Apres Ski in Arosa

One of the highest ski resort villages in Europe at 1,739m above sea level Arosa’s is built on pine forested slopes with hotels overlooking the valley and lake Obersee in the village centre.

Arosa Village

Individually many hotel buildings have no particular architectural merit but as a whole Arosa is a pretty traditional Swiss winter sports resort.

Mostly in winter the village streets are purposely left covered with a few centimetres of snow which means cars run quieter and the streets are cleaner and with the snow crunching under foot and tobogganing on village streets is commonplace it helps to complete the winter holiday experience. On arrival in Arosa and especially if staying in one of the hotels near the station and the lake, note that the most of Arosa village shops and hotels are higher up the hill so its well worth exploring Post Strasse on foot early in your stay to check out what’s on offer.

The majority of winter guests come from Switzerland, Germany, Benelux and even Austria with only around 5% coming from the UK and like most ski resorts it’s busiest from February through to the middle of March.

Apres Ski Bars in Arosa

Arosa is a family-friendly ski resort with laid back apres ski so if you’re an out and out party animal Arosa is not the place for you. There’s around a dozen or so restaurants visible as you wander around Arosa by night. Less obvious, but worth checking out are some of the hotel restaurants

Best for late afternoon sunshine and on-mountain après ski is Tschuggen Hütte and while there’s a reasonable choice of bars for partying on mountain there are no buts for après on the main run back down to Arosa.

And when you get back to town one thing that Arosa is missing is vibrant après ski. There appears to be a gap in the market for a really good well-located après ski bar but it seems Arosa’s clientele is mostly content to hurry back to their hotels.

Restaurants in Arosa

Grottino Pizzeria is a popular Italian restaurant. It’s easy to imagine the menu offering, and the pizzas are good, but there are other reasons for being here. Look beyond the typical Italian menu and you’ll find an incredible choice of wines with a wine list featuring sixteen pages of superb red wines including many top reds from Italy, America, Australia and France – Sassicaia, Opus One, Chateau Talbot, Le Pin, Petrus and Mouton – and some excellent Spanish Rioja’s. Cigar smokers too will be excited by the selection of 60 top smokes – Cohiba Robusta, Siglo 1-6 and Montecristo A to name but a few and there’s also a tasty selection of 24 Rochmilchkäse cheeses. Wine buffs and cigar smokers can have a lot of fun and the prices of wines are reasonable considering what they are.

Hotel Cristallo on Post Strasse is recommended – in fact here you can choose between two restaurants: Le Bistro is visible from the street and Cristallo’s main restaurant (open to non-residents) at the rear of the hotel has good views across the valley. It’s a rich menu with speciality dishes and stronger on meat – steak and lamb especially – than fish. There’s a good wine list including quality Spanish wines and waiters are knowledgeable. It’s not cheap, like for like wines are probably around 305 more expensive than Grottino but it’s good food and wine in a tasteful spacious interior with good atmosphere and a plenty of tables seating for 2, 4 and 6 in comfort plus a big table for larger groups. It’s

Hotel Eden’s Ta Pa Restaurant is a fun place to eat and serves a selection of 24 tapas dishes chosen from the blackboard. The dark wood tables, comfy chairs and cushioned benches, terracotta tile floor and deep orange walls, candle lighting and a trophy head and horns of a 600kg bull makes for a modern setting in the Spanish style. There are tables for only about 40 covers mostly on large (shared) tables and booking is essential.

Other Activities in Arosa

Arosa is a genuine winter holiday resort with a full range of winter sports activities and around 50% of winter guests come for reasons other than skiing and snowboarding, winter walking being especially popular.

Besides skiing and snowboarding other winter activities include: Nordic walking; cross country skiing; snowshoeing; tobogganing; ice-skating (natural and artificial); curling; horse-drawn sleigh rides; ballooning and paragliding.

Winter Walking in Arosa

Arosa has one of the best networks of winter hiking trails in the Alps – 60km of mostly on-mountain winter walking from village level (1,739m) right up (if you wish) to the summits of the three main highest mountains, highest of which is the Weisshorngipfel (2,653m), and all of Arosa’s mountain restaurants can be reached on foot. Accompanied walking on Tuesday and Friday afternoons (1:30 – 3:30pm) with Nordic Walking Instructor Sonja Amstutz Tel: +41 (0) 79 409 75 70

Cross-Country Skiing in Arosa

Arosa has 26.5km of cross country trails on Maran, Prätschalp/Oschenalp (panorama trail), at Isel and on the Obersee trail. You can rent equipment at the cross country centre in Maran or at sports shops in Arosa and free copies of the cross country trail map are available at Arosa Tourism. For lessons contact Cross Country Ski School Geeser Tel: +41 (0) 81 377 22 15 or Mobile: +41 (0) 79 445 53 13; Opening hours: 9-12am and 1-6pm daily. A cross country ski bus (Islabus) operates between Arosa Post Office and Isel and is free for holders of a valid ski, hiking or cross country pass.

Snowshoeing in Arosa

Cross Country Ski School Geeser arranges snowshoeing tours on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, no previous experience necessary. Tel: +41 (0) 81 377 22 15 or mobile: +41 (0) 79 445 53 13 for reservations up to 6pm the previous day

Tobogganing in Arosa

There are three toboggan runs marked on the map: one for Sithutte via Tschuggenhutte down to Inner-Arosa (0.6km), another main run from Prätschli back to the Obersee Lake in Arosa (1km) and less obvious is the longer run from Arosa (Untersee) down the valley to Litzirűti (2.8km) then return to Arosa by train. Use of the toboggan runs is free of charge but you will need to rent a toboggan which you can easily do at Stivetta, Rhaetian Rail (Arosa train station) and the Langwies mountain hut.

Ice Skating and Curling in Arosa

There’s ice skating at the open-air ice rink in Arosa (Tel: +41 (0) 81 377 17 45) and at the natural ice rink at Inner Arosa (Tel: +41 (0) 81 377 29 30); both are open from 10am to 5pm daily and night skating is also possible.  You can also try your hand at curling. Private lessons or group lessons in curling (1-4 persons) are available on request. Call the Ice Sports Centre (Tel: +41 (0) 81 377 17 45) or register at Arosa Tourism (Tel: + 41 (0) 81 377 17 45) before 5pm on the previous day. You will need to wear warm clothes and flat shoes with rubber soles.

Horse-drawn Sleigh rides in Arosa

Horse drawn sleighs are busy all over Arosa, on-mountain as well as off-mountain and the drivers, horses and sleighs congregate like taxis by the station. If not nearby the station your hotel can call to make a reservation. Prices for 2-4 people vary depending on route and after 6pm a 50% surcharge applies.

Hot Air Ballooning in Arosa

Balloon trips are available at weekends from December to March and Arosa hosts a 5-day Alpine balloon week at the end of January / beginning of February. Trips are for groups of four departing between 8 and 10am (other times on request as well as trips for more than four persons involving several balloons). The one hour balloon trip over Arosa starts and lands in Arosa – flying time 1 hour (total time 2-4 hours) and the longer balloon trip over the Grison Alps starts in Arosa and lands in a nearby valley (possibly Austria or Italy) – flying time 2-3 hours (total time 6-8 hours). For more information and reservations contact Manuel Knobelspiess +41 076 331 86 37

Paragliding in Arosa

Daily flights from Weisshorn to Obersee CHF190.-, weather permitting. Best to book in advance or you can try and make a reservation directly at the starting and landing point. Tel: +41 (0) 79 449 88 13

Arosa Tourist Office

For more information contact the tourist office in Arosa:

Arosa Tourism
Post Strasse
Arosa
Tel: +41 (0) 81 378 70 20
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.arosa.ch