Saas Fee

Saas Fee is one of the most charming and snow-sure resorts in the Alps and is situated in the German-speaking upper-Valais. This popular Swiss ski resort is known for offering excellent skiing conditions with Glacier skiing at its summit and also offers one of the five largest Summer skiing areas in
Europe. Marketed as ‘the pearl of the Alps’, the resort is car-free, which means vehicles are parked at a large car park on arrival at the edge of the village and only small electric taxis, mostly owned by the hotels, hum quietly and slowly around the pedestrianized streets. The resulting tranquillity and
the spectacular high alpine scenery all around, make Saas-Fee a delightful base for a mountain sports holiday.

The resort is based at the foot of the Dom, which although not as internationally well known as the Matterhorn, is in fact Switzerland’s highest mountain, and one of thirteen 4,000 metres (13,120 feet) plus peaks surrounding the village. These may be viewed at your leisure from the world’s highest
revolving restaurant on the Mittelallin at 3,500 meters (just under 11,500 feet).

Saas-Fee has taken the quality of its environment and facilities seriously for many years, a member of GAST, the association of traffic-free holiday resorts, it was one of the earliest to ban cars in 1951, and as the road from Saas-Grund down in the valley only reached this high-altitude village in that
same year, it can be said that Saas-Fee has never truly had car traffic on its streets, possibly a unique status.

The resort also has one of the longest traditions of mountain tourism in the world, with local clergyman Johann Josef Imseng recognizing the importance of bringing visitors to the Saas Valley way back in 1836. Mr. Imseng was also a mountain guide and is popularly regarded as the first skier in
the country. Although one of the earlier successes of Swiss tourism (Saas-Fee had a population of 236 back in 1850 when most of today’s ski resorts, even the famous ones, at that altitude were just summer cattle pasture with a couple of mountain huts for seasonal farmers), winter sports did not
become predominant in the village until as recently as the 1960s, in common with many other Swiss skiing destinations.

Saas-Fee’s early settlement and success as a tourist destination were helped by its mild climate, being on the same latitude as Ascona, 30km (19 miles) east in Switzerland’s only Italian-speaking canton, southerly Ticino, where palm trees grow. Today Saas-Fee’s lift infrastructure includes some of the
most hi-tech installations in the world, most notably the world’s highest underground funicular railway, the Metro Alpin, which opened in 1984. Accommodation, eateries and other services and facilities in the village that offer particularly high standards are given a ‘Q’ symbol in recognition of
the quality they offer.