Christmas in Crans-Montana

Switzerland · Christmas week 19 Dec – 26 Dec 2026

7 chalets available for Christmas week when we checked on 22 September 2026, from £2,091 for the week.

See the chalets

Two merged towns on a sunny Valais plateau with golf, smart shops, Rhône valley views and south-facing skiing up to the Plaine Morte glacier.

Quick answers about Christmas in Crans-Montana

Is there usually snow in Crans-Montana at Christmas?
Not reliably. At the Montana weather station at village height (1,590 m, in the resort), there was at least 30cm of snow on the ground on Christmas morning in 14 of the 30 years measured since 1996; the thinnest was 0cm in 2015. Crans-Montana scores 49 out of 100 on our Christmas Snow Score. That is how often there has been snow, not a forecast: conditions vary every season and nobody can promise them.
What is Christmas actually like in Crans-Montana?
Lively and festive. The tourist board lists a Christmas Village on Place Victoria from 18 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, and free Christmas celebrations with Father Christmas on Place des Charmettes on 24 and 25 December 2026.
When is Christmas week in Crans-Montana this season?
For Christmas 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday, so the Christmas week runs from Saturday 19 to Saturday 26 December. Most chalets in Crans-Montana are let by the week, so that is the week to search for.
Winter in Crans-Montana
Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash

Chalets in Crans-Montana you can book now

These links open our partners’ own sites for Crans-Montana. Booking.com opens with Christmas week already selected.

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Chalets in Crans-Montana

On 22 September 2026 we checked 28 chalets here for Christmas week (19 Dec – 26 Dec 2026): 7 were still available on Booking.com, from £2,091 for the week (typical £3,151).

Some links below are commercial. If you book through one we may earn a commission, and what you pay is unchanged. How this works.

16 more chalets in Crans-Montana

Crans-Montana is two towns that grew into one along a wide, sunny plateau high above the Rhône valley, with larch and pine forest, small lakes and a championship golf course running between the chalets and hotels. Crans is the smarter half, with designer boutiques, grand hotels and spas; Montana is a little more everyday. A historic funicular climbs up from Sierre in the valley, and the views run south across the Rhône to a long line of Valais peaks, from Mont Blanc round towards the Simplon.

The skiing suits intermediates best: long, south-facing cruising runs drop through the trees back to the plateau, and the funitel to the Plaine Morte glacier adds a high, open start to the day and a long red run all the way back down. Beginners and families have gentle slopes close to the villages, while experts will find less steep terrain here than in the big Valais names. The trade-off at Christmas is the sunshine that makes the place so pleasant. The slopes face the sun all day, so after a dry or mild start to the winter the lower runs can be thin and depend on snowmaking, and Christmas week sits right at the start of the full season. Book it for sunny days, the views and a resort with plenty going on off the slopes, with realistic expectations about fresh snow low down.

Christmas in Crans-Montana

Lively and festive. The tourist board lists a Christmas Village on Place Victoria from 18 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, and free Christmas celebrations with Father Christmas on Place des Charmettes on 24 and 25 December 2026.

Our Christmas atmosphere rating: 4 out of 5

If you are not skiing

Excellent. The Ycoor ice rink and indoor curling hall, sledging at Snow Island and Aminona, snowshoe trails, cross-country skiing on the golf course and the Plaine Morte glacier, hotel spas, a casino and the luxury shops of Rue du Prado give plenty to do off the slopes.

Christmas Snow Score

49/ 100

1,500m2,883m

Weather-dependent

49 out of 100 — more weather-dependent than most in late December. The strongest factor here is the measured Christmas snow record. At least 30cm of snow on the ground on 14 of the last 30 Christmas mornings at the Montana station (1590 m). Read this one closely: the village sits a long way below the skiing, and this score leans on the village's snow and height. The mountain above is considerably higher than the number suggests — you are likelier to be taking a gondola to the snow than walking out into it. Snow in the Alps varies from one December to the next, and no resort can promise cover on a given week.

What went into it

Measured Christmas snowAt least 30cm of snow on the ground on 14 of the last 30 Christmas mornings at the Montana station (1590 m)
25% weight47
Village altitudeThe village sits at 1500 m and loses its snow first
20% weight47
Top of the ski areaThe skiing reaches 2883 m, and high ground holds cover in a thin December
15% weight47
Snowmaking coverageSnowmaking covers 30% of pistes and opens the season when snowfall is late
12% weight30
Glacier accessYear-round glacier skiing makes snow at the top near certain at Christmas
8% weight100

The Christmas Snow Score compares resorts on how often there has been snow on the ground on Christmas morning, measured at weather stations over the last thirty years, with altitude, snowmaking and glacier access. It describes how reliable a resort tends to be, not what the snow will do this year — Alpine conditions vary every season and nobody can guarantee them. How the Snow Score works and how every resort compares

Resort figures from the source we checked on 22 September 2026.

Snow on Christmas morning in Crans-Montana

How much snow was on the ground on 25 December, every year since 1996, measured at the nearest weather station. This is what the resort’s Christmas Snow Score is built on.

In the village: Montana, 1,590 m

0.4 km from Crans-Montana. At least 30cm on the ground on 14 of 30 Christmas mornings measured since 1996. Typical depth 28cm; least 0cm in 2015; most 143cm in 2011.

0cm75cm150cmChristmas 1996: 80cmChristmas 1997: 10cmChristmas 1998: 17cmChristmas 1999: 40cmChristmas 2000: 8cmChristmas 2001: 2cmChristmas 2002: 4cmChristmas 2003: 25cmChristmas 2004: 52cmChristmas 2005: 40cmChristmas 2006: 8cmChristmas 2007: 64cmChristmas 2008: 62cmChristmas 2009: 28cmChristmas 2010: 30cmChristmas 2011: 143cmChristmas 2012: 86cmChristmas 2013: 10cmChristmas 2014: 4cmChristmas 2015: 0cmChristmas 2016: 0cmChristmas 2017: 71cmChristmas 2018: 27cmChristmas 2019: 80cmChristmas 2020: 14cmChristmas 2021: 42cmChristmas 2022: 0cmChristmas 2023: 52cmChristmas 2024: 97cmChristmas 2025: 11cm30cm1996200020052010201520202025
Christmas morning snow depth at Montana, year by year
ChristmasSnow on the ground
202511cm
202497cm
202352cm
20220cm
202142cm
202014cm
201980cm
201827cm
201771cm
20160cm
20150cm
20144cm
201310cm
201286cm
2011143cm
201030cm
200928cm
200862cm
200764cm
20068cm
200540cm
200452cm
200325cm
20024cm
20012cm
20008cm
199940cm
199817cm
199710cm
199680cm

Measured on the morning of 25 December by WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF (CC BY 4.0).

How Crans-Montana compares with every other resort we measure: the Christmas Snow Report.

Compare Crans-Montana for Christmas

Common questions about Christmas in Crans-Montana

How high is Crans-Montana?

The village sits at 1,500m, and the lift-served ski area reaches 2,883m. The tourist board gives the ski area as running from about 1,500 m on the plateau to about 3,000 m, with around 140 km of marked pistes. The top figure here is the upper station of the Violettes–Plaine Morte funitel on the glacier, which the board rounds to 3,000 m. Altitude matters at Christmas because high ground holds snow in a thin December; the measured Christmas record on this page shows how that has played out year by year. Figures checked on 22 September 2026 against the source listed on this page.

Is Crans-Montana good for families at Christmas?

Crans-Montana is one of the better family choices we cover. The beginner terrain is good, which matters with children. It also does Christmas itself well, which children notice. This is our editorial judgement rather than a measurement, and the resort page explains the reasoning.

Can a beginner learn to ski in Crans-Montana at Christmas?

Yes — Crans-Montana has good beginner terrain. One thing to weigh at Christmas specifically: nursery slopes are the lowest terrain in any resort and therefore the first to be thin in December. Here, that is worth taking seriously in a poor December.

Which airport do you fly into for Crans-Montana?

The usual arrival airports are Geneva (GVA), Sion (SIR), Zurich (ZRH), Milan Malpensa (MXP). We do not publish transfer times, because they swing widely with traffic and road conditions on a Saturday in Christmas week — ask your transfer company for a figure they will stand behind.

Can I book a chalet in Crans-Montana through this site?

We list 28 chalets in Crans-Montana, but we do not take bookings ourselves: we are not a travel agent and we take no bookings or payments. We link to partners who do, and the links on this page go to their live Christmas availability. If you book through one we may earn a commission, which never changes your price.

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