Grindelwald guide
I've been visiting Grindelwald for many years, but December 2025 was the first time I'd been there in winter. Imagine stepping into a snow globe scene of snowy mountains and wooden chalets lit by soft yellow lamps and you will begin to understand what it's like to be in this perfectly picturesque Swiss town. Here's four reasons to visit this winter:
Opportunities to indulge
Slopes for all
Impeccable infrastructure
Awesome attractions
Words and photography by Olly Beckett
Opportunities to indulge
Built in 1904 by the same family who runs it today, the Belvedere is one of the few grand hotels remaining in Grindelwald. A 5* institution, rooms have large window with views over the vast Eiger north face. There was something very special about standing on my room's balcony and looking out over cute chalets huddled together beneath the mountains with skiers returning down the slopes after a day on the pistes.
Then there's the food or, more specifically, the cheese. While the Belvedere has a must-try Michelin-starred restaurant it's worth venturing into the cold night to Romatik Hotel Schweizerhof's Fondue-Stübli, which has a heavenly menu of melted cheese dishes using local ingredients. Venture a little further to Restaurant Pinte which has been serving top-quality Swiss cuisine since 1843, I was mightily impressed by their lake trout with spinach and almonds, followed by can't-get-enough Toblerone mousse.
Slopes for all
In my group were people who loved the thrill of a black run, and me, a blues-loving beginner. While they hurtled down the Lauberhorn I merrily slid from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald Grund. And then I did it all over again the next day. What I enjoyed most about this run were the sections that ran through thick pine forests. The slopes were wide enough to accommodate both me and the far more confident skiers who zoomed past.
Not a skier? Not a problem. From Kleine Schiedegg you can also speed down the mountain on dedicated sled runs. There are also several winter hiking trails to explore.
Impeccable infrastructure
Switzerland is renowned for its excellent transport infrastructure and nowhere exemplifies this better than Grindelwald. The main train station is served by regular services from Interlaken (with connections to the rest of the country) and Grindelwald Grund station has a train running up the steep track to Kleine Schiedegg (from where you can continue to Wengen, Lauterbrunnen or up further to Jungfraujoch).
Then there's the cable cars. The Eiger Express opened in December 2026 and will whisk you from Grindelwald Terminal station to Eigergletscher in 15 jaw-droppingly mountainous minutes. On the other side of town take the Grindelwald First cable car to the viewpoints at 2,165m-high First.
Awesome attractions
Where can all this excellent transport infrastructure take you? At First there's the First Flyer; a thrilling zipline which begins by pulling you backwards up the wire before releasing you to fly down at 84km/h. There's also the Tissot First Cliff Walk, a terrifyingly magnificent metal walkway that's attached to a cliff and hundreds of metres above the frosty valley floor. As someone who isn't a fan of heights I absolutely loved it.
The railway from Kleine Schiedegg to the saddle of Jungfrau mountain was conceived in 1893 and opened 19 years later. Powered from the beginning by electric it's a 35-minute ride (or 26 minutes from Eigergletscher) to Jungfraujoch, where a large building is perched at 3,463m above sea level. Short of oxygen but big on views, there's several places here to stare up at the mountains, down into the Lauterbrunnen valley, or across to the Aletsch Glacier (the largest in the Alps).
USEFUL RESOURCES
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Swiss Travel Pass (for travel in Switzerland and discounts on attractions)
Watch a short video of why we think you should visit Grindelwald this winter, on the Mountains Magazine Instagram channel.
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