Stoos is a car-free village hung at 1,300 m above the Muotathal, reached by the Stoosbahn, the world's steepest funicular at a 110% gradient, whose barrel-shaped cabins rotate to keep passengers upright. Once you step out at the top, you trade the engineering marvel for one of central Switzerland's most generous lake-and-mountain panoramas: the twin Mythen peaks immediately above, the Vierwaldstättersee opening to the north, and the Bernese Alps as a wall in the distance. The 35 km of pistes spread across a broad sun-facing bowl, and the no-car rule keeps the village quiet enough that you hear the cowbells in summer pastures even in deep winter.
Stoos is a ski-in/ski-out resort (most of the village is genuinely on the snow) in Switzerland, in the Swiss Alps. The village sits at 1300 m and the lifts top out at 1922 m, with 35 km of pistes and 8 lifts. Its BestSnowHotels snow score is 74/100, and the season usually runs Dec 14 → Apr 7.
How we score and classify resortsRun counts and piste kilometres are indicative. Green runs only exist in France, Spain, Andorra, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Lesotho, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Chile; Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany start at blue. Indicative average snow depth near the top of the resort, in cm.
A handful of well-rated hotels in and around the resort. Pick one, then compare live prices across Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Very good · 2.0k reviews
A long-standing favourite in Stoos, trusted by thousands of guests before you.
Guests rate this hotel as very good (4.5/5 from 2,024 reviews). It sits about 4.5 km from the slopes. A upper-scale option for Stoos, with live nightly rates shown for your exact dates so you always see the best price.
Excellent · 684 reviews
A long-standing favourite in Stoos, trusted by thousands of guests before you.
Very good · 385 reviews
A dependable, well-reviewed choice for a stay in Stoos.
Very good · 250 reviews
A dependable, well-reviewed choice for a stay in Stoos.
Ratings from Google, prices indicative per night. Live availability and rates via our booking partners.
Because Stoos is car-free and tightly built around the funicular's upper station, ski-in, ski-out is the rule rather than the exception. Most of the village hotels, including the Stoos Lodge, the Hotel Sternen and the Hotel Klingenstock, sit within a few minutes' walk of either the Klingenstock or the Fronalpstock lifts, and luggage is transported between the funicular and the hotel by hand-cart or electric trolley.
Once on the plateau, the lift system fans out from the car-free village in two main directions: north to the Klingenstock chairlift at 1,922 m, which serves the long, steady ridge run that drops back into Stoos through open meadows, and west to the Fronalpstock cable car, which lifts skiers above the village to the panoramic terrace overlooking the Vierwaldstättersee. The 35 km of pistes split across 14 blues, 14 reds and five short blacks, with a Klingenstock-to-Fronalpstock ridge traverse on foot that locals treat as part of the day. Stoos has been a quiet favourite of Zurich and Lucerne families since the original funicular opened in 1933, and the rebuilt 2017 Stoosbahn (the world's steepest, now a tourist attraction in itself) has only deepened that pull. The village proper is small, walkable, traffic-free, and the food keeps to central Swiss classics: Älplermagronen, Innerschweizer Chäschüechli and a glass of Schwyz beer in the Hotel Klingenstock's panoramic dining room, with the Mythen peaks framed in the window.
Hotels and apartments around the lifts. Compare prices on Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Everything on our site connected to Stoos: its area, the lists it makes, head-to-heads and trip guides.
Stoos offers 35 km of pistes across 8 lifts, from 1300 m to 1922 m. Whether it suits beginners depends on the dedicated learner zones at the base of the slopes, so check the local ski-school options for green and blue run access.
The season runs from Dec 14 to Apr 7, with a snow score of 74/100. The best conditions are usually from late January through February, while spring skiing in March and April brings longer days and softer afternoons.
Because Stoos is car-free and tightly built around the funicular's upper station, ski-in, ski-out is the rule rather than the exception. Most of the village hotels, including the Stoos Lodge, the Hotel Sternen and the Hotel Klingenstock, sit within a few minutes' walk of either the Klingenstock or the Fronalpstock lifts, and luggage is transported between the funicular and the hotel by hand-cart or electric trolley.
Stoos has 35 km of marked pistes served by 8 lifts, between 1300 m and 1922 m of altitude.
Stoos counts about 33 marked runs in total. The colour breakdown above shows how they split by difficulty, a good guide to whether the resort fits your level.
The closest alternatives, an easy switch if dates or hotels are tight.
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