A horse-drawn sleigh ride is a fun way to counter the after-Christmas blues. One year, we took a sleigh ride in Davos and really enjoyed it. It’s about an hour long ride from the center of Davos up the Dischma valley to a mountain restaurant, where we ate a traditionally hearty Swiss lunch, then rode back into town. The scenery was beautiful and the sleigh ride cosy, especially fun with friends.
See also Sleigh Ride in Raten, which is the hills near Einsiedeln
Sleigh Route
We went with the Kutschenzentrale company, which offers multiple routes as shown on the map below. We did the yellow route to the Teufi restaurant, about 1hr each way, with about 90 minutes for meal time.
Cost of sleigh ride
Some sleigh companies charge per person, some charge for the whole sleigh. If you don’t fill up the sleigh, they might add other people. So I recommend bringing some friends along.
With Kutschenzentrale, the sleigh ride costs CHF 170 for 1-4 people, more for each additional person. We had 5 adults, 4 kids and a dog, which fit in one sleigh and cost about CHF 200. I think we got a slight discount for the kids. The price does not include your meal at the restaurant. See current prices here.
Reserving Sleigh Ride & Restaurant
I booked about six weeks in advance as some sleigh companies get booked out far in advance for weekends. We reserved our sleigh through this company.
Kutschenzentrale Davos Platz
Tel. +41 (0)81 413 50 00
www.kutschenzentraledavos.ch
Other websites offering sleigh rides in this area:
www.davos-kutschen.ch
www.kutschen-davos.ch
You need to make reservations separately for the sleigh and the restaurant (the restaurant is optional). When reserving with the sleigh, tell them if you want a one way or return trip and if you intend to eat at the restaurant. You can ride the sleigh there and back with a break to eat. You could alternatively ride the sleigh one way, then return by taxi or foot (there is a winter trail next to the road). When reserving the restaurant, tell them that you are coming with the sleigh so they know your arrival time might be a little flexible. The Restaurant Teufi website implies that they also arrange sleigh rides, so you may be able to arrange everything directly with the restaurant.
Restaurant Teufi, Dischma
Tel. +41 81 416 35 82
www.teufi.ch
Getting There
The sleigh picked us up near the Davos Platz train station so it is easy to access by car or public transportation. I’ll show you exactly where we got picked up below. But check with your sleigh company in case your meeting point is different.
By car: Drive to Davos and park in the large parking lot next to the Jacobshorn cable car (Brämabüelstrasse 17, 7270 Davos), cost CHF 5/day. From the parking, walk west toward the train station and the main street. Cross the main street and walk south almost to the corner, where you’ll see the Kutschen sign shown in the photo below (see on map).
By train: Simply take a train to Davos Platz train station. Exit the main entrance of the train station, cross the street and walk south almost to the corner, where you’ll see the Kutschen sign shown in the photo below (see on map).
Note: sorry that some of these pics are not great quality since they are screen captures from video. But they help you see some the details I was missing from my regular camera pics.
The Sleigh
Our sleigh had two horses and three benches for passengers. Each bench fit 3 adults or 4 kids. Our driver let one of the kids ride up front with him on the way back, which was a special treat.
The sleigh provides lots of blankets, which kept us very cosy. But you still need to dress very warmly, especially your feet, head and hands. We were there are on an especially chilly day and we were happy to have all our snow gear on.
Impressions
The sleigh picked us up in town, which was a little funny to see the sleigh driving among traffic. The first part of the ride through town wasn’t very interesting and I was a little worried. But once we got to the valley, it was quiet and very pretty.
Once we entered the Dischmatal valley, it was gorgeous!
The Dischmatal valley, looking back to Davos.
Riding backwards.
The sleigh goes up a snowy road alongside a river.
A very pretty river.
The sun was very bright that day and our kids didn’t have sunglasses. So sometimes they hid under the blankets.
At the restaurant
Here we are at Restaurant Teufi after about an hour in the sleigh.
Rösti and sausages for our crew.
Loading back up for our return trip. The horses had a nice break too.
All snug as a bug in a rug.
See more Sleigh Rides in Switzerland or more winter activities for families
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