Where to ski near Montreux: 9 ski areas within day-trip distance (2026/27)

Photo : Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Short answer: Montreux has no ski lift of its own, but nine ski areas lie within about an hour and a half. The closest are Les Paccots (roughly 20 minutes by car), Villars and Leysin (about 35 minutes) and the Swiss gates of the Portes du Soleil at Champéry and Morgins (35–40 minutes).^[17] By train from Montreux station, Leysin is 35 minutes away, Villars 45 minutes, Morgins 55 minutes and Verbier about 1h20.^[18] Glacier 3000, above Les Diablerets, is the one area that reliably skis from early November to the end of April.^[1] The Magic Pass season ticket covers most of the near areas — but not Verbier, Crans-Montana or the Portes du Soleil.

How far is the snow from Montreux?

Montreux sits exactly where the Lake Geneva plain meets the Alps, which is why the choice is unusually good: the Vaud Alps to the east, the Chablais and the Valais to the south-east, and the Bernese Oberland behind Gstaad. Drive times below are road times computed on OpenStreetMap data for the shortest route; train times are actual connections from Montreux station on a December Saturday.^[17][18]

Ski area	By car	By train	Altitude	Slopes	Magic Pass
Les Paccots (FR)	~20 min	1h15	Fribourg pre-Alps	9 lifts + 2 rope tows[6]	Yes[6]
Villars–Gryon–Les Diablerets	~35 min	45 min (Villars)	up to 3,000 m	100+ km, 32 lifts[9]	Yes[21][22]
Leysin + Les Mosses–La Lécherette	~35 min	35 min	Vaud Alps	100 km[5]	Yes[5][7]
Portes du Soleil (Champéry, Morgins)	~35–40 min	1h20 / 55 min	1,000–2,466 m	600 km, 202 lifts[11]	No
Glacier 3000 (Les Diablerets)	~40 min	~1h10	1,300–3,000 m[1]	31 km, 11 lifts[2]	Yes (winter)[2]
Le Moléson (Gruyère)	~40 min	2h00	Gruyère pre-Alps	Small family area	Yes
Gstaad	~1h00	1h40 direct	1,000–3,000 m[12]	200 km[12]	Yes[13]
Verbier–4 Vallées	~1h00	1h20	village 1,500 m[15]	410 km[20]	No
Crans-Montana	~1h15	1h30	1,500–3,000 m[10]	140 km[10]	No

Drive times are free-flow road times and do not include traffic or winter conditions; add time on snow-covered roads, and check pass conditions before setting off.

1. Villars–Gryon–Les Diablerets: the biggest area in canton Vaud

Three villages, one ticket, 32 lifts and more than 100 km of connected slopes — the largest ski area in the canton of Vaud, and a Magic Pass destination.^[9][21] Villars and Gryon are the gentle, south-facing half; Les Diablerets and the Meilleret sector add steeper terrain; and the Col de la Croix road links the two sides when it is open.^[9] From Montreux it is about 35 minutes by car and 45 minutes by train to Villars.^[17][18] A day ticket across the Alpes Vaudoises–Glacier 3000 area costs CHF 89 for adults and CHF 58 for children.^[8]

2. Glacier 3000: the snow-sure area, November to April

Glacier 3000 is the highest point in the canton of Vaud and the reason you can ski here before Christmas and after Easter: the lifts run every day from 8 November to 30 April, between 3,000 m at the Scex Rouge and 1,300 m in the valley.^[1] Eleven lifts serve 31 km of slopes.^[2] Two runs are worth the trip on their own — the Red Run, 8 km long with 1,700 m of vertical drop, and the Combe d'Audon — while strong skiers come for the Black Wall, a black run with 1,000 m of vertical drop reached through a 265 m tunnel.^[2] At the summit, the Peak Walk by Tissot, the world's first suspension bridge linking two summits, is 107 m long and open to non-skiers too.^[2] Magic Pass holders ski here included from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027; the Magic Pass does not give access between 1 May and 31 October.^[2]

3. Leysin and Les Mosses–La Lécherette: closest by train

Leysin is the easiest ski day from Montreux without a car: 35 minutes by train, climbing from Aigle.^[18] Leysin, Les Mosses and La Lécherette share one ticket and 100 km of groomed slopes.^[5] Leysin is the sportier half, with the Kuklos panoramic restaurant at the top of the Berneuse,^[7] while Les Mosses–La Lécherette is the family half, with a large snow garden and easy slopes.^[5] Winter 2026/27 day tickets: CHF 73 adults and CHF 43 children for Leysin, CHF 55 and CHF 36 for Les Mosses–La Lécherette, and CHF 89 for the combined Alpes Vaudoises–Glacier 3000 pass; children born between 2021 and 2026 travel free.^[8] All of these tariffs apply from 5 December 2026.^[8] Both areas are covered by the Magic Pass.^[5][7]

4. Les Paccots: the shortest ski day from Montreux

Twenty minutes by car and you are on snow. Les Paccots, in the Fribourg pre-Alps, is a family station with 9 ski lifts and 2 rope tows, two ski schools and a snow garden — and it is a Magic Pass area.^[6] It is also 25 minutes from Lausanne and Fribourg by motorway, which makes it busier at weekends.^[6]

5. The Portes du Soleil from Champéry and Morgins

Champéry, Les Crosets, Champoussin and Morgins are the Swiss doors into the Portes du Soleil, Europe's largest cross-border ski area: 600 km of slopes, 202 lifts and 12 French and Swiss resorts, where you can start a run in Switzerland and finish it in France.^[11] Champéry is about 35–40 minutes by car and 1h20 by train; Morgins is 55 minutes by train.^[18] The Portes du Soleil pass is sold separately from the Magic Pass, so plan a day or multi-day ticket.

6. Verbier–4 Vallées: the big-mountain day

Verbier is the largest ski domain in Switzerland — 410 km of slopes, open ten months a year, with the village at 1,500 m and the Mont Fort at 3,330 m.^[15][20] It is about an hour by car and 1h20 by train from Montreux.^[18] Day tickets: CHF 94 for the full 4 Vallées and CHF 86 for Verbier–Tzoumaz in 2026/27,^[14] or CHF 1,499 for the annual 4 Vallées pass, CHF 1,249 if bought before 30 September 2026.^[14] It is not part of the Magic Pass network.

7. Gstaad: 200 km and a direct panoramic train

Gstaad is the one resort you can reach without changing trains: the MOB line runs from Montreux along the lake and up through the Pays-d'Enhaut, about 1h40 to Gstaad.^[18] The region offers 200 km of slopes between 1,000 and 3,000 m and, with Glacier 3000, the only glacier ski area in the Bernese Oberland.^[12] One detail worth knowing for 2026/27: Gstaad's mountain railways have moved day and half-day tickets to fixed seasonal prices instead of dynamic pricing, and the day ticket covers the whole Gstaad ski area but not Glacier 3000 — that one needs its own ticket. Multi-day tickets do include Glacier 3000, and a season pass can be upgraded for CHF 200 (adults) or CHF 100 (children).^[13] The Magic Pass is accepted.^[13]

8. Crans-Montana: 140 km, and the 2027 World Championships

Crans-Montana spreads 140 km of sunny slopes between 1,500 and 3,000 m, about 1h15 by car and 1h30 by train from Montreux.^[10][18] In winter 2026/27 it hosts the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships from 1 to 14 February 2027,^[10] so expect the resort and its accommodation to be busy around those two weeks — worth planning around if you are booking a February stay on the Riviera.

9. Le Moléson, in Gruyère

For a low-key day with children, the Moléson above Gruyères is small, friendly and part of the Magic Pass network, with a few runs, a bob-luge track and easy access to the cheese village below.^[8] It is about 40 minutes by car; by train it takes around two hours, so this one is a drive.^[18]

The Magic Pass, explained

The Magic Pass is the single ticket that makes Montreux a genuinely good ski base: unlimited access to the partner lifts in Switzerland, France and Italy, more than 100 stations in all, valid from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027.^[4][19] Pricing is tiered — the adult pass opened at CHF 419 in March and rises through six stages until the official fare in mid-December. In mid-September 2026 it was on sale at CHF 524 for adults and CHF 314 for children.^[3] A pass is required from age 6, and the card is personal and non-transferable.^[3] Around Montreux it covers Villars-Gryon,^[21] Les Diablerets,^[22] Leysin, Les Mosses–La Lécherette,^[5] Les Paccots^[6] and Glacier 3000 in winter.^[2] It does not cover Verbier, Crans-Montana or the Portes du Soleil. With day tickets in the nearest areas at CHF 55 to CHF 94,^[8][14] the adult pass pays for itself after roughly six to seven days on the snow.

If the snow is low: keeping the day anyway

Montreux's own winter playground is Les Avants, 25 minutes by train from Montreux: from 15 December to 15 March, the road up to Sonloup is closed to cars and becomes a 2.5 km sledge run served by a funicular built in 1910. A day ticket costs CHF 15 for adults and CHF 7 for children, sledges rent for CHF 10, and the run stays lit until 22:00 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.^[16] For the rest of the day: the Montreux Christmas Market along the lakefront, the thermal baths of Vaud and Valais within an hour, or the Rochers-de-Naye above the town for snow and a view of the whole lake.

Practical notes before you drive up

• Buy tickets online before the day. Gstaad's multi-day passes are cheaper booked early, and online prices in most resorts beat the ticket office.^[13]
• Check the snow report the morning you go. Glacier 3000 opens earlier and closes later than anyone else in the region.^[1]
• Consider the train for the closest areas. Leysin (35 min), Villars (45 min), Morgins (55 min) and Gstaad (direct, 1h40) are all reachable from Montreux station.^[18]
• Winter tyres and chains. The climbs to Villars, Les Diablerets, Champéry and Crans-Montana are mountain roads — take winter equipment and check conditions before the passes.

Related reading: Glacier 3000 day trip from Montreux · Montreux winter guide · GoldenPass Express to Interlaken · Rochers-de-Naye day trip

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. OSRM (Open Source Routing Machine) — temps de trajet routiers, données OpenStreetMap — project-osrm.org
2. Horaires CFF/SBB via l'API publique opendata (requête du 16.09.2026, samedi 19.12.2026, départ Montreux 08h30) — transport.opendata.ch/v1/connections
3. Glacier 3000 — site officiel (domaine skiable, ouvertures) — www.glacier3000.ch/fr
4. Magic Pass — destination Les Paccots — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/les-paccots-25
5. Télé-Villars-Gryon-Diablerets SA (TVGD) — site officiel — www.tvgd.ch/en-US
6. Magic Pass — destination Villars-Gryon — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/villars-gryon-37
7. Magic Pass — destination Les Diablerets — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/les-diablerets-22
8. Magic Pass — destination Les Mosses-La Lécherette — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/les-mosses-la-lecherette-24
9. Magic Pass — destination Leysin — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/leysin-26
10. Portes du Soleil — the largest cross-border ski area — en.portesdusoleil.com/les-portes-du-soleil/europes-largest-cross-border-ski-bike-domain
11. Magic Pass — destination Glacier 3000 — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations/glacier-3000-85
12. Gstaad — skiing & snowboarding (destination officielle) — www.gstaad.ch/en/winter/experience-enjoy/skiing-snowboarding
13. Bergbahnen Destination Gstaad — winter tariffs 2026/27 — bergbahnen-gstaad.ch/en/winter/tariffs-shop
14. Verbier — Val de Bagnes, office du tourisme — www.verbier.ch/fr
15. Verbier 4Vallées — site officiel du domaine skiable — verbier4vallees.ch/fr
16. Verbier 4Vallées — tarifs hiver 26-27 — verbier4vallees.ch/fr/informations-utiles/prix-des-forfaits-hiver
17. Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès — domaine skiable — www.crans-montana.ch/fr/ski
18. Magic Pass — liste des destinations — www.magicpass.ch/fr/stations
19. Magic Pass — site officiel — www.magicpass.ch/fr
20. Magic Pass — tarifs 26/27 — www.magicpass.ch/fr/page/tarifs-5066
21. Télé-Leysin-Les Mosses-La Lécherette — forfaits et tarifs hiver — www.tlml.ch/forfait-tarif-hiver
22. Commune de Montreux — piste de luge Sonloup-Les Avants — www.montreux.ch/sport/sports-dhiver/luge