Which skiing areas in Switzerland suit your level and your week?

Ride the cogwheel train into Zermatt and the cars are gone: electric cars and horse-drawn coaches carry guests through the village, and the lifts climb to 3,899 m before the pistes cross into Italy. In Grindelwald-Wengen, once the Lauberhorn race is over, anyone with a ski pass can run the original course. Switzerland has more than 330 ski areas, and each suits a different group. Your level, your dates and the way you like to travel decide which one is yours.

Switzerland's main ski areas sit in four parts of the country. The Valais Alps and Graubünden hold most of the high-altitude resorts, where snow is the most reliable and the cold at the top is serious. Valais has Zermatt, Saas-Fee, the 4 Vallées around Verbier and Crans-Montana; Graubünden has Davos Klosters, St. Moritz and Laax. In the Bernese Oberland, the Jungfrau ski region spreads above Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren, and in Central Switzerland, Engelberg-Titlis climbs to the Titlis glacier at 3,020 m. The ten highest Swiss ski areas all top out above 3,000 m. The Matterhorn ski area above Zermatt is the highest, at 3,899 m, and the 4 Vallées is the largest, with 410 km of runs and freeride routes. The big resorts have groomed pistes and powder slopes, and ski schools teach every age in the resorts and in the major cities.

In Valais, Verbier suits strong skiers, Zermatt and Saas-Fee suit groups who want height and a village without cars, and Crans-Montana suits families with a park rider in the group.

Zermatt suits skiers who want big terrain and glacier height; Saas-Fee suits mixed groups who want a smaller area under a glacier. Zermatt's 360 km of slopes spread over three areas, Rothorn, Gornergrat and Matterhorn. The resort sits at 1,620 m, the lifts reach 3,899 m on the Theodul glacier, and from the top you can ski across to Breuil-Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy. The cogwheel train comes up from Täsch or Visp. Saas-Fee keeps cars out too and is a bus ride from Brig. Its 100 km of pistes mix blue practice slopes with tricky blacks, so a returning beginner and a strong skier can share the week, and the Allalin glacier lifts the pistes to 3,573 m.

In Zermatt, guests rate Matterhorn Lodge Boutique Hotel & Apartments 9.8 out of 10 across 891 reviews and the Monte Rosa Boutique Hotel 9.5 across 371. In Saas-Fee, the five-star The Capra Saas-Fee scores 9.7 from 201 reviews. Our ski in Switzerland page sets them beside the other Zermatt and Klosters hotels we rate.

No. Verbier is the expert end of the 4 Vallées, but its six linked resorts give every level a base. Verbier, Bruson, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Veysonnaz and Thyon share 410 km of runs and freeride routes, and Nendaz is the family-friendly one of the six. Experienced skiers come to Verbier for freeride, skiing the ungroomed snow away from the marked pistes: the wide, treeless powder slopes make the 4 Vallées a freeride hotspot, and Verbier is a stop on the Freeride World Tour. From Mont-Fort at 3,330 m, the only piste down is a black, deep in powder or carved into moguls depending on conditions.

Ski tourers, who climb uphill on their skis before skiing down, have marked routes in the Val de Bagnes. The routes are not secured: be at ease on red runs before you try them, though some suit beginners who go with a guide. Touring up closed pistes is not allowed, except between Verbier and Savoleyres on Wednesday evenings from January to March, weather permitting. Groomers work on cables that are invisible at night, and a collision can be fatal.

Crans-Montana is the Valais choice for a family with a park rider in it. The ski area spans a high plateau, from the resort at 1,500 m up to the Plaine-Morte Glacier at 3,000 m. Children learn in a secured area of their own, young riders get a 100,000 m² snowpark, and strong skiers can run the 12 km Piste Nationale down to the valley.

For a quieter week built around the view, the Aletsch Arena puts the UNESCO-listed Great Aletsch Glacier at the centre of the ski area: you can ski beside it or join a glacier tour. Belalp-Blatten also looks onto the glacier, with around 60 km of pistes on the Hockstock, Sparrhorngrat and Schönbiel and freeride routes from its top station at 3,118 m. Both suit a group that would rather look at a glacier than count lifts.

In Graubünden, Davos Klosters suits mixed groups and cross-country skiers, St. Moritz suits confident skiers who love to carve, and Laax suits freestyle skiers and snowboarders.

Davos Klosters suits every level, so a group that skis at different speeds can share one mountain. Parsenn, the classic Davos ski mountain, has 102 km of long, generously wide pistes. The Parsenn Railway lifts you straight from Davos to the slopes, and the runs drop from the summit of the Weissfluh into long valley descents well beyond the core area. Early-bird skiing puts you on freshly groomed pistes first thing. Davos pairs downhill skiing with cross-country skiing across the valley, so anyone who prefers skinny skis has a plan of their own, and a direct train runs to Davos from Zurich.

In Klosters, guests rate Hotel Chesa Grischuna 9.6 out of 10, the five-star Hotel Vereina 9.3 and Sport-Lodge Klosters 8.9, the last across 273 reviews.

St. Moritz suits skiers who want long, wide red runs, and Laax suits anyone who spends the day in the park. Corviglia, the St. Moritz mountain, has 155 km of pistes (42 km blue, 79 km red and 34 km black) and tops out at 3,057 m on Piz Nair, where the dry snow is known as Champagne powder. St. Moritz hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948. On Corvatsch, a 9 km valley run leads down to St. Moritz, the pistes are mostly red for advanced skiers, and a 4.2 km run is open for night skiing.

Laax spreads from 1,100 m to 3,018 m, with five snow parks, more than 90 obstacles and a halfpipe around Crap Sogn Gion. Children learn on the Ami Sabi piste, the 13 km valley run from La Siala to Flims suits every level, and experts take the former downhill race run or the steep slopes behind the Vorab glacier. Laax is a bus ride from Chur, which has trains from Zurich.

Families go to the Jungfrau region in the Bernese Oberland, and skiers who want a glacier day go to Engelberg-Titlis in Central Switzerland. Trains and PostBus coaches serve the major Swiss ski resorts, and snow on the mountain roads makes driving the harder choice. Grindelwald is a train ride from Interlaken Ost, and two ski lockers at the Grindelwald Terminal save you carrying your skis on every trip.

Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren have good family facilities, and the Jungfrau ski region gives them 211 km of pistes in three areas below the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Grindelwald-Wengen covers Kleine Scheidegg, the Lauberhorn and Männlichen, and with Grindelwald-First the lifts link First, Kleine Scheidegg and Männlichen into one large circuit.

Small children start at the children's area on Männlichen, where the Jungfrau ski school teaches, and on Lily's slopes at First and Kleine Scheidegg. Teenagers get the Grindelwald-First snowpark, with a 130 m halfpipe and two parks of different difficulty. Strong skiers take the Eiger Express to the Lauberhorn race course, and Mürren-Schilthorn has the steep runs. The cogwheel railway to the Jungfraujoch is a sightseeing trip, not a ski run.

Engelberg-Titlis adds a glacier day in Central Switzerland for skiers who are happy on red runs. The area has 72 km of pistes, one of the largest in Central Switzerland, and the Titlis-Rotair, a cable car whose cabin turns as it climbs, carries you up to the Titlis glacier at 3,020 m. The pistes up there are red, and the Titlis Cliff Walk suspension bridge sits beside the high hiking trail for a break from the skis.

The AlpsPass links it to the Bernese Oberland: one pass covers Engelberg-Titlis, the Jungfrau Ski Region, Adelboden-Lenk and the Aletsch Arena, with ski days at seven partner destinations on top. That suits a group that wants two or three areas in one week.

Late January and February are the best months, with excellent snow at every altitude and well-covered pistes, in a season that generally runs from December to April. The catch is crowds: February school holidays fill the slopes, and their dates differ between Swiss cantons and UK schools, so the busy weeks move around. The first weeks of December and the weeks just after New Year are quieter.

March and April bring longer days, a more relaxed mood and often excellent snow at altitude, though lower slopes can turn slushy in the afternoon. Early in the season, snow at lower altitudes is less predictable and many resorts rely on artificial snow, so for a December or April week choose a high area: the 4 Vallées opens in November and runs to the end of April.

The table below is theKlub's month-by-month climate for Switzerland, measured at one fixed point rather than on the slopes: average daily highs and lows, and the days with 1 mm or more of rain or snow. February has the fewest wet or snowy days of the season, 12.7 against 16.6 in January. Read it for how cold and unsettled each month runs, not for the snow depth on the pistes.

Settle the region first, then the village: Valais for height and streets without cars, Graubünden for big circuits and parks, the Jungfrau region for families who travel by train. Weighing up other countries? Our guides to Andorra ski resorts, ski areas in France and skiing in Italy sort them the same way, and ski holidays with theKlub gathers every ski destination we cover. Once you have your area and your dates, compare the Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Klosters hotels on our ski in Switzerland page.