One of your editors learned to ski in Davos, so it has a special place in our affections. Many return visits have confirmed the appeal of its slopes, which are both distinctive and extensive, and have revealed its considerable off-piste potential. But the town/city (it could never be called a village) does not get any easier to like. Davos may be the more convenient base for access to most of the mountains it shares with Klosters, but Klosters has the welcoming, intimate feel of a ski resort, and Davos does not.
Davos is set in a high, broad, flat-bottomed valley, with its lifts and slopes either side. Arguably it was the very first place in the Alps to develop its slopes. The railway up the Parsenn was one of the first built for skiers (in 1931), and the first draglift was built on the Bolgen nursery slopes in 1934. You can reach the resort by train, but the trip from Zürich airport involves at least two changes. The Davos Express coach service is more straightforward, but runs Saturdays only.
Davos shares its slopes with the famously royal resort of Klosters, which has its own chapter. Trips are possible by car or rail to St Moritz (via the Vereina rail tunnel) and Arosa, and by road to Laax and Lenzerheide.
Pros
Very extensive slopes
Some superb, long, and mostly easy pistes away from the lifts, with trains to bring you back to base
Lots of accessible off-piste terrain, with several marked itineraries
Good cross-country trails
Cons
Davos is a huge, busy place with dreary block-style buildings, lacking ski-resort atmosphere
Five separate areas of slopes
Lots of T-bars on outlying mountains
The only piste back to town from the main Parsenn area is a black
