A Guide to Skiing in Saas-Fee for First-Timers
There are 100 kilometers of skiing available at Saas-Fee, with altitudes up to 3500 meters.
Find out everything you need to know about skiing in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, with tips on the best runs, accommodations, and getting around.
On our winter vacation to Switzerland, we planned to visit three ski resorts - Zermatt, Aletsch, and Saas-Fee. We were really curious about Saas-Fee since we had heard a lot of mixed thoughts about the overall skiing experience. Naturally, the only way to find out was to go, and that's precisely what we did. So, after we spent three amazing days skiing in Zermatt on our first visit, we drove the following morning to Saas-Fee and spent a full day exploring its 100-kilometer network of slopes.
One of the coolest things we discovered about Saas Fee was that the elite Swiss alpine ski racers use the glaciers as a summer training ground. We were pumped to ski the same terrain as multiple Olympic gold medalist Marco Odermatt and others! In this guide, we're sharing our insights and comparisons to help you plan your ski getaway to Saas-Fee - it's practically a thorough recap of our day in Saas-Fee.
Saas Fee easily gives one of the top skiing experiences in the Swiss Alps.
Purchasing Saas-Fee Ski Pass
We technically kicked off our Saas-Fee ski trip the evening before, right after getting back from Zermatt and checking the weather forecast. It looked promising, so we booked our ski pass right away through the official website. A day skiing ticket to Saas-Fee costs 82 CHF for adults (plus a 5 CHF fee for the actual ski pass card), which is slightly cheaper than in nearby Zermatt but still very expensive. Just to know, after you are done with skiing, you can return the ski pass at the cash dask and you will get 5 CHF back (cash only). We picked it up the following morning at the Felskinn base station.
Some of the red runs at Saas Fee were pretty challenging.
How to Get to Saas-Fee
Getting to Saas-Fee is pretty easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind since arriving here is a little different than in Zermatt. Since we drove from Czechia to Switzerland, taking our car to Saas-Fee was a no-brainer. If you're looking to rent a car in Switzerland, the best spots are major cities like Zurich, Geneva, and Bern, or at airports like Zurich International. There's also Europcar office in Visp.
Driving to Saas-Fee
Even though Saas-Fee is car-free (like many Alpine villages in Valais), that only means that you can't drive around the village with your own car. Getting to Saas-Fee by car from Visp, Zurich, Geneva, Zermatt, or any other destination is perfectly fine.
We started from Brig (a small town next to Visp) and covered the 35-kilometer journey in under 45 minutes. Saas-Fee is about four hours from Zurich, three hours from Geneva, and two and a half hours from Bern.
The road that left the valley in Visp and climbed all the way to Saas-Fee was snow-free, well-kept, and easy to drive on. It was also pretty scenic. As we hit the road while it was still dark outside, we happened to catch a sunrise just before we reached Saas-Fee. The sky turned coral and steel, but the whole spectacle didn't take long, and once we reached the village, the whole sky was just a dull gray. The next part was parking.
We enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise on our trip to Saas-Fee.
Parking
Every drive to Saas-Fee technically ends at the designated parking area that consists of a giant parking garage (it had like ten stories!) and a large parking lot for about 3000 cars, both sitting at the beginning of the village. Since cars are not allowed around Saas-Fee (with the exception of local taxis, shuttles, and buses), this is the end of the road for all those arriving by car.
The Saas-Fee Parkhaus is HUGE and costs around CHF 20 per car/day - we paid by card at the machine. Since not many people arrived so early in the morning in Saas-Fee, and it was still the beginning of the ski season, both parking areas were pretty empty.
We had to park at the main garage because Saas-Fee is car-free.
Getting to Saas-Fee by Bus and Train
If you're taking public transport, you have to catch a bus 511 from Visp to get to Saas-Fee, so you need to get to this small town first. Visp is about 25 kilometers north of Saas-Fee, and while the town is fairly unremarkable, it's a major railway hub. The key point is you can hop on a direct train to Visp from almost any big Swiss city, whether it's Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, or Bern.
Once you're in Visp, you can take a yellow-colored PostBus (Bus 511), which departs every half hour directly to Saas-Fee (and stops along the Saas Valley).
Unlike Zermatt, Saas-Fee doesn't have a train station. The nearest one is located at Stalden-Saas, about 20 kilometers from Saas-Fee. Bus 511 also makes a stop there, but we'd just catch it in Visp.
Getting Around Saas-Fee
With the car parked, we set out for the cable car base station. Felskinn is the closest, around 900 meters from Saas-Fee Parkhaus. It's doable on foot, but we took the shuttle bus instead. It was early in the morning, and it was just Lucie, me, and one other fellow skier who had tried to locate the bus stop with us in this huge parking area.
We took the free shuttle bus that runs from Saas-Fee Parkhaus to the Alpin Express cable car.
Since we parked on the roof of the parking garage, we just walked across a concrete bridge to the parking lot on the other side of the road and walked directly to the only yellow bus 644 standing there. Luckily, that was the right one (well, there wasn't much other choice, right?).
We could have taken a taxi, but it wasn't really necessary (though this option might be ideal if you're traveling in a larger group).
Can You Get the Full Saas-Fee Ski Resort Experience in Just One Day?
Saas-Fee Ski Resort boasts 150 kilometers of slopes and consists of three separate areas: Saas-Grund, Saas-Almagell, and Saas-Fee. At first, we were slightly disappointed to find out these three areas are separate and not linked, unlike Zermatt, but it didn't matter much in the end.
The funicular is the only way to reach the top of Saas Fee ski resort.
To properly introduce you to the area, Saas-Fee is the main ski resort here, and Saas-Grund and Saas-Almagell are the smaller ones. If you're visiting the Saastal Valley for the first time, we recommend starting with the Saas-Fee simply because it offers the very best skiing experience in Saastal (and forget about the rest).
We started at 8:30 in the morning and descended back to the village after 4 PM, so we can say we spent a full day in Saas-Fee - we saw more than enough! Clearly, we didn't hit every slope, but we gave it our all, and my watch said we did well around 50 kilometers. Keep in mind that the Panorama run from Mittelallalin Felskinn back to the Saas-Fee village is about 14 kilometers long! Ultimately, it was a long and tiring day, but well worth it (except that our legs felt like jello on the way home)!
Standing at Mittelallalin, 3500 meters above sea level, Lucie is gearing up for a 14-kilometer descent to Saas Fee village.
Of the two smaller ski spots, Saas-Grund has more to offer, with about 35 kilometers of slopes, while Saas-Almagell packs only 15 kilometers. We didn't have time to ski at the other two spots, but since Saas-Almagell is small, we would've likely just visited Saas-Grund if we had more time. The village of Saas Grund sits at 1550 meters above sea level, but the main skiing area can be found between Kreuzboden (2400m) and Hohsaas (3200m). So, back to the main question.
One day of skiing in Saas-Fee is enough to hit the best slopes, but two days would be even better. You could also theoretically do a few runs at Saas-Grund on the same day, but we think it only makes sense if you're in Saastal for a longer stay. You could totally spend a week skiing in Saas-Fee, but with Zermatt and Aletsch Arena nearby, we'd suggest checking those out, too.
Lucie savoring the chilly morning on Fee glacier.
Just a reminder - it's not always sunny in Saas-Fee. We couldn't ski for three days because of heavy snow and strong winds. The weather really impacts your experience, so add a few extra days to your trip to stay flexible. Also, the road to/from Saas-Fee can get closed during extreme weather like heavy landslides, or avalanches, but it doesn't happen too often. Roads around Saas-Fee usually get cleared in a few hours during heavy snowfall, so that's one less thing to stress about.
Where to Book Your Stay in Saas-Fee for Skiing
Well, the most straightforward answer is that the village of Saas-Fee is the best place to stay (not surprisingly, right?) as you get convenient access to the ski resort. You also can enjoy some apres-ski after a long day on the slopes and don't have to stress out about transportation to/from the village.
But there's more to this topic, especially if you want to visit Saas-Fee just on a day trip like we did or if you want to explore other parts - Grund and Almagell - of the Saas-Fee resort. We've already covered those two small villages, and to be honest, we'd only stay there if Saas-Fee were full or if the prices were way lower (sadly, hotels in Saastal are usually pretty pricey). All three villages are well-linked by bus, so there is no need to worry about that.
The last option was to stay in the Brig/Visp area - that's what we did, as we could crash at Lucie's relatives, which was awesome and saved us tons on hotels. But even if that's not an option for you, this area is a great base for exploring not only Saas-Fee but also Zermatt, Aletsch, or Crans Montana.
One last tip: make sure your hotel has ski storage, though it's kind of pointless since nearly all do (so just to be completely sure).
Hotels in Saas-Fee
There's a good variety of hotels in Saas-Fee. For budget-conscious travelers, the wellnessHostel4000 combines the traditional hostel experience with great spa facilities. Wellnesshotel Schweizerhof offers comfort without a hefty price tag. For the ultimate luxury, the stunning Capra Saas-Fee provides gorgeous rooms, fine dining, and impeccable service.
The lodging in Saas Fee village is on the pricey side.
Hotels in Saas-Almagell
Saas-Almagell is a small village about 7 kilometers from Saas-Fee. You'll find the smallest ski area of the three here, which is especially popular with families with smaller kids. Hotel Olympia and Hotel Alpenhof are typical alpine accommodations offering cozy rooms and fantastic locations, just a short walk from the Saas-Almagell base cable car station.
Hotels in Saas-Grund
Saas-Grund is only 3.5 kilometers from Saas-Fee, easily reached with a quick bus ride. It's quieter in the village compared to Saas-Fee, but that might be exactly what you're after. In this case, Haus Astoria is right next to the Saas-Grund base cable car station, and Pension Heino is just a 5-minute walk away.
Hotels in Visp
Since Visp is well-connected by train and just 25 kilometers from Saas-Fee, it's a pretty great place to stay for all those who want to explore more ski resorts this area offers on day trips. Baxter Hotel and Hotel & Bildungshaus St. Jodern are top picks here, both offering great value for your money.
How Was the Skiing in Saas-Fee?
Now it's time for the best part: how the skiing at Saas-Fee went, what we saw, our top slopes, and our overall feelings about the resort. Before the trip, we heard Saas-Fee is not the most modern resort in the Alps; the infrastructure is a bit dated, the slopes are not ideally connected, and there's plenty of walking with skis off between lifts. And quite frankly, we didn't care at all about all that. Hitting those slopes at 3500-meter heights while surrounded by breathtaking scenery was exactly what we were after.
We fell for Saas Fee's charm and top-notch skiing.
In hindsight, all those little inconveniences and faults are what give Saas-Fee its unmistakable spirit. Eventually, they'll fix these things. When that happens, everything will be better, but the resort will lose some of its charm. Go ahead and call me nostalgic, but that's how I feel about it. Those little quirks are what made the experience unique.
Anyway, we jumped on the Alpin Express gondola to Felskinn (3000m), then took the Metro Alpin funicular up to Mittelallalin, the highest point of Saas-Fee at 3500 meters. When we got off the funicular and stepped out of the station, we found ourselves above the clouds with amazing views of Saas-Fee, surrounded by 18 four-thousand-meter peaks.
At 4,546 meters, Dom is the highest peak in the Mischabel massif.
I tried to get some pics, but with no sun and freezing fingers, I figured a few snaps would do and put on my skis. Lucie was already set and waiting for me, feeling the freezing temps. I forgot to check the thermometer, but trust us, it was an incredibly cold morning. No surprise there since we were on a glacier at 3500 meters!
With the pistes on the mountain behind the sun, it contributed to two things. The runs facing north were less sunny than in Cervinia or Aletsch. It's not like there wasn't any sun on the slopes, but it was limited.
The morning's first few runs on the glacier were colder than we expected, especially my toes, stuck in those old ski boots, were not excited about my decision to hold off on new ones for another year. It also turned out that taking the Allalin t-bars was not the smartest decision of the day.
The good part was that the slopes were firm and in great shape throughout the day, with much less slush snow than in other ski resorts. This is often overlooked, and if you're looking for a pure skiing experience, Saas-Fee is perfect for it. And those few first rides on fresh corduroy were pure joy!
We got to the slopes early and had them almost all to ourselves.
One of the things that surprised us was that the red slopes at Saas-Fee were definitely harder than in nearby ski resorts. That, and the lack of the beginner-friendly blue pistes. While Lucie was not that thrilled about it, I have to admit that was probably the main reason I liked the overall skiing experience more than Zermatt. It was definitely more challenging but also rewarding. Even with 100 km of well-groomed slopes, Saas-Fee might present a challenge for newbies.
We skied all the way down a few times, but since the village remained mostly in the clouds throughout the day, it was just to take a Spielboden gondola and an aerial tramway back to Felskinn. After a bit, we found ourselves at Langfluh (we got there from Spielboden), one of our favorite view spots in Saas-Fee. The mountain station at Langfluh (2870m) had a nice viewing platform with some breathtaking views of the mighty Feegletscher!
Getting that close to the glacier - Feegletscher in this case - always feels overwhelming.
As the day went on, the clouds cleared at higher elevations, the sun came out, and we enjoyed some great weather on (some of) the slopes. Descending back to the cloudy, gray village was like entering a different world - we couldn't wait to get back on the 'sunny' slopes!
By the way, we've already mentioned that we did the 14-kilometer Panorama run that goes from Mittelallalin (3500m) to Saas-Fee (1800m) a couple of times. It was an awesome experience despite the lower elevations having narrower slopes with some icy patches.
The journey back to Mittelallalin was its own adventure, with the gondola and funicular taking about 40 minutes! It sounds like a lot, but we were glad to give our dying quads a break and enjoy the views after getting past the clouds.
We spent almost 40 minutes getting from Saas-Fee to Mittelallalin.
In the afternoon, the sun disappeared behind the clouds, and it got colder again (but not as chilly as in the morning). We took a few final runs (that t-bar to Egginerjoch was fun!) and then slowly headed back to Saas-Fee, where we caught the shuttle bus to our car. Practically, the only area we couldn't explore on this day was Plattjen (2570m) since it was still closed. Once we loaded our skis into the car, we headed back to our place in Brig.
We hardly spoke on the way down, our thoughts on the bad weather hitting Valais the next day (and the fact that we were also exhausted). The forecast was right, and the weather kept us from skiing for three days, but our adventure wasn't over. We visited the Brigerbad thermal baths twice and enjoyed some well-earned break from skiing. And after the snow and wind settled, we finally checked out the Aletsch Arena!
Travel Insurance
We never leave home without travel insurance that was designed to cover our expenses if something goes wrong during the trip.
Travel insurance protects against theft, flight delays, injury, illness, cancellations, and much more.
World Nomads provides travel insurance for travelers to cover their trip essentials, including sports and adventure activities.
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Best Time for Skiing in Saas-Fee
The main skiing season at Saas-Fee starts in early December and ends by the end of April, depending on snowfall. We visited Saas-Fee in December, just before Christmas, and couldn't ask for a better experience. Only a few slopes were closed (Plattjen gondola), and very few people were around. We totally lucked out with the weather, making our skiing in Saas-Fee almost perfect.
We took our ski trip to Saas Fee in December and the weather was almost perfect.
January and February are the most popular months to visit Saas-Fee as all lifts should be operational, and there should be plenty of snow in the whole ski resort. Heads up, this is peak skiing season in Saas-Fee, so the already pricey accommodation is even more expensive. Be sure to reserve your room ahead of time since hotels fill up quickly during this period.
Since there's a glacier, you can also ski at Saas-Fee during the summer (yes, even during July and August). They have around 20 kilometers of groomed pistes but be prepared that the experience might not be as great as you would expect. It's still summer, after all, plus the prime spots are claimed by skiers training there. Remember that the cable car only works between 7 AM and 12 PM in the peak summer.
Is Skiing in Saas-Fee Better than Zermatt?
Ultimately, Saas-Fee and Zermatt are great places to visit, but deciding between them is always a tough call. I preferred skiing in Saas-Fee since I found the runs more difficult and technical, while Lucie enjoyed the easier slopes at Zermatt (or the wider variety of them, to be precise).
On the whole, it's not a fair comparison since Zermatt is simply much more famous, bigger (plus you can make your way to Cervinia), interconnected, and has Matterhorn. On the other hand, Saas-Fee is less crowded, has stunning views of the Alps, and offers an amazing skiing experience for intermediate/advanced skiers.
One huge reason we loved Saas-Fee is that it felt more like a traditional ski resort rather than a touristy place filled with day trippers who come just to enjoy the scenery, not skiing (of course, there's nothing wrong with that).
To conclude, Saas-Fee gave us the ultimate skiing experience we were so excited to find in the Swiss Alps. With some extra time on your hands, Saas-Fee is definitely worth it.
Saas Fee is the perfect spot for ski fanatics.
Travel Resources
Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.
Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.
Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.
We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.
Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.
Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.
Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.
