopes down in the valley – Bolgen in Davos Platz, site of the world’s first drag lift in 1934, and Bünda in Davos Dorf. And one detail many guests never hear: the two magic carpets at Bolgen and Bünda are free every day from 10 am to 4 pm, for visitors and locals alike. Your first day on skis costs no more than the rental.

If not everyone in the group skis. Davos is a town at 1,560 m with a congress centre, museums, an ice rink, over 100 km of cross-country trails and toboggan runs. Not a village that closes at 5 pm.

If the group is a company. The same infrastructure that makes Davos the WEF venue – congress centre, conference hotels, rail access – carries smaller gatherings just as well. What can be built on it is set out under corporate events and winter team building.

Families, and anyone who wants a sporty, low-key atmosphere rather than a scene. Freeriders, who find some of the most varied off-piste terrain in the Alps right beside the lifts. Anyone who wants to be sure of snow: most of the skiing is well above 2,000 metres. And anyone who cares where skiing comes from – Davos is widely regarded as a birthplace of winter sport, and the world’s first T-bar lift opened here on the Bolgen in 1934.

And who it is not for? If luxury and status matter more to you than the skiing itself, Davos Klosters is probably not your destination – and we would rather tell you that before you book.

The short answer

Davos Klosters suits skiers who want variety, reliable snow above 2,000 metres and a large freeride domain, and who do not mind taking a bus or train between mountain areas. What it is not: a single lift-linked area outside your hotel door. Between most areas you take the bus or the train, both included in the pass – and for beginners we simply pick one mountain and stay there.

In short:

• 253 kilometres of piste in the official 2026/27 tariff sheet across six areas.
• Altitude means reliable snow: Davos sits at 1,560 metres and the pistes reach 2,844 m.
• Six mountains, five of them under one operator: Parsenn, Jakobshorn, Madrisa, Rinerhorn and Pischa. The Schatzalp runs independently.
• The trade-off: only Parsenn and Gotschna are linked by lifts. Between the other areas you take the local bus or the Rhaetian Railway (RhB).
• The character: Davos is an alpine town with everything a town offers; Klosters, twenty minutes away, is the village.

Lift Pass Structure and Ticket Options in Davos Klosters

Main season runs 18 December 2026 to 29 March 2027; low season 20 November to 17 December 2026 and 30 March to 11 April 2027. Rates vary by season, age category, and geographical scope (not valid on the independent Schatzalp railway).

Children ride the mountain lifts free until their 6th birthday when accompanied by an adult. Seniors and teenagers receive discounts on multi-day passes.

What a beginner’s day looks like: Beginners enjoy full flexibility: spending your first day on the flat valley carpet areas means you only need equipment rental, without needing a full-mountain lift pass right away. For a seamless, fully predictable package, we recommend our Beginner Ski Weekend in Davos – including three days of private instruction, complete equipment hire, and necessary lift access.

When can you ski in Davos? The 2026/27 dates

All dates subject to weather and snow. Parsenn opens first and the Jakobshorn closes last, so in November and April the choice is much narrower than mid-season – and the cheaper low-season tariff applies.

Ride and Smile teaches for as long as the lifts run. We follow the operating dates of Davos Klosters Mountains – if the snow changes those dates, what we can offer changes with them. The current plan is always published on the lift company’s own site.

Which Davos ski area is best for beginners?

For the very first day we recommend the magic carpet at Bolgen in Davos, and Madrisa in Klosters. The answer is the same for skiing and for snowboarding.

Davos, Bolgen. The magic carpet sits in town, you need no ski pass for it, and it costs nothing. Around it is the best beginner infrastructure in the valley: a restaurant and sports shops right next door. The next step up is the Carjöl lift – there you buy a day ticket for that single lift only, so the cost stays low.

Klosters, two ways in. At Gotschna, the beginner area is at the top station and has two magic carpets; the sports shop is right by the lift, which makes renting and getting up the mountain simple. You need a mountain ticket for it. Madrisa is, for us, the best beginner area: it has the most lifts and therefore the smallest steps up to a first blue piste, plus restaurants, a sports shop at the top and the infrastructure families need. You rent at the top and you are already on the snow. You need a mountain ticket here too, but there is a cheaper tariff for the beginner area.

Also open to you on day one: the valley practice slopes at Bünda in Davos Dorf – like Bolgen, with a free magic carpet from 10 am to 4 pm – and Selfranga in Klosters.

More on each area: Get to know the Davos Klosters ski resort and Which is your ski level?.

Night skiing

Important: season passes and ordinary ski passes are not valid for night operation – the TopCard is the exception. It says so in the official tariff sheet, and it surprises guests every year.

The WEF week: what changes (18–22 January 2027)

The World Economic Forum runs from 18 to 22 January 2027 in Davos, with more than 3,000 participants. What that means for holiday guests:

• A large share of hotel beds is reserved for the forum months in advance.
• Accommodation prices multiply drastically – regular hotel rooms are often blocked a year in advance for corporate and government delegations.
• The lift company’s 2026/27 tariff sheet explicitly announces restrictions at the Rinerhorn during WEF 2027. It does not say which.

The week before and the week after are ordinary main season with normal availability. If you are coming in January, just shift by seven days.

Davos or Laax, Arosa Lenzerheide, St. Moritz?

Each destination has its clear strengths: Laax for freestyle parks, Arosa Lenzerheide for connected piste mileage, St. Moritz for glamour – and Davos for vast high-altitude diversity and snow reliability.

Davos is the largest of the four – and the only one whose areas are not lift-linked. That is the one trade-off this decision turns on.

Davos or Klosters, on the other hand, is not either/or: they share Parsenn and Gotschna and the same pass. Klosters is quieter and more of a village; Davos has more to do after skiing.

The longest run: Weissfluhgipfel to Küblis

Twelve kilometres and 2,034 vertical metres, from the Weissfluhgipfel at 2,844 m down to Küblis at 810 m. Graded medium, not black – an average gradient of 17 per cent, 26 at its steepest. The route was found in 1895 by four English tourists who had got lost; in 1924 it hosted the first ski race in Switzerland, the Parsenn Derby.

One practical note you rarely read: this run has no snowmaking. At the start and end of the season it depends entirely on natural snow. Ask before you plan around it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Davos a good ski resort? Yes, if you want variety: six ski areas with 253 kilometres of piste between 810 and 2,844 metres, free practice lifts in the valley, extensive freeride terrain and the 12 km run down to Küblis. Less suitable if you expect one lift-linked area – only Parsenn and Gotschna are joined; everything else is reached by bus or train.

Is Davos an expensive ski resort? Davos Klosters offers flexible pricing tiers: in addition to full regional passes covering all 5 main mountains, skiers can purchase discounted single-mountain passes for family hills such as Madrisa or Rinerhorn, while valley practice carpets are free. For complete cost predictability, our Beginner Ski Weekend in Davos covers coaching, full equipment hire, and necessary lift access in one package.

How long is the ski season in Davos? From 13 November 2026 to 11 April 2027. Parsenn opens first and the Jakobshorn closes last; Rinerhorn, Madrisa and Pischa run from mid or late December to the end of March.

Which Davos ski area is best for beginners? For the first day, the magic carpet at Bolgen in Davos Platz – free and with no ski pass – and in Klosters Madrisa, whose lifts break the way up to a blue piste into the smallest steps. Gotschna also has a beginner area at the top station, with two magic carpets.

How far is Davos from Zurich? About two hours by train from Zurich main station, changing at Landquart. By car it is roughly 150 kilometres.

When is WEF 2027 in Davos? From 18 to 22 January 2027. Accommodation that week is scarce and expensive, and the lift company has announced restrictions at the Rinerhorn.

Your first ski day in Davos

If this article settled the first decision, we are happy to take the second one off your hands: who you go up the mountain with. Private ski lessons in Davos Klosters, in English or German, with no surcharge for families.

+41 81 543 10 87 · info@ride-and-smile.ch

Sources for public facts: Davos Klosters Bergbahnen (Facts and Figures, main and low season tariff sheets 2026/27, winter activities), davos.ch (operating times, children’s ski paradise, winter sports at night, WEF 2027), MySwitzerland (Parsenn downhill run), skiresort.com and skiresort.info (area profiles and test verdicts), Skilift Selfranga. As of 10/09/2026. Verify prices and dates before publishing.