Saas Fee is a mountain town located in the Swiss Valais. The town is best known for its views of some of the tallest mountains in Europe. Saas Fee offers Skiing and Snowboarding for 10 months of the year (in the summer the glacier is used for skiing and snowboarding). There are also a huge amount of hiking paths around the area, including the Monte Rosa hiking trail.
Saas Fee sits in the shadow of its larger neighbour, Zermatt. Saas-Fee is less developed than its neighbour, mainly because it doesn't have the Matterhorn[3] but also because it doesn't have a railway. Saas-Fee is nice if you want what Zermatt has minus the millions of tourists that come to see the Matterhorn.
PLACE TO VISIT
Ski and snowboard - It's what Saas Feefamous for. The skiing and snowboarding is very catered towards the intermediates but there are a few runs for the more advanced riders. Notably the Plattjen lift has the more advanced terrain. The more easier runs can be found either in the village or on Feechatz Slope, just above Langfluh. A quick word of warning about this run, it may be a nice run but you have to endure the longest t-bar lift and downloading is also recommended as the runs down are difficult for beginners and get very busy later on in the day. You can ski and snowboard all year with the exception of May and June, in the summer you can ski on the glacier with 8km of runs.
Snowboard Park - Increasingly popular due to the quality of the snow park. Full information can be found on the Snowparks web site. The snowpark is open 10 months also and is increasingly popular with Snowboard camps.
Allalin - Visit the top of the ski resort, using the gondolas and the Metro-Alpin. Great views of the Alps on a good day. In winter it can get very cold at the top, so wrap up warm. You can also have a meal in the revolving restaurant at the top(pricey!).
Walks - Their are many walks you can do, more of course in the summer months than in the winter months. Among the best routes are the route from Saas-Fee down to Saas Almagell, which can be done in winter and summer. There is a bus to take you back up. There are many other walking routes including the Monte Rosa Path. Ask at the Tourist Office, also the location to buy hiking maps.
Feeblitz - Bobsleigh but on rails, great fun, but expensive. At least do it twice, maybe even three times. Prices about 6CHF per ride, but can buy multi ride tickets and save money.
Swimming Pool - Well not the most glamorous, but it's something to entertain the most stubborn kids!
Sledging - Go up to the Hannig lift and hire out a sledge and go down the sledge run. It can be quite scary at first, take your time the first run down, as there are some sharp bends, and you really don't want to go over the edge!
Snow Tubing - Down in Saas Grund there is a tubing area. Tubing is where you sit in a large inflatable tube of air and slide down the hill, normally spinning as you go.
Ice Skating - There is a natural ice skating ring and a man made one in Saas-Fee. You need to hire skates out from one of the hire shops in the village. Also don't fall over... it hurts!
Cross Country Skiing - Very limited in Saas Fee. Limited to one run infact. Best to go down into the valley, where there are many KM of Cross Country Skiing.
HOW TO REACH
Saas Fee has a bus service that runs hourly from Visp and Brig run by the Post Bus. This will increase during the next timetable change (December 2007) to half hourly. This is to coincide with the opening of the Lotschberg Tunnel. You can connect to the bus very easily from Visp and Brig train stations.
Tickets for the bus can be either bought from the driver, bought from a SBB train station (and included in the train ticket) or from a Post Bus ticket office.
Visp has direct trains to: Geneva, Sion, Martigny, Montreux, Vevey, Lausanne, Geneva Airport
Brig is a large station and has direct trains (to mention a few) from: Geneva, Sion, Martigny, Montreux, Vevey, Lausanne, Geneve, Geneva Airport, Milan, Berne, Basel, Zurich and in peak season a direct train from Paris.
Train times and tickets for internal travel in Switzerland can be looked up/bought from SBB. It is sometimes cheaper to get a transfer ticket if you are flying to an airport in Switzerland, information on the Swiss Travel Services website
The nearest airport to Saas Fee is Sion, but few airlines fly into here. Your best bet is to fly to Geneva Airport and jump on a direct train from inside the airport to Visp. Then take the bus. You may notice that the last bus is around 7-8pm from Visp so if you're arriving in on a late flight there may be a train to Visp but no bus to connect to. Your best bet is to either stay the night in Brig or get a taxi to Saas Fee, which will cost as much as 180CHF.
