Hello, All!

We'll be in Switzerland from 12/24/07-01/06/08 (fly in and out of Zurich). We want to spend the second week in the mountains. We'll be travelling with our 3 young children (just turning ages 6, 4, and 18 months at time of travel)and we want the best mountain location for snow. So, our primary criteria for mountain destination are a family oriented resort with village elevation 1800m or higher. As far as I can tell, this narrows our choice to Arosa or Saas Fee, but I can't decide between the two and would love some help.

Which,if either, is more likely to have snow in the village in late December (I know it's hard to come by this time of year)? We're not skiers, but the kids have never seen snow, and we'd love some nice walks in winter-wonderland setting, snowballs, etc.

Which has better family-oriented walking/hiking trails? I hear that those at Saas Fee are difficult. Are there any there that would be suitable for kids? Is it possible to just wander around on the outskirts of the village?

Which village is more picturesque/charming? I've read that Saas Fee is in shadow much of the day. How bad is this?

Which has better mountain scenery? I'm really looking for spectacular peaks--seems Saas Fee has this. Would Arosa disappoint by comparison?

What is the postbus ride from Brig to Saas Fee like? Cramped seating, harder for kids than train from Chur to Arosa?

Since both are located in relatively remote areas, which would offer more activitiesfor non-skiers for a week (we'll probably do a little skiing, but that won't be our focus), especially if there is no snow

One more consideration-we'll be coming from the Berner Oberland, so Arosa is perhaps a bit harder to get to.

Thanks in advance for any help here. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Cheers!
dgd

I don’t think you would be disappointed with either. Both are charming villages, relatively untouristed (at least by Americans) and both IMO offer really good mountain views and a good slice of Swiss life. I would note that the week you are going is THE most popular week and many hotels will require 7-10 night minimum stays, so it may come down to which location you can get a hotel in. I would also note that December and January are traditionally the two coldest months, so dress extremely warmly. This is a little bit more of an issue at Saas Fee which is indeed in shadow more of the day, at least on the mountain (you don’t notice is so much in the village itself). I think you will find plenty of snow at the end of December. Although this year was an exception, in general at those elevations by end December there is usually a good bit of snow. I have been in Saas Fee over Christmas in previous years when there were several feet of snow.

In terms of walking trails, I would agree that the trails up in Saas Fee are probably a bit more difficult, though there are a few that are relatively flat and easy walking. However, if you take the bus down to the bottom on the valley to the Saas Grund area, there are flat walks along the floor (and excellent cross country skiing) that children would find easier to do. I have not done any winter walking in Arosa so really cannot give advice on that point. As Arosa is a located a bit more in an open area on top of the mountain, you may find walking around the “outskirts” to be easier to do. Saas Fee is really on a shelf and is jammed up against the sides of the mountain so there aren’t really any outskirts.

I think Saas Fee is more pictuesque than Arosa, only because it is nore compact with just a few streets and is up against the mountains, but really that's a personal choice, I think both are quite nice. Saas Fee offers the opportunity to go to Zermatt for the day which certainly would be a memorable trip. In Arosa, you would have the opportunity to go to the Bergun sledge run, which has two packed sled runs (one is over 8 miles) which are very memorable as well. (This is a longish day trip, it is 2.5 hours by train each way, but you could have dinner in the Bergun area, as one of the runs is lit for night sledding.) There is sledging or sledding in virturall all winter resorts, but these runs are quite spectacular.

I have not taken the Post Bus up to Saas Fee, but have driven it many times. The winding drive is quite fun, and as Post Buses are generally comfortable, I don’t think there is any “loss” there compared to the train ride to Arosa, which admittedly is quite thrilling.

If there truly is no snow, I don’t think either really has an advantage, although there would be more walking available at both at that point. You might find walking in Saas Fee without snow to be easier to do, at least I find the walking trails in the snow to be more difficult there than the summer walking. But neither has a lot of shopping, no musuems, movie theatres, or real amusments for kids. (Both I believe had indoor village pools, most towns in Switzerland do.) These are outdoor resorts and if it is just plain cold but no snow, there may not be a lot to do.

Actually, and esp as you don’t ski, IMO you could go to slightly lower elevations, and I think the Engadine area (St Moritz) may be a better choice, as it is a much wider open valley and I think you will find much easier walking trails, cross country, cable car rides and more activities for non-skiers. That area is at about 1700 meters. (Again this year being the exception, in previous years there is generally alwasy snow at this elevation in December.) Mountain vistas are quite spectacular. Towns like St Mortiz, Pontresina, Celerina, Samedan or Sils-Maria would be good choices. You could do the Bernina Express (at least the glacier part, which is only 2 hours each way probably as much as your kids could take at that age.) A non-ski village like Guarda is a great place for non-skiers at Christmas, IMO, as you won’t run into the overcrowding that you might find at the ski resorts, it is an extremely charming village (the most beautiful village in the country IMO), and you can do horse drawn sleigh rides, there is some great walking, cross country etc. and then get to other parts of the Engadine by train quite easily. (Guarda is about 1 hour from St Mortiz). St Moritz has some resort hotels with indoor pools and fitness areas and kids acitivities that might be a good choice (bring money.)

I agree the train time between the Bernese Oblerland and the Arosa or Engadine areas is not great. One way to break this up is to stop for lunch in Berne or Zurich. Also, send all your luggage ahead of you on the train (it takes about 8 hours so don’t send anything you may need right away, but with 3 kids having no or very limited luggage is a very good way to travel), take a look at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...isegepaeck.htm. Do this for Saas Fee as well to limit luggage you have to take on the bus. In either case, your hotel can collect the luggage for you at the train or bus station, you don’t have to go back and collect it yourself if you arrive before it does.

I agree with Cicerone. Right to the point.

I found the scenery to be more spectacular in Saas Fee than in Arosa. On the other hand I think that, yes, Saas Fee gets very little sunshine in Dec. Arosa is better for hiking and also not as remote as Saas Fee IMO - you can easily day trip to Chur, a nice town.

But ...

here's another vote for the Engadine. It meets all your criteria. Stay in Sils, Celerina or Pontresina. Plenty of activities for non-skiers! I have spent lots of weeks there in both winter and summer and never ran out of things to do. Snow should be no problem except for exceptional years like this past one.

It would offer a perfect contrast to the brown wooden chalets in the Bernese Oberland, too. The (old) houses in the Engadine are usually white stone cubes, roofs covered with granite, the walls decorated with sgraffiti, often depicting fairy tale figures like vixens etc.

Cicerone,
Last March, you posted info on a book that is no longer in print - I have searched but can't find it anywhere. Would you be willing to sell me your copy of: Swiss Bernese Oberland: A Travel Guide with specific Trips to Mountains, Lakes & Villages?

It sounds like what I need to help plan our trip to Swizerland this June. I'd appreciate it so much.

Cicerone and Ingo--Thank you so much for your detailed answers and advice! I had been thinking about the Engadine area and will look into it more-I'm really drawn to the idea of sleigh rides and winter walking. Certainly accomodation seems to be more available there than in Arosa at least--Saas Fee still has many open(we're looking for an apartment).

Thanks again for your time!

dgd, I was going to suggest you try renting a house or flat, much better for a family to have a kitchen (and probably a DVD player). You may run into the 7- night minimum issue as well over Christmas, but do look. One place to try is vrbo.com; they don’t have a lot in Switzerland, but its a start. You might search on this board, I know others have rented through other sites, or post a new thread.

rhodes97, I don’t want to sell my book, but do have several suggestions:

1. I believe a third edition of the book is available on Amazon.com. I did a search and found some at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...ce&s=books. The third edition is May 2004. This would be better than my edition, which is from 2004/

2. In the back of my edition (2001, second edition), the Alspach’s have listed the publishers details, you might contact them:

Intercon Publishing
PO Box 18500
Irvine CA 02623
Tel 949-955-2344
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.interconpublishing.com/

My search on their website lead me to the amazon.com website

3. I bought my book at Orell Füssli in Zurich, which is a bookshop with a very large English-language branch on the Bahnhofstrasse. If you are going to be in Zurich, you could buy one there, or you could contact them now and order it and they would mail it to you in the US assuming they have either the 2001 edition or a later edition. They are very helpful,

Orell Füssli - The Bookshop
Bahnhofstrasse 70
8001 Zürich
Phone: 044 211 04 44
E-Mail: [email protected].
books.ch (click on “English books”)

4. If you don’t have any luck with either, I would be happy to photocopy my edition and e-mail it to you as a PDF file. The book is only about 80 pages. I have a very helpful assistance who would love to do the photocopying (she can’t stand the fact that I water my own plants and get my own dry-cleaning, so she would love to do this much for me...) Let me know.

The Lonely Planet guide to walking in Switzerland, while not as lyrically written nor quite as easy to follow, IMO, also is a very good detailed guide to walks and gives many of the same walks as in the Alspach’s book.

Cicerone,
Just now saw your reply to my request. I apologize for not responding sooner. Thank you for the info and for your offer to have the book copied. That is very kind, however, I will look into the other options you suggested. My trip to Swizerland is quickly approaching (leaving 30-May)...Can't wait!

The mountains around Saas Fee are awesome. The Dom reaches almost 15,000 feet and towers about 9,000 feet above Saas Fee and even more above Saas Grund on the floor of the valley.

The Post Bus is a little more crowded than a train, but the driver moves the bus right along.

I would think the bus would be harder on adults, but kids do seem tender these days.

I have not ridden on the train from Chur to Arosa, so I cannot compare.

If you don't ski, then why Saas Fee in December? There are activities there, but at that time of year it strikes me as being a ski center.

Some of the trails around Saas Fee are steep, but in December I doubt if you will do much hiking because of the snow depth.