Despite being so close, and sharing the same ski runs, Davos and Klosters could not be more different. Davos is a bustling city at a stunning altitude of 1,560m, with all the amenities of a modern city, including Michelin restaurants, charming bars and great shopping. Originally developed as a summer health resort, Davos claims to be the place where skiing first took off in Europe, with the first set of skis imported here from Norway as long ago as the 1880s. As a ski resort, it dates to 1931, when a railway was built up the Parsenn mountain specifically to transport skiers, followed by the first drag lift a few years later.
Read our mini guide to Klosters/Davos
If Davos is a busy, attractive city, Klosters is an archetypal Swiss village, complete with narrow streets, quaint, painted wooden chalets and Alpine restaurants oozing charm and atmosphere (and melted cheese). In fact, Klosters has been likened to a Saville Row suit in its easy elegance, style and sophistication. Not for nothing is it the favoured ski resort of European royalty and aristocracy, so you might well find yourself skiing alongside Prince Charles or his two sons ? though if you do, you?ll soon find one of his bodyguards coming between you. However, unlike nearby St Moritz, Klosters is understated and unshowy. And while there are plenty of attractive bars and restaurants, and plenty of attractive aristocrats to fill them, Klosters and Davros are not wild party-towns and apr?s-ski tends to be fairly low-key. The accent here is firmly on skiing in the winter and walking in the summer, so it?s early nights all round for most visitors, who tend to be generally Swiss and German, as well as British.
The ski-season runs from early November to the end of April. In Summer, the area enjoys a typical Alpine climate, with maximum temperatures hitting the high twenties ?C.
Davos and Klosters are approximately an hour and a half from Zurich airport by car, with improved access thanks to a new train tunnel with car-carrying coaches. Alternatively, there are hourly trains from Zurich airport all the way to Klosters, taking around two hours.
For skiers, the Kloster-Davos ski area offers plenty of variety, particularly for intermediate skiers, with three hundred kilometres of runs, most of them above the tree-line. Several runs wind down the mountain for a full 10 km, without the need to take a ski-lift. For advanced skiers, there is some spectacular off-piste skiing, particularly if you don?t mind sticking your skis over your shoulder and heading up into untouched snow to get away from the crowds. There is also night skiing on Fridays. The main drawback for skiers are the lifts. From Klosters itself, there are only three lifts heading up the mountain, so queues tend to form, particularly after the early-birds have hit the slopes. There are also a large number of T-bar lifts. On the other hand, there is plenty of provision for snow-boards, with two snow-parks and a half-pipe, so skiers and boarders don?t have to mix too much if they don?t want to. For non-skiers, there are the full range of snow and health-related activities, including six toboggan runs, 75 km of cross-country skiing runs (with a circuit open for night skiing), ice-skating, swimming, sleigh rides, snow-shoe trips, massage, cinema and, for the more adventurous, paragliding.
In Summer, the area is a great base for walking and mountain biking, with over 450 km of well-marked trails for exploring the valley?s seven mountains. It is also a beautiful place for horse riding. Lake Davos has sailing and windsurfing, as well as a small beach for bathing (the water temperature reaches around 20?C.) Alternatively, there is a magnificent, open-air heated swimming pool with fantastic views, tennis courts and no fewer than six 18-hole golf courses within an hour?s drive of Davos. Or why not try summer sledging!
