Braunwald Ski Resort in Eastern Switzerland • Tips for Families

We were surprised how much we liked skiing at Braunwald. It took us awhile to figure out which runs  were best suited for our family. But once we found our favorite run, we really enjoyed ourselves. It’s a small resort, but that also means it’s more affordable and not as crowded as bigger destination resorts like Davos or Flims/Laax. The blue runs were really easy, good for beginners. The red runs steep enough to challenge my kids, but not too intimidating. I’d recommend this resort for beginners to intermediate.

We skied there with my 10 year who is learning to snowboard, my 13 year old who is a competent intermediate snowboarder, and my 70 year old dad on skis. My boys loved all the little jumps on the sides of the trail and in the forest. I liked the off-piste areas next to the trails, where I could still keep an eye on my boys on the trail. We all liked the big views and dramatic cliffs scattered through the resort. We’ll definitely go back and keep this one in our rotation.

This is a particularly good resort for a cold snowy day because most lifts are enclosed cable cars and the trails mostly lined by trees, which improves visibility. It’s also well connected to public transportation, so good choice for those without a car.

Note: Large families will love that Braunwald offers a family ski ticket including lunch: CHF 145 for parents and all their children under 16. 

First a video of our day at Braunwald, which gives a good sense of the ease/difficulty of the runs. Please subscribe to our new YouTube channel to support us and see more videos of winter activities.

Overview

Here’s the Braunwald piste map, showing the main ski area. To reach the resort, you take a funicular train from the valley (included in your ski pass) to the car-free village of Braunwald. It runs every 30 mins on the 25 and 55, so time your arrival to avoid a long wait. Once in Braunwald, it’s a short walk/ski (about 5 mins) to the Niederschlacht cable car, which takes you to the ski area.

The ski school and snow garden is located at Huttenberg. There are restaurants at the top and bottom of every cable car and lift. The main 3km sled run goes from Grotzenbüel to Huttenberg. There are a variety of winter walks shown in pink dots on the map.

Note: Bring “emergency” bag with you! You do not want to go back to your car during the day, it would take way too long. So bring a bag with you with any emergency clothes/supplies like extra gloves, sun cream, snacks, etc. There are lockers at the funicular station, but probably better to bring the bag over to the ski area and simply leave it near the ski racks outside one of the restaurants. We left our backpacks outside Grotzenbüel.

Getting There

Get yourself to Linthal in the Glarus valley. The funicular train up to Braunwald leaves from there.

By car: Drive to Linthal in the Glarus region and follow signs to the metered parking lot adjacent to the funicular station. Don’t worry if the lots directly adjacent to the funicular station are full. There are overflow lots a short walk away. But on weekends and sunny days, best to get there early (around 9:00). Parking costs about CHF 4 for the day.

By public transit: Take the train to Linthal-Braunwald station (not Linthal, which is one stop further). The train station is immediately adjacent to the funicular station.

Arrival in Braunwald

From Linthal, you’ll board the funicular train which takes you up to Braunwald. It runs every 30 mins on the 25 and 55 (both directions). It runs late into the evening, so don’t worry about missing the last one down after your ski day.

The funicular drops you in the car-free village of Braunwald. Here’s a view from top of funicular station.

If you are staying in Braunwald, there are snow taxis and a more romantic horse drawn carriage, so you don’t have to carry your luggage and gear to your hotel.

To access the ski resort, walk straight ahead on the marked path to the Niederschlacht cable car. This is just a little hopper cable car, a short ride to the ski area so you don’t have to walk uphill. Skiers mostly shuffled along the flat parts, but we were on snowboards, so we just walked carrying our gear until it started to go downhill.

The Niederschlacht cable car takes you to the bottom of the Huttenberg-Grotzenbüel cable car. The ski school and snow garden are a short walk from here. If you are ready to ski or sled, ride the cable car from here up to the middle station at Grotzenbüel.

Runs from the Grotzenbüel-Huttenberg cable car

The #1 blue run from Grotzenbüel to Huttenberg is a very easy trail through the forest, great for beginners. My kids loved all the little bumps and jumps on the sides of the trail.

One downside is you can’t really ski all the way back to the cable car. About 100m before reaching the cable car, it gets very flat and even uphill, very annoying! So we had to take off our skis and boards and walk the rest of the way. I carried my son’s board because it was so far to walk and he was grumpy.

At Grotzenbüel, there is a drag lift with a short easy slope for absolute beginners. Not a great spot, but could be useful.

Runs from Gumen-Burstberg cable car

Our favorite run was the #9 red run from Gumen to Burstberg. The top is a bit steep for beginners, but not too bad. The middle of the red run is a long narrow trail above the cliffs (with a very safe netted fence for protection), which can be a bit crowded. The last part is an easy wider trail through the forest. Only a couple flat spots where we can to keep our speed up, but besides that very enjoyable.

Runs from Seblengrat chair lift

The chair lift to Seblengrat is an old slow 2-person lift, that takes a long time to reach the top. It’s a pretty ride and the red runs are more challenging, good for intermediate skiers. The runs from Seblengrat over the east side were closed when we were there, so we’ll have to try that next time.

We avoid drag lifts, so we did not do the #3 or #5 runs that led to the drag lift.

Sledding

The main sled run is 3 km from Grotzenbüel to Huttenberg, with cable car access between these two points. You can buy a day pass for sledding or a pass for a couple hours. You can rent sleds at the cable car station.

Eating at the resort

We ate at the Grotzenbüel self-service restaurant. We got pizzas at the stand outside the restaurant, which were quite good. Otherwise, the restaurant has typical ski resort food, nothing special. If you want something more cosy with even bigger views, you might try the restaurants at the top of Gumen or Seblengrat. I did not see any picnic areas, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’ll look for it next time.

Note: If you ski from Gumen to this restaurant, the trail ends with a uphill walk, so be ready to carry your little ones skis for a few minutes.

Need more ideas of where to ski in Switzerland? We’ve got lots of suggestions here!