[Anonymous]

24 May 2019 at 0:12:10 #821802

We are a family making plans to travel to Europe to experience a white Christmas, the research that I have done so far indicates that we need to consider the villages with high altitude to better our chances – I quite like the reviews of Sils, can anyone offer any more advice with regard to this village or somewhere else that I might not even know of. Thank you

💡 Save time and get daily forum questions & answers by e-mail

[User]

Reply 1 of 10 • 25 May 2019 at 13:36:48 #913168

I can’t help you with snow except to say, at 6000′, it usually covered with snow in the Winter. I watch it live here: sils.roundshot.com/. It’s a beautiful place; I’m going back for my second Spring/Summer visit in 3 weeks. If you can afford it, the Waldhaus is spectacular. It was a major pilgrimage location to celebrate the work of Nietzsche. He spent Summers there in the 1880’s, and wrote some of his most inspiring works after hiking eight or nine hours a day around the local lakes and trails. Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse, among many other luminaries spent weeks and months at a time soaking in Nietzsche’s vibe.

[Annika]

Reply 2 of 10 • 25 May 2019 at 17:44:37 #913169

Hi Barnz_12 and welcome to MySwissAlps!

Christmas is at the beginning of winter and snow season in Switzerland, so there are no guarantees of a white Christmas. However, your chances are best in higher regions and Sils certainly qualifies, as well of the rest of the Upper Engadine: myswissalps.com/uppere ngadine. It’s a beautiful little town and I can hardly imagine you’d regret staying there :-). Here’s some general information on seasons and their weather conditions: myswissalps.com/bestti metovisit.

[mestettler]

Reply 3 of 10 • 26 May 2019 at 3:36:52 #913170

Hello Barnz12,

I spent time last summer in Sils Baselgia, and it was fabulous! There is public transportation if you don’t have a car but want to visit St. Moritz. I stayed at the Hotel Chesa Randolina and could not have been happier. The room was very nice, the bathroom was very modern, and the food was out of this world! I hope to go back to this hotel when I travel to Switzerland this fall.

[User]

Reply 4 of 10 • 27 May 2019 at 0:21:23 #913171

Thank you for your invaluable input, I think that Sils is the place to be & I have been in contact with the Waldhaus – Wow! Amazing! Now for all our plans to come together in the next 18 months.

[User]

Reply 5 of 10 • 27 May 2019 at 0:51:05 #913172

Hi Barnz 12 –

Many families return year after year for Christmas at Engelberg.

Slowpoke

[traveljet]

Reply 6 of 10 • 31 May 2019 at 8:26:52 #913173

Hi Barnz 12,

We fell in love with Sils Maria last year – I have been too busy to write a full trip report and hope to get down to it when time permits. I also have to confess that I am rather “protective” of Sils as it was devoid of the awful busloads of loud tourists that we now encounter in parts of Switzerland especially Bernese Oberland. The horror of over promoting the place sends shivers down my spine should it lead to an influx of loud and rude visitors to quaint Sils Maria.

We stayed in a cozy hotel called Hotel Privata as well as Hotel Maria. These two hotels were very convenient for walking (3mins-5mins) to the bus stop for our side trips. The Waldhaus is a little higher up on a slope, behind Hotel Privata (if I am not mistaken). I do suggest making sure your accommodation includes half board as it is not easy to find dinner outside of our hotels as it’s a small village.

We were there in late September and it was gorgeous – sorry we can’t tell you what it’s like in December. Although they did tell us to return when the lake is frozen sometime in March. I think in winter we have to jostle with the skiers with all their gear, which may not be as comfortable for us since we don’t ski. So we haven’t planned on returning in winter because we enjoy doing the beautiful walks around the area and taking the various cablecars up to the mountain cafes. The summer card is really fantastic value for money for all the side trips by bus and mountain transport.

Sils is such a picturesque postcard little village – if weather permits, do take the horse carriage ride into the Fex Valley right to the end, the whole valley really opens up towards the last half. There is a cafe at the very end where we get to enjoy a hot steaming cup of coffee and snack before returning. That was a memorable trip for us and still etched in our memories. We felt it was very worth it to do the private horse carriage return route. The hotel arranged for the Coretti horse carriage company to pick us up from our hotel which was just on the Main Street.

VAL FEX HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE: http://www.sils.ch/en/your-stay/discover-sils/fex-valley.html

http://www.sils.ch/en/your-stay/explore-sils/activities-providers.html?objectId=kutschenfahrt en-ins-val-fex

ttps://http://www.sils.ch/en/news/in formations/weather-webcam.html?view=webcam

From St. Moritz train station, there is a bus that goes into Sils Maria. I think it is the busline No. 4 (yellow Postbus) in the direction of Chiavenne to Sils Maria Posta bus stop. It’s 15 mins about 4 stops. However the bus does get full and if you have large suitcases, it’s a little tricky. But please do your homework as this is my information when we visited last year in Sept, not December.

Some hotels do provide a private car transfer from St. Moritz if you are willing to pay. It’s best to ask the hotel. I recall asking Hotel Maria and they mentioned Euros20 one way which is pretty reasonable especially if you have large suitcases.

[User]

Reply 7 of 10 • 2 June 2019 at 0:32:22 #913174

Thank you for sharing this wonderful information, suggestions & feedback. I’ll be sure to keep your little secret to protect Sils from becoming crazy like the bigger resorts.

[traveljet]

Reply 8 of 10 • 2 June 2019 at 3:31:40 #913175

Hi Barnz 12,

You are welcome. Just for your information, do download the SBB Mobile app as it’s very useful for planning your train travel.

The other day I input Sils Im Maria Post (the bus stop where we alighted on our trip) – although it showed the route from Zurich, an additional message said that the stop had been removed and is under construction.

So it’s advisable to check with your hotel.

[User]

Reply 9 of 10 • 2 June 2019 at 6:51:15 #913176

HI Traveljet –

Many maps are useful, but I like to use this one when I am seeking the names of stations and bus stops.

That is because you can zoom in to zoom level 32 ( last number in the URL) and the train lines pop into view clearly.

Under “Points of Interest/Traffic” in the menus ( star in a circle) you can turn on a layer of icons for all of the public transport stops. Mouse over the icon and you get the exact official name for the stop. That can be used in the timetable to provide the exact name if needed. And, it also shows the bus route numbers at bus stops, when you mouse over the icon.

map.search.ch/?pos=785928,146656&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,zug

Slowpoke

[traveljet]

Reply 10 of 10 • 2 June 2019 at 13:02:55 #913177

Hi Slowpoke,

Thanks! That’s a cool alternative.

Regards..