In 60 seconds
Perched at 1,800 metres in the high Engadin valley, St. Moritz invented winter tourism and remains the world's most storied alpine resort. The high valley is famed for its dry, sparkling 'champagne climate' and crystal lakes, while the UNESCO-listed Rhaetian Railway threads across limestone viaducts and glacial passes to Italy.
Best for
Known for
Skip if
You are travelling on a shoestring budget; hotel rates, upscale dining and mountain transport reflect St. Moritz's long standing as a luxury playground.
Your match
Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well St. Moritz & Engadin fits them. Choose interests
See
The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.
UNESCO Rhaetian Railway climbing across alpine passes into Italy
Ride the panoramic train across curved limestone viaducts and alongside icy glacier tongues to 2,253 metres without gears.
Historic 1907 funicular overlooking the Engadin lake plateau
Take the red funicular at twilight to see the chain of five sapphire lakes glinting below the ice-clad Bernina massif.
Glacial lake chain from St. Moritz to Silvaplana and Sils
Walk the flat, wooded lakeshore path or watch kite-surfers catch the famous Maloja wind whistling across the water.
Eat
A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?
Worth planning the evening around.
17th-century peasant farmhouse run by Badrutt's Palace
Dine on truffle pizza Dama Bianca or traditional Swiss Capuns beneath blackened pine rafters dating back to 1658.
Fine dining overlooking the entire Upper Engadin valley floor
Refined regional mountain cuisine served in an all-glass dining room perched nearly a thousand metres above the valley floor.
Too few picks yet for their own heading, so they share this list.
Authentic historic Engadin farmhouse dining in Zuoz
A vaulted former hayloft serving hearty Grisons barley soup, air-dried Bündnerfleisch and buckwheat pizzoccheri.
Iconic confectioner on Via Maistra · Home of Engadiner Nusstorte
Order a slice of authentic caramelized walnut and honey tart in the frescoed tea room frequented by European nobility since 1894.
Beyond the obvious
Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.
Alpine sanctuary where Friedrich Nietzsche wrote Zarathustra
Visit the modest two-storey wooden house where the philosopher spent seven productive summers inspired by the light of Sils.
Preserved Romansh village with ornate sgraffito stone facades
Stroll through quiet cobbled squares lined with thick-walled patrician stone houses decorated in geometric plaster engravings.
Cable car viewpoint at 2,978m directly facing the Pers and Morteratsch glaciers
Stand on the terrace gazing into the deep crevasses of the glaciers beneath the towering 4,049-metre peak of Piz Bernina.
After dark
World's largest whisky collection at Hotel Waldhaus am See
Browse over 2,500 varieties of single malts and rare blends in a cozy lakeside tasting room overlooking the water.
Orientation
How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.
Steep resort lanes with designer boutiques and mineral thermal springs
Dorf crowns the hillside with historic palace hotels, while Bad sits quietly at lake level where mineral baths were discovered 3,000 years ago.
Quiet historic villages nestled in lateral pine valleys
Pontresina is the mountaineer's base beneath the glaciers, while peaceful Sils sits serenely between Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana.
Stay
Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.
Glitz, world-class dining and central access to mountain railways
Stay amidst legendary hotels with easy access to Corviglia funicular and shopping.
Tranquil traditional alternatives surrounded by larch forests
Far calmer and more authentically Engadin, with immediate trail access and genuine village warmth.
Practical
Plan this trip — useful links
Context
Enough to make what you are looking at legible.
Hotelier Johannes Badrutt bets British summer guests that winter in St. Moritz will be sunny and mild, initiating the birth of winter alpine holidays.
St. Moritz hosts the Winter Olympic Games twice, cementing its global renown for winter sports.
Further out
Worth a day if you have one to spare.
Switzerland's only national park · Total protected alpine wilderness
Strictly protected since 1914: hike marked paths where ibex, chamois, marmots and golden eagles thrive with zero human intervention.
Gentle path through moraines to the mouth of the Morteratsch Glacier
An easy 5-kilometre round-trip hike from the station tracking the historical retreat of the third-largest glacier in the eastern Alps.
