Apres Ski in Leukerbad
Leukerbad has several good restaurants offering regional specialities and international dishes. Around fifty restaurants and bars are listed in official tourist information, thirty or more of which are in hotels, thermal baths or on the mountain so the actual number of independent restaurants, bars and cafés visible in town is less.
Apres Ski Bars in Leukerbad
Leukerbad is not a party town. Thermal bathing in the public baths and the spa and wellness centres at the best hotels are by far the most popular after-skiing activity in Leukerbad and hence there are not so many bars for après-ski, nor is there much in the way of late-night entertainment.
Restaurants in Leukerbad
Leukerbad’s better restaurants include the charming Waldhaus-Grichting which is situated on the Promenade towards the Torrentbahn and is highly recommended for its food, a superb selection of fine wines and good ambience.
The Alpina Hotel Restaurant
The Alpina Hotel Restaurant is popular for its home cooking, good service and friendly atmosphere and is located in the heart of Leukerbad next to Restaurant Sternen which offers fondue, raclette and other regional specialities. Address: Sternengässi 7, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel: +41 (0) 27 472 27 27.
Heilquelle and Römerhof Restaurants
The Heilquelle and Römerhof restaurants in the centre of Leukerbad offer varied menus including grills, pizza and pasta dishes. The Walliserkanne is the best of three restaurants at Hotel de la Croix-Fédérale, the other two being the China Garden restaurant and the Pizzeria. Address: Heilquelle, Rathausstrasse 7, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel: +41 (0) 27 470 22 22. Römerhof, Rathausstrasse 16, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel: +41 (0) 27 472 99 99.
The Erni Stübli
The Erni Stübli at Hotel Dala is inexpensive and offers a choice of local Valais specialities including raclette and hot stone grills, fondue and flambé dishes, and fondue chinoise. Hotel Dala also features the Cupido Bar which has live music and dancing and live music daily until 1.00 a.m. Address: Dala Erni Stübli, Kurparkstrasse 15, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel.+41 (0 ) 27 472 23 00.
Café Tannenheim
Café Tannenheim next to the Ambassador apartments is inexpensive and worth a visit for lunch or dinner. It also serves a good breakfast, which is handy if you’re staying in one of Leukerbad’s self-catering apartments. Address: CaféTannenheim, Rathausstrasse, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel: +41 79 793 80 25.
The Birchen Restaurant
The Birchen Restaurant, which is a 45-minute walk from Leukerbad centre, has an attractive sun terrace, and rustic interior including an antique fireplace dating from 1613 and serves Valais specialities including rösti, fondue, cheese rarebits and fresh produce daily from the restaurant’s farm. Address: Birchen Restaurant, Birchen, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel. +41 (0) 27 470 12 84.
Chinchilla Rest-O-Bar
The Chinchilla Rest-O-Bar next to the church is a reasonably pleasant bar restaurant with an extensive selection of beers and spirits including famous whiskies and serves a range of freshly prepared, home-made dishes. Address: Chinchilla Rest-O-Bar, Kirchstrasse 12, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel. +41 (0) 27 470 20 81.
The Grand Bain at Lindner Hotel
The Grand Bain lounge and fireside bar at Lindner Hotel is a pleasant hotel bar for cocktails, champagne, whisky and cigars or coffee and cakes during the day. The Bar La Barrique at the 5-star Hotel Les Source des Alpes is a comfortable and quiet place to go for drinks. Address: Grand Bain Bar, Dorfplatz, CH-3954 Leukerbad. Tel. +41 (0 ) 27 472 10 00.
Bar La Barrique
Hotel Les Source des Alpes 5-star
Tuftstrassse 17, CH-3954 Leukerbad
Tel: +41 (0) 27 472 20 00
Sternen
Sternengässi 6, CH-3954 Leukerbad
Tel: +41 (0) 27 470 11 20
Waldhaus-Grichting
Promenade 17, CH-3954 Leukerbad
Tel: +41 (0) 27 470 32 32
Walliserkanne
Kirchstrasse 43, CH-3954 Leukerbad
Tel: +41 (0) 27 472 79 79
The Town of Leukerbad
Leukerbad is a small Swiss mountain resort with 1,500 inhabitants and over 8,000 guest beds. Visitors come all year round to relax in Leukerbad’s impressive thermal baths but increasingly in winter to enjoy the combination of spa and wellness with 50km of alpine skiing and over 40km of winter walking trails.
An attractive small town, Leukerbad is situated at the far end of the road that rises from Leuk in the Rhone Valley to the foot of the Gemmipass at an altitude of 1,411m. The hillside town is built on either side of the small river Dala and surrounded by the impressive Dauberhorn (2,942m) which towers over 1,500 vertical meters above Leukerbad. The majority of guests come from Switzerland (77%) with around 9% from Germany, 4% from Italy, 2% from France and 8% from other countries including the UK.
Leukerbad is not a party town. Nor is it in any sense exclusive. But it’s an interesting and enjoyable place to stay with plenty of other activities for non-skiers in and around the town and on the mountain. Blessed by an abundant supply of thermal water, Leukerbad is home to the biggest and the highest Alpine Spa and Wellness centres in Europe. There’s a wide range of accommodation, including self-catering apartments, and a reasonably good choice of restaurants and bars to suit all budgets.
As far as snowsports equipment rental is concerned, there are a handful of shops in the centre of Leukerbad including Briand Sport, Intersports Possa and Location Ski for Hire (the wooden hut in Kurparkstrasse) and a Snow Shop on the mountain at the top of the Torrentbahn cable car. There’s also a Mammut shop in town selling exclusively Mammut.
If you’re self-catering, there’s a large Migros supermarket which has an especially good selection of fruit and vegetables and is convenient for buying the most basic foodstuffs. Specialist food shops in Leukerbad include Le Pain for bread and pastries, Rossgillu for meat and Ferme Gemmet has a superb selection of cheese. John’s Wine Shop, close to Migros and Le Pain, has a selection of local Valais wines.
The Leukerbad Ring Jet bus service operates every 30 minutes, stopping at 14 bus stops in and around Leukerbad and costs CHF 3 for a daily ticket or CHF 14 for a weekly ticket. The bus stops are marked on the town map. Tickets are available at the LLB bus station, from ticket machines or can be purchased from the driver. Timetables are available at the bus station, from the bus driver or at the Tourist Office.
Leukerbad Other Activities
Leukerbad has plenty of activities for non-skiers. There are 40km of winter walking trails, tobogganing and, most importantly of all, as many as 30 thermal baths (public and private) open day and night. Besides the alpine skiing and snowboarding on Torrent, there is cross-country skiing (30km) around Lake “Daubensee” on Gemmi.
Cross-Country Skiing in Leukerbad
There are 30km of cross-country skiing including trails at village level (5km) or on the Gemmi around Lake Daubensee and the Lämmernboden area. Cross-country skiing lessons are available from the Official Swiss Snow Sports School in Leukerbad.
Winter walking in Leukerbad
Leukerbad has 40km of winter walking trails including short, long, steep and flat trails in the village and above Gemmipass (2,350m). The classic Gemmi hike from the cable car station on Gemmi past Daubensee to the Sunnbűel cable car above Kandersteg and back takes 3-4 hours. There are shorter 1½ hour walking trails from Rinderhűtte (2,350m) down to Torrentalp (1,920m) middle gondola station and from behind the Sports arena to the pretty hamlets of Birchmen and Bodmen. Shorter still is the 45-minute walk from Dorfplatz in Leukerbad through larch forests to the Weidstűbli mountain restaurant
Snowshoeing and tobogganing in Leukerbad
The Gemmi area also includes two marked snowshoe trails each of which takes about 4½ and 2½ hours respectively. Snowshoe guiding including shorter snowshoe tours can be arranged at the Official Swiss Snowsports School office in Leukerbad. Tobogganing enthusiasts can enjoy two toboggan runs down to Lake Daubensee on Gemmi each of which is about 1km long.
Leukerbad Burgerbad
The Burgerbad public thermal baths in the centre of Leukerbad is one of the biggest thermal spas in the Alps with 10 pools and two water slides. The Burgerbad attracts lots of families and there are over 1,000 lockers for changing so it’s a very public place indeed and extremely noisy rather than relaxing at peak times. But it’s worth visiting, if only once during your stay, and especially at quieter times during the day when most people are skiing. If you’re an adrenaline, junky be sure to try the 120m water slide which is fast and enjoyably scary when ridden in total darkness at night! There’s also a more family-friendly 100m water slide. For more information and prices go to www.leukerbad.ch/en/thermal-baths
Lindner Alpentherme
For an altogether more relaxing spa experience try Lindner Alpentherme. A self-described wellness temple with 2 thermal pools (indoor and outdoor), a sauna village and over 200 health and beauty treatments, Leukerbad’s Lindner Alpentherme is the biggest and highest spa and wellness centre in Europe and is open daily from 8 am until 8 pm. Facilities include the impressive Roman-Irish Bath and the sauna village which is open until 10 pm and highly recommended.
Leukernad Rehazentrum
Leukerbad’s Rehabilitation Centre specialises in the treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal and neurological disorders and is home to the Swiss Olympic Medical Centre which offers training and treatment advice to the country’s elite athletes. The Rehabilitation Centre has two thermal pools (indoor and outdoor). Treatments are available on a residential (90-bed) or outpatient basis.
Leukerbad Sportarena
Leukerbad’s impressive Sportarena is situated next to the Park Erli nursery slopes and about 400m from the centre of Leukerbad. Facilities include an indoor ice rink for skating, curling and ice hockey, a climbing wall, 3 indoor tennis courts, 2 squash courts, badminton, a gymnasium and fitness equipment. For more information go to www.leukerbad.ch/en/sportarena
Leukerbad Summer Activities
Summer activities include over 200km of hiking trails, sport climbing, mountain biking, Helsana Swiss running and walking trails, paragliding, tennis and golf. There’s also sailing at Europe’s highest catamaran sailing school on Lake Daubensee and sport climbing on Switzerland’s longest Via Ferrata on Daubenhorn which features 216 metres of fixed ladders and over 2,000 metres of steel cable.
For more information contact the Tourist Office in Leukerbad:
Leukerbad Tourism
CH-3954 Leukerbad
Tel: +41 (0) 27 472 71 71
Web: www.leukerbad.ch