Snowy, relaxed holiday in Dec in the Matter valley
User Hillfarm101 is planning a week's visit to Grisenried near St. Niklaus/Grachen in mid-December instead of mid-January, hoping for a snowy, scenic experience. They seek advice on snow availability and suitable locations for a peaceful stay, considering their desire for hiking and scenic bus/train trips.
- Stay in higher elevation areas like Grachen (1600 m) or Saas-Fee (1800 m) for better snow chances.
- If you want to try skiing, take lessons to ensure safety and enjoyment.
- Finding non-touristy chalets can be tricky; look for rentals near train stations to simplify travel.
- Use Google Translate for booking websites, but be cautious with translation inaccuracies.
AI-generated summary-
Hello
We’ve fallen in love with Switzerland and after 2 superb independent rail holidays summer/winter (thanks to great info MySwissAlps) my husband and I are now planning a week’s stay in Grisenried (nr St Niklaus/Grachen). I don’t ski (should I try it or will I return with broken limbs?!) but dream of a peaceful, white scenic Switzerland in non-tourist village cabin, hikes through snow and bus/train trips round the area (travelling by train from UK).
My question: Had been thinking of mid January visit but now husband (contractor) has been told he will have holiday from 13th December so it would make more sense for us to have holiday then but will be still have the same “snow experience”?
Many thanks for guidance on the above or more suitable holiday location!
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Hi Hillfarm101,
I am happy to hear that you fall in love with Switzerland. I can totally understand it. 🙂
It is difficult to say in advance, will be there snow already in the middle of December in Grachen. There are ski slopes open from the middle of December, but they also say it is weather permitting in the beginning. I would suggest to rent a chalet as high as you can to make sure you’ll have your dreamy, snowy holiday. Do not stay in St. Nicklaus, as it’s elevation is just around 1200 m. Grachen is a bit better, as it is at 1600 m. Or go to Saas-Fee (http://www.myswissalps.com/sa asfee), it is already at 1800 m high (although it is more touristy but I think still less popular than Zermatt). One of my favorite villages is Leukerbad, it is a bit further from this area, and it is also just at around 1400 m, but I think it is not touristy and has great wellness spas.
You can look for accommodation here:
- Leukerbad: https://www.hotelscomb ined.com/Place/Leukerb ad
- Saas-Fee: https://www.hotelscomb ined.com/Place/Saas_Fe e
- Grachen: https://www.hotelscomb ined.com/Place/Grachen
If you are trying to ski for the first time, I suggest to take lessons. You can try it just in a few hours, you won’t learn ski in such a short time, but it will be fun and interesting experience. Do not try skiing without an instructor. It can be dangerous for you and others too 🙂
About skiing and other snow funs please read this: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/snow.
There aren’t many ‘non-tourist village cabins’ available as most rental chalets are in tourist areas. Ever since we did it for a special honeymoon event my wife and I regularly hire complete chalets (for guarantee of peace and quiet) and have been doing so now for 25 years.
The problem is that many are not ideally situated for travelling to the chalet by train
I often book independently (internet search phrase ‘ferienhaus Schweiz’ ) but that generally requires a grasp of German which is no problem for me but might be for others.
Try internet searches for the following companies:
http://www.interhome.com/swit zerland
Thank you. The links are super helpful and with Google Translate I am sure I can use these sites. I appreciate your point however, that several homes are not near train stations but hopefully, will have success with my searching. Again, many thanks – greatly appreciated. 🙂
The minor problem with translation is that it sometimes throws up very ‘silly’ descriptions that can be disconcerting or downright incorrect. In the past I have dealt with companies who sent me details in English, but I requested the German original as I could see odd words in the English version of the Chalet description that with my understanding of German I knew were wrong in some way.
Examples my wife and I have had over the years
1) a route to a chalet that told us to “pass the 30 table”. It turned out that the latter was a 30km/h speed limit sign (the original German ’30 tafel’ was perfectly correct but it didn’t translate well into English)
2) a route to a chalet which said “take the dual carriageway” (which I suspected was impossible as the route by that time should have been a narrow road high on a hillside). It turned out that it meant there was a fork in the road.
3) “the chalet has an escalator” – seemed highly unlikely in a holiday chalet!
Ooh, so I could end up hiring a broom cupboard rather than a scenic log cabin perhaps! You’ve certainly experienced some rather interesting translations and I note the warning, thank you.
Bit cheeky but I don’t suppose you have any recommendations of places you have stayed (if reasonably near a train station)? Being messed around with work schedule, we may be back to a late January holiday rather than pre-Christmas – in which case, amounts of snow not be problematic. In my initial post, I got the name of the village, I’ve been considering, incorrect – it is Gasenried (between St Nicklaus / Grachen on fairly regular bus route, I believe) and this is one chalet possibility: alp.holidaybooking.ch/ holiday-house/1413551/holiday-home-als-man-zaehlte-1989-st-niklaus-vs-graechen-st-niklaus-upper-valais-switzerland/#summary
Again, huge thanks for your assistance.
Thank you very much for this extremely useful information. Switzerland is simply the best! 🙂
I’ve checked the bus route to Erbji and it is very irregular – not suitable I don’t think
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