In Jan 2020, we spent a weekend skiing at Aletsch Arena, a huge resort in southern Switzerland. Besides the great skiing and beautiful sunny slopes, it’s special because you get a wonderful view of the 23km long Aletsch glacier. We also enjoyed seeing one of our favorite hiking areas covered in snow. Below is more about what we liked about this resort, practical information and tips for your visit.
One of our favorite things about Aletsch is that they have great family discounts. In the 2020-21 ski season, they are giving kids and teens up to age 15 a free Saturday ski pass if the adults book a multi-day pass that includes a Saturday.
Note: Our weekend was sponsored by SBB Railaway and Aletsch Arena .
| Location: | Valais, Southern Switzerland |
| Address: | For Fiescheralp: Fieschertalstrasse 40, 3930 Visp For Bettmeralp: Nussbaum 17-22, 3993 Grengiols For Riederalp: Furkastrasse 29, 3983 Mörel |
| Car: | 2hr30 from Zurich to Fiesch 2hr25 from Bern to Mörel |
| Train: | 2hr40 from Zürich/Luzern to Betten 1hr30 from Bern to Betten |
| Suitable for: | all levels |
| Lift type: | chair lifts, gondola, & cable cars to most runs, T-bars on practice runs |
| Sample Prices 2020: | dynamic pricing typically between CHF 55-66/adult day pass |
| Discount: | family discount, 4 hour pass, multi-day passes |
| More info: | aletscharena.ch – webcams – winter report – piste map |
Overview of Aletsch Arena ski resort
Aletsch Arena is a huge ski resort in the Valais in southern Switzerland. You can access the ski resort from three valley stations, shown left to right on the map below: Mörel-Riederalp, Betten-Bettmeralp and Fiesch-Fiescheralp. Each area is accessed with a cable car or gondola, connecting the valley with a small alpine village. At each village, there are ski lifts, ski schools, ski rentals, restaurants, hotels and other services.
You can ski between areas, but it can take a long time to go back and forth. So it makes sense to start in the area you most want to ski. Here is the piste map.
During our two day trip, we spent most of our time in the Fiesch area and a little at Bettmeralp, which I’ll tell you more about below. But we will definitely go back and explore the rest of the resort and update the post with more info then.
Getting to Aletsch Arena
We took the train to Fiesch, the far east part of the Aletsch Arena as shown on the map below. They opened a new gondola in 2020 at Fiesch, which is directly above the train station (doesn’t show on Google maps yet).
Our train left Zürich at 7:02, arrived in Fiesch at 9:55 and we were on the slopes by 10:30 (we could have taken an earlier train, but no one wanted to get up that early). I was worried we wouldn’t get a full day of snowboarding after the long ride. But since Fiesch is relatively uncrowded, we got lots of runs in, had a nice late lunch, and were absolutely exhausted by 16:00.
The journey was about 3 hrs from Zürich, which felt a bit far for a day trip, so we stayed the night and skied both Friday and Saturday. But actually the train didn’t feel so long and my kids both said they’d do as a day trip again sometime because they liked Aletsch Arena so much.
By train: For most connections, you’ll take a train to Visp, then change to a slower local trail and continue to Mörel, Betten or Fiesch.
By car from Zürich/Luzern: Drive to Realp and take the Furka car train through the tunnel, which is required because the road over the mountain pass is closed in winter. It runs every 30 mins Fri-Mon and every 60 mins Tue-Thurs. Travel time through the tunnel is 20 mins. It costs CHF 33 each way. There can be long queues, so they recommend arriving well before 9:00. Details at Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. After exiting the tunnel in Oberwald, drive southwest on the highway 19 to Fiesch, Betten or Mörel depending on what part of the resort you want to start in.
By car from Bern: Drive to Kandersteg and take the Lötschberg car train through the tunnel. Then drive to Betten (Nussbaum 17-22, 3993 Grengiols) or Fiesch (Fieschertalstrasse 40, 3930 Visp).
Special Ski Tickets
Dynamic pricing. If you book your ski tickets online, you can benefit from a discount. At the window, tickets are usually CHF 66. But online you can get day passes for as low as CHF 35, depending on how far in advance you book. You load the ski pass
Family discount. When buying ski passes for families, the third child and additional children are free. They are also giving kids and teens up to age 15 a free Saturday ski pass if the adults book a multi-day pass that includes a Saturday.
Four hour pass. This is helpful for children that may not last the whole day or for parents that need to pick up kids from ski school or babysitting and cannot ski the whole day.
Winter Hiking Passes. If you aren’t skiing, you can buy winter hiking passes that cover the lifts that access winter trails. The price varies depending on which lifts you will use, so ask at the ticket office.
Photo story of the ski resort
Glacier views
One thing that makes this resort special is the views of the Aletsch glacier, the largest glacier in the alps with a length of about 23km. The Fiesch Eggishorn cable car takes you to this amazing view, where you’ll also find a cafe and lounge chairs with blankets.
It’s an exciting black run down from here. But if you can also just ride the cable car back down if your skills aren’t so advanced.
The Bettmerhorn gondola also takes you to a glacier view, with a bigger restaurant.
From Bettmerhorn, there are more reasonable intermediate red runs spreading out across the mountain below. This is also the start of a ridgeline winter walk, a great choice for non-skiers.
Fun amusements for kids
Aletsch Arena has a variety of amusements, like fun parks with jumps, slalom courses, and the speed test shown here. You scan your ski ticket and it will both record your speed and take a video you can pick up later online.
Variety of terrain
Aletsch Arena has a variety of terrain for all skill levels, but we particularly appreciated the wide blue and red runs, which makes it easier for children to learn and families to ski together.
We liked that Aletsch Arena is at a high elevation, starting around 2000m and going as high as 2800m, which usually means better snow conditions in early and late season. So during Christmas break, we had great snow at Aletsch Arena, while other lower elevation resorts were struggling to open all their runs.
Alpine villages
We also loved how each alpine village in the resort is a hub for the ski school, practice lifts and regular lifts, so families skiing at different levels can easily meet up for lunch or to swap childcare responsibilities between parents.
Winter walks for non-skiers
If any of the adults in your group doesn’t ski, you can do a winter walk or simply ride a gondola up to beautiful glacier views. My husband did the Riederalp – Bettmeralp – Fiescheralp panoramic trail, which was a bit long at 9km. But there are many other shorter and easier options. See all Aletsch Arena winter walks.
Sledding
There is a 13km sled run from Fiescheralp to Lax in the valley, the start of which you can see in my picture below. You can take the train back to Fiesch from there and ride back up to Fiescheralp. This sounds like a real adventure!
You could also ride up the Bettmeralp-Bettmerhorn gondola or Fiescheralp-Eggishorn cable car to admire glacier views and lounge at the restaurant with warm beverage.
Where we stayed
Since Aletsch Arena is a bit far from Zürich, we decided to stay overnight and ski two days. There are lots of hotels and apartments in the alpine and valley villages near the resort. But since we booked quite last minute, we had limited choice.
Luckily, we got a room at Hotel Jungfrau, which is super conveniently located a short easy walk from the top of the gondola. It’s also adjacent to the snow garden ski school and T-bar practice hills. So it would be perfect for families with kids learning to ski. The room was no frills but comfortable and the “ski in, ski out” location was fantastic. It was fine for one or two nights, but if I was staying for the week, I’ll probably prefer to rent an apartment or stay in a hotel with larger rooms. On a subsequent trip, we stayed at Hotel Eggishorn, which was a big step up, with lovely rooms and view across the valley.
Their family friendly restaurant has a wood fire pizza oven and we really enjoyed both the pizzas and Flammenkuchen. I also had a delicous mango curry soup to start and a yummy housemade tiramisu for dessert. The restaurant is quite popular, so best to reserve for both lunch and dinner if you are eating at prime time. At 13:30, we didn’t have a problem getting a table.
4 responses
Do you have to pay for the entire resort if you’re only using the little drag lifts for absolute beginners?
On their website, I don’t see a “beginner” ski ticket like they have at other resorts. I suggest contacting them to see if we are missing anything.
My wife is a novice. Which area in Aletsch Arena would you recommend for the easiest blue runs for beginners?
We really like the Fiescheralp side, which has nice blue runs. But Bettmeralp has more options, with lots of little drag lifts for absolute beginners. It depends on how much of a beginner she is. Take a look a the piste map. I don’t think you could go wrong at either one.