Hi, first, do you have reservations for Zermatt for your planned 2 night stay? It is so incredibly rare for any hotel in Zermatt to accept a reservation for just 2 nights over the Christmas/New Year holiday that I wonder if you are just assuming you will be able to get a reservation. If you don't have a reservation now, you should immediately work on getting accomodation because you may not be able to find anywhere and that would change your entire plan.

Otherwise, I would not change locations given the very short time you have. It will take a full day out of your time to pack, travel to a new resort and then settle in there. Also, as you are beginner skiers, you should take lessons and from the same instructor each day. The resorts offer private or group lessons. You should also contact the resort to reserve your lessons as you will be there at peak season. Once you decide on a resort, we can help you to find an e-mail address for the ski school.

Hope this helps.

Hi pvega002,

I strongly agree with kileysmom above -- you'll have a better holiday overall if you pick one of these and stay there for the whole time. Believe me, you will not get bored. I've skied from Grindelwald twice and from neighboring Wengen twice, both times for a week, and it's just not possible to get bored. If you sign up with a ski instructor, s/he will take you all over the mountains, so you'll get a great variety, and you'll also get to the best snow.

I also spent a week skiing in Zermatt and also -- you just can't get bored. There is plenty of terrain to keep you well occupied.

Good luck!

s

>If you sign up with a ski instructor, s/he will take you all over the mountains, so you'll get a great variety,

Swandav:

I know I´m being contrary again, but I just don´t understand this stuff with the instructors! They are useful for one time (when you learn skiing) but why ever waste money on them again? Skiing is like biking - once you know the movements you can never forget them again. And a map of ski trails/slopes is free of charge and takes you all over the area too. If you like a particular area you can stay there for as long as you like, not for as long as the ski instructor likes... Of course if you want off-piste skiing it can be different.

OTOH - I´m male and all those handsome Swiss ski instructors, mostly male, can certainly leave a different impression with female tourists than with me :-))

Btw S, I fully agree to the idea of staying at one place for the whole time. Zermatt offers about 300 km of slopes, and the area around Grindelwald and Wengen about 250 km - you have more than enough to be busy for a week and still return!

I agree with staying in one place to ski rather than 2 days here, 2 days there, especially as everytime you move, you have to hire and return a different set of equipment.

However, if I remember from another post, pvega002 is going on a Swiss tour and skiing when the opportunity arises is just part of it.

Yea, the reason we are going to 2 places instead of one is because we want to see the Matterhorn. In addition, we were lucky enough to book a hotel in Zermatt for 2 nights. Thank you all! Great Help!

Hey altamiro!!

Hee hee, you've uncovered one of my not-so-secret weaknesses!!! I can get lost in an acre of ground -- and have. I actually flunked the land navigation portion of my officers' training course, and they only let me continue if I promised to rely on a sergeant to get around!! (That old joke about the lost lieutenant was so true in my case) So -- for me, I like to relax and not worry about where I am and where I'm going; I like to just sit back and follow the guy or gal who knows the terrain.

But. Hey. Maybe next time I'll meet some friends there (hint, hint) and just follow them around!!

s

imho the ski area in zermatt is better and the lifts more modern than the one in grindelwald, hence i would choose to stay (longer) in zermatt.

have fun!

bowmore

Zermatt is definitely more "snow-secure" as 1/3 of the slopes are on a glacier, and much higher than around Grindelwald.

Hi, first, if you want to see the Matterhorn, stay in Zermatt for several days because it is possible for the mountain to be shrouded in clouds for a couple of days at a time. Second, you might not be able to extend your visit but if you have such luck that you can get a room for 2 nights, you might be able to do just about anything! Want to go to Vegas with me? ; )

You can get tons of information on the Zermatt website (www.zermatt.ch)including the contact information for the ski schools. Oh, you might want to reserve your ski equipment as well. I can recommend either Dorsaz for top notch equipment and a real interest in pleasing their customers.

http://www.dorsaz-sport.ch/english/index.html

Hope this helps.