Sledges, bears and a pop-up hotel at Arosa in the Graubünden Alps

Arosa, a high-plateau family ski resort in the Graubünden Alps of south‑east Switzerland, is described as a low‑key, fairytale alternative to St Moritz and Verbier. The writer spent a week there with their partner and two children this winter, finding ice skating on a frozen lake, children sledding down the snow‑covered main street and a one‑year Grand Arosa Pop‑Up Hotel experiment open through the season.

The approach to Arosa is marked by mountain chapels and a twisting road into a sheer‑sided valley; the village sits above dense fir forest beneath a semicircle of saw‑cut summits. The resort is noted for a childlike atmosphere: mascots of brown bears, Narnia‑style lamp‑posts that gild snowfall each evening, and families making the most of gentle streets and lakeside skating.

The Arosa Bear Sanctuary, at the middle station of the Weisshorn cable car, occupies a 2.8‑hectare den and provides a home for four rescued European brown bears. Run in cooperation with Four Paws, the refuge offers an education in animal welfare and was set up for bears once kept in appalling conditions, including a private mini zoo in Albania; the writer suggests a summer visit for a fuller experience.

The resort also offers themed walks such as the Squirrel Trail, where snowshoeing and wildlife sightings were noted.

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