The Serendipity Shuttle
Some of the best conversations I've had at Davos happened on a shuttle.
Last updated: August 2026
The lobby of the Belvédère. The piano bar at Hotel Europa. The lobby of Morosani. The train up from Zurich.
They just happen when you least expect them.
The shuttles run between the main hotels, meeting points, and the Congress Centre. Flash a hotel badge or a WEF badge, hop on, warm up, and you're moving. Sometimes the person sitting next to you is far more interesting than the one you were meant to meet.
Official WEF Forum shuttles run roughly every ten minutes during the day and into the evening. The local VBD green line also passes the Belvédère between about 7am and 8pm. Hotel guest shuttles are usually on request — just ask at reception.
The Ride to the Belvédère
- One morning I was heading to a Wall Street Journal event at the Belvédère.
- I sat down and realised the person next to me was a CEO I'd recognise anywhere. The kind of name people in that room would have spotted immediately.
- We started talking. Ideas. The things that fill your head when you spend a week surrounded by the movers and the shapers.
- When we arrived he gave me a signed copy of his book.
- No introduction. No assistant. We just ended up sitting next to each other.
- Months later we ran into each other again somewhere else entirely. By then we already knew each other.
The Train Ride from Zurich
- Sometimes it starts before you even reach Davos.
- The train from Zurich takes about two and a half hours. The landscape changes. The air gets colder. You're in a carriage with a bunch of other people heading to the same place.
- I've watched conversations begin on that train and last the whole week. Two people who had never met, sitting across from each other, realising they have mutual interests. By the time the train pulls into Davos Platz they've already got a coffee planned for Wednesday.
- Then you keep bumping into them. Belvédère. Hotel Europa. Morosani. Carlton Intercontinental. 7am breakfast. Midnight receptions.
- The train sets the tone. If you're open to talking on the way up, you'll probably stay open all week.
If You're New to Davos
- The Promenade is where you'll spend most of your time. Learn the main hotels and venues. Get used to walking between them.
- Useful conversations happen outside the formal events too.
- The shuttle is part of the network. So is the Belvédère lobby. The piano bar at Hotel Europa. The Morosani lobby. The train from Zurich. The coffee line at 7am at the Davos Platz train station.
- Leave a little space in the calendar for the things you can't schedule. In Davos the ride between meetings can turn into the meeting.
Related reading: Badge & Access guide, First-Time Davos Manual
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