White Turf 2027 runs on three Sundays, 7, 14 and 21 February 2027, on the frozen lake at St. Moritz, and it is the 120th edition of racing on the ice. Doors open at 10:30, lunch is served from 11:00, the first race goes off at 11:30 and the day ends at 16:30. A seat in the grandstand costs CHF 55 to CHF 99 per person, a lounge costs CHF 440 or CHF 770 if you book by 20 December 2026, and the Grand Prix of St. Moritz is on the last Sunday. I am Pau Gallardo Campos, I run Alpina Travels from Zurich, and I plan rail journeys and hotel stays in Switzerland for couples. This is the practical guide I would want before booking: which Sunday, which ticket, what to wear, and where to sleep.
Hotels in St. Moritz fill early on White Turf weekends, so the room is the part to settle first. If you would like me to arrange it, with the train from Zurich and, where the organiser sells them, the lounge or the seats, ask me to find you a room for White Turf.
White Turf 2027 at a glance
| Date | What | Where | Price and access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 6 February 2027 | White Turf Opening: behind-the-scenes tours, panel discussions, live music, pony rides | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, site opens 10:30 | Free admission and free guided tours |
| Sunday 7 February 2027 | Race Sunday 1: trotting, flat racing, Skikjöring Grand Prix from Celerina | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, 10:30 to 16:30 | Standing CHF 29, grandstand CHF 55 to CHF 99, lounges from CHF 440 |
| Saturday 13 February 2027 | Family Day: young riders in pony gallop, trot and skikjöring | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, site opens 10:30 | Free admission |
| Sunday 14 February 2027 | Race Sunday 2 (Valentine's Day): Skikjöring Grand Prix of Silvaplana | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, 10:30 to 16:30 | As 7 February |
| Saturday 20 February 2027 | Family Day | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, site opens 10:30 | Free admission |
| Sunday 21 February 2027 | Race Sunday 3, the finale: 86th Grand Prix of St. Moritz (CHF 100,000), Skikjöring Grand Prix UBS | Frozen Lake St. Moritz, 10:30 to 16:30 | As 7 February |
All prices are per person, per race day, including VAT, as published by White Turf St. Moritz for 2027 and checked on 31 October 2026. The race programme is the organiser's version of 25 August 2026 and is marked subject to change.
What White Turf actually is
International horse racing on snow, held on Lake St. Moritz since 1907. There are three disciplines on each race Sunday: flat races with thoroughbreds from across Europe and international jockeys, trotting races with sulkies fitted with aluminium blades instead of wheels, and skikjöring, the one that made White Turf famous. In skikjöring a skier is towed behind a galloping thoroughbred that carries no rider, over 2,700 metres. It exists almost nowhere else, and it is the race worth being at the rail for.
Around it is a tented village on the ice with restaurants, bars, art exhibitions, live music and betting counters. The organiser counts more than 35,000 visitors across the event. Each race Sunday has six races between 11:30 and 14:45, with Prix d'Honneur raffles after the last one, so the racing itself fills the early afternoon and the rest of the day is lunch, the terrace and the view.
Which Sunday to choose
- Sunday 7 February 2027. The opening race day, and the Saturday before is the White Turf Opening with free behind-the-scenes tours. A good choice if you care more about seeing the place than the biggest race.
- Sunday 14 February 2027. Valentine's Day. The racing card is the same shape as the first Sunday, with the Skikjöring Grand Prix of Silvaplana. Expect the hotels and the restaurants on Saturday night to be the most in demand of the season, and book accordingly. On the Saturday morning, 13 February, the Cresta Run holds its Grand National at 08:00.
- Sunday 21 February 2027. The finale. The 86th Grand Prix of St. Moritz is run over 2,000 metres for CHF 100,000, the richest race of the meeting, alongside the Skikjöring Grand Prix UBS and the Grand Prix Pontresina for trotters. If you want the biggest day, this is it.
My view: choose 21 February for the racing, 14 February if the date matters to the two of you, and 7 February if you want the calmer weekend.
Tickets and prices for 2027
Every ticket includes the race card and a betting voucher. Prices are per person and per race day.
- Entrance to the tent city, standing: CHF 29. Children under 16 go free.
- Standing room in the inner oval: CHF 55, limited to 100 places.
- Grandstand Category A1, numbered seats: CHF 99.
- Grandstand Category A2, numbered seats: CHF 89.
- Grandstand Category B, unreserved seats: CHF 55.
Standing and grandstand tickets are sold through Ticketcorner, linked from the tickets page at whiteturf.ch, and were already on sale when I checked. The tickets page does not publish separate children's prices for the grandstand, so check the price on Ticketcorner before you book for a family.
The two lounges, and the 20 December price step
White Turf sells two hospitality packages, and both go up on 21 December 2026.
| Package | Until 20 Dec 2026 | From 21 Dec 2026 | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Turf Lounge | CHF 440 | CHF 490 | The lounge, sausage specialities, raclette, rösti and a dessert buffet; wine, beer, water, soft drinks and coffee (champagne and spirits not included); the VIP terrace at the track; a betting counter; an unnumbered seat in Grandstand B; the public area |
| GAMMA Lounge | CHF 770 | CHF 850 | The lounge with reservable tables for 8 or 10; a buffet with live cooking; a Laurent-Perrier champagne bar; finger food including raclette, rösti and oysters, and a dessert buffet; wine, beer, water, soft drinks and coffee (spirits not included); the VIP terrace; a betting counter; an unnumbered seat in Grandstand B; the public area |
For two people the step is CHF 100 on the White Turf Lounge and CHF 160 on the GAMMA Lounge, so if you know your Sunday, book before 20 December. In the lounges children aged 0 to 5 go free, 6 to 15 pay half and 16 and over pay the full price. Dogs on a lead are allowed across the site and in the VIP areas, except the inner oval.
Lounges are booked directly with the organiser, by the form on the VIP packages page (choose the package, the race day and the number of people), by phone on +41 81 833 84 60, by WhatsApp on +41 79 101 65 20 or by email at info@whiteturf.ch. The GAMMA Lounge tables are for 8 or 10; the page does not say how a couple is seated, so ask when you book.
Lounge or grandstand, honestly
A numbered A1 seat at CHF 99 gives you the best view of the racing for the least money. What it does not give you is anywhere warm to sit between races, and lunch and drinks in the tent city are paid for on top. For a couple who want an hour or two at the rail and then lunch in town, that is the sensible ticket.
For a full day on the ice I think a lounge is worth it. You have a heated room, food and drink all day, the VIP terrace at the track for the races themselves, and a Grandstand B seat if you want one. The White Turf Lounge at CHF 440 is the better value of the two. The GAMMA Lounge at CHF 770 adds the champagne bar, oysters, live cooking and a reserved table, and is the one to choose for a celebration, especially on 14 February.
What to wear, and the ice
You are standing on a frozen lake in the Engadin in February, for six hours. Dress as you would for a day on the slopes rather than a day at the races: thermal layers, a warm coat, a hat, gloves, sunglasses and, above all, warm boots with a grip, because the ground is packed snow. Keep the smart clothes for the lounge and the evening, and keep the boots on. The organiser notes that filming and photography take place on the site and that attending means agreeing to their use.
The ice is checked properly. White Turf publishes the figures: ice 50 to 80 centimetres thick in the racetrack area, under about 50 centimetres of pressed snow, with a minimum of 28 centimetres required before the tent city can be built. The organiser monitors the lake with radar, a drone with an infrared camera and test drillings, and on the morning of each race day the course is inspected by independent experts. Only when they give the go-ahead is the track handed over. If safety cannot be guaranteed, the races are cancelled. That has to be possible, so keep your hotel booking flexible where you can.
A White Turf weekend, day by day
- Saturday. Take a morning train from Zurich and be in St. Moritz for lunch. In the afternoon, walk down to the lake: on 6 February the White Turf Opening has free tours behind the scenes, and on 13 and 20 February the Family Days show the young riders, also free. Or keep the day quiet and save yourselves for Sunday.
- Sunday. At the lake for 10:30, lunch from 11:00, racing from 11:30, the last race at 14:45. Dinner in town.
- Monday. Leave on a late morning train, or stay on: the companion guide to St. Moritz events in winter 2027 covers what else is on in the same weeks.
The same weeks in St. Moritz
White Turf is not the only ice sport in town. The Cresta Run, the St. Moritz toboggan run, holds its Grand National on Saturday 13 February 2027 at 08:00, the morning before the Valentine's race day, and its season runs to 28 February. The Olympia Bob Run between St. Moritz and Celerina opens for the season on 22 December 2026, and guest rides in a bob are sold on its own website.
Where to stay for White Turf
The racecourse is on the lake directly below the town, so any of the central hotels works on foot or by a short taxi ride. White Turf itself counts around 40 hotels in St. Moritz. Among them: Badrutt's Palace and the Kulm Hotel, both in the centre above the lake; Suvretta House, on its own slope to the west of the town; the Carlton, on the hillside above the lake; and Grace La Margna, a short walk from the railway station, which is convenient if you arrive by train.
Race weekends fill early, and I would expect the Valentine's weekend to go first. The winter rates for February are not always open on the hotels' booking systems this far ahead. I do not have a St. Moritz hotel page yet, so tell me your Sunday and the kind of room you want and I will come back with what is actually available. Ask me to find you a room for White Turf.
Getting there by train
Zurich to St. Moritz takes a little over three hours, with one change at Chur, where you board the Rhaetian Railway up the Albula line, part of a UNESCO World Heritage railway, over viaducts and through spiral tunnels into the Engadin. The station is a few minutes from the lake. There is no need for a car, and the organiser asks drivers to use the Serletta car park opposite the lake entrance at CHF 2 an hour. If you want to stay on after the racing, St. Moritz is also the start of the Bernina line to Italy, which I describe in my guide to the Bernina Express in first class.
My advice
- Pick your Sunday now: 21 February for the Grand Prix, 14 February for Valentine's Day, 7 February for the quieter weekend.
- Book the hotel first. Seats are on sale now and the lounges are booked directly; the rooms are the scarcer part.
- If you want a lounge, book it before 20 December 2026: CHF 440 instead of CHF 490 for the White Turf Lounge, CHF 770 instead of CHF 850 for the GAMMA Lounge, per person.
- For a full day, the White Turf Lounge is the best value; for a short visit, a numbered A1 seat at CHF 99.
- Dress for the slopes, wear boots with a grip, and bring sunglasses.
- Arrive on Saturday, stay two nights, and keep the booking flexible where the hotel allows: the races only run when the ice experts say so.