St. Moritz in the Canton of Grisons is one of the best-known holiday resorts in the world. Chic, elegant and exclusive, with an extremely cosmopolitan air, the resort is located at an altitude of 1856 metres above sea level and surrounded by the beautiful lake landscape of the Upper Engadine.

In St. Moritz the sun shines 322 days a year. But even more legendary than that is St. Moritz’s “champagne climate”: sparkle and glamour, and international events attract top athletes, stars, statesmen and royal families to the health resort. And hotels, the gastronomy, shopping and leisure facilities in this top Upper Engadine resort are accordingly exclusive.

A visitor’s card that is a travel pass for mountain transport facilities and buses, a parking disc and a credit card all in one while also entitling its holder to a great many discounts, is the perfect key for visitors to benefit from the countless opportunities on offer in the Upper Engadine.

The red trains of the Rhaetian Railway swiftly transport St. Moritz’s visitors to the surrounding attractions: the ski regions of Diavolezza and Lagalp, the National Park in the Lower Engadine, by Bernina Express to the Mediterranean Puschlav and by world-famous Glacier Express to Chur and from there further to the Valais.

Summer

In addition to indulging in traditional sports, such as hiking and climbing, holiday-makers can enjoy a spot of sailing, windsurfing, a rubber dinghy ride on the River Inn, tennis and horseback riding. And St. Moritz with a total of five golf courses and 60 holes is an absolute golfer’s paradise in the Alps. St. Moritz boasts a wide range of leisure options, but its strongest feature is the beauty of the Upper Engadine’s scenery.

Winter

St. Moritz is the cradle of winter tourism. For winter sports enthusiasts there are 350 kilometres of pistes with a state-of-the-art infrastructure in the surrounding area. St. Moritz’s ‘house mountain’, the Corviglia, boasts the steepest start slope in Switzerland with the Piz Nair Wall’s 100 per cent vertiginous drop. The resort which has hosted the Olympic Winter Games twice offers a great many attractions. Toboggan riders plunge down the icy run which is one of the oldest natural ice bob runs in the world. The Fun Park for snowboarders featuring a permanently operational half-pipe, tandem parachute jumps and altitude training are just a few of the other winter sports on offer. For winter hikers there are 150 km of winter walking trails and for cross-country skiers there is a track network of about 180 km.

Highlights

• Corvatsch – the hiking trails on the Corvatsch run past mountain lakes and Alpine pastures from Murtèl to Furtschellas. The Glacier Grotto at the summit station tempts in visitors.
• Segantini Museum – dedicated to the painter Giovanni Segantini who spent the final five years of his life in the Engadine.
• Bernina Express – by panorama train on the most scenic railway in Europe to the Puschlav.
• Muottas Muragl – impressive view over the lake region of the Upper Engadine. In winter by toboggan from the summit to the valley station.
• Piz Nair Wall – the start of the men’s downhill (2003 World Championship) with a 100 per cent drop results in an acceleration from 0 to 130km/h in 7 seconds. Top skiing skills are a must.
• Swiss National Park – measuring 172 square kilometres, this is Switzerland’s biggest nature reserve, a place where nature is allowed to take its course unrestricted.

Top Events

• St. Moritz Gourmet Festival – the Engadine is regarded as the leading culinary scene in the Alps. Once a year international top chefs cast their magic on their guests (January/February).
• White Turf – traditional horse race on frozen Lake St. Moritz which has been taking place since 1907 (February).
• Chalanda Marz – ancient Engadine custom during which children drive out winter with bells and songs (March).
• Engadine Ski Marathon – one of the biggest sports events in the world and ultimate challenge for 13’000 participating cross-country skiers (March).
• Snow and Symphony Music Festival – top level winter festival of classical music (March/April).
• International Concert Weeks – since 1940 firm entry in the St. Moritz calendar of events featuring world-famous orchestras, conductors and solo artists (July/August).

Chur’s main industry is tourism, but it is also a significant trading centre, especially for Valtelline wines. Metalworking, food processing, and the production of machinery are important. The population is mainly German speaking with a small Protestant majority.

Chur looks back on 5000 years of settlement history, which also makes it Switzerland’s oldest town. This lively small bishop’s town has developed to become the cultural and economic centre of the Grisons, thanks to its excellent location on key transport routes through the Alps.

To help find the most important witnesses to the town’s history, two discovery trails marked by red and green footprints lead through the town. Examples include the Gothic old town dating from the 15th and 16th century, where the influences of the neighbouring countries remain visible today and attest to the skills of the Italian master builders, and the 800-year-old cathedral with its wonderful, three-sided carved altar dating from the 15th century. Visits to the Rhaetian Museum with its cultural-historical and folk art collection, as well as the Art Museum with its Grisons’ paintings and sculptures from the 18th – 20th century, are particularly rewarding.

500 shops and over 100 restaurants and hostelries offer visitors a wealth of possible purchases. The town’s many annual events as well as concerts, theatres and cinemas make the southern ambience of Chur noticeable. What’s more, Chur also has a zoo and leisure park.

A regional mountain – the ‘Brambrüesch’ – means that Chur also has its own winter and summer sports region. In summer, Chur is the ideal spot from which to set off on walks and visits to vineyards in the ‘Bündner Herrschaft’ winemaking region. Chur is the gateway to the Grisons mountains: 26 holiday and spa resorts can be reached in less than an hour from Chur.

Panorama trains travel from Chur into the Grisons Alps, e.g. the Bernina Express to St. Moritz and Tirano along the Albula route which has been much praised as a masterpiece of railway construction, the Glacier Express to the Matterhorn, the Arosa Express to the renowned climatic spa resort, and the Heidi Express to Davos.

Chur is the centre of the Chur Rhine valley, which reaches from the “Bündner Herrschaft” wine-growing region to the spectacular gorge of the Viamala. Whilst the “Bündner Herrschaft” with its centre of Maienfeld once inspired Johanna Spyri to pen her Heidi book and today produces outstanding Pinot Noir wines, Grüsch-Danusa, best known as a winter sports region, lies at the valley entrance to the Prättigau. To the west of Chur lies the Domleschg, the most castle-populated region of Switzerland and directly to the south of this Thusis, at the entrance to the steep Viamala gorge.

Highlights

• Chur old town – Gothic old town dating from the 15th and 16th century, where the influences of the neighbouring countries remain visible today and attest to the skills of the Italian master builders.
• Grisons Art Museum – houses a collection of works by Angelika Kaufmann, Giovanni Segantini, Ferdinand Hodler, Giovanni, August and Alberto Giacometti as well as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
• Giger Bar – a bar themed and modelled by the surrealist and “Alien” creator H.R. Giger, whose home town is Chur.
• Rhaetian Railway – Chur is the junction of world-renowned railway lines such as the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano (Italy) via St. Moritz and the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur, Davos and St. Moritz.
• Culinary delights – the gateway to the Grisons holiday region offers the largest selection of Grisons specialities and wines from the “Bündner Herrschaft”.

Top Events

• Chur town festival – held on the streets and squares of the Chur old town, with many delicacies from different cuisines and music from all genres (August).
• Open-air cinema – summer cinematic enjoyment in the open under starry skies in Fontana park (August).
• Alpine Beard Get-Together on the Brambrüesch – the wearers of Europe’s most rustic beards meet up annually to elect their grand master (August).
• Chur hit parade – music fans travel to the Grisons metropolis to meet up with the big stars from the world of hit music (September).

Davos in Grisons is a place of superlatives: this holiday destination with international ambience is the largest resort in the Alps for mountain holidays, sport and conferences, at 1560 m the highest town in the Alps and a high-altitude health resort with a long tradition.

This long-drawn-out town in the Landwasser valley is renowned above all as a conference centre, and also as a major winter sports centre with an international flavour and a huge range of activities. Its showpiece is its modern Conference Centre, which hosts the World Economic Forum WEF (nearly) every year. In the centre of Davos, visitors will find a wide range of accommodation and excellent shopping, with numerous boutiques, cafés and restaurants. At night, too, there’s plenty of entertainment, with bars, discos and a casino. Davos is also the headquarters of the well-known Weissfluhjoch/Davos Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

Summer

The cable-cars on the Jakobshorn (2590 m), Parsenn including the Weissfluhjoch und -gipfel (2844 m), Pischa (2483 m), Rinerhorn (2490 m) and Schatzalp/Strela provide access to four hiking areas with a total of 450 km of marked footpaths. Anyone seeking rest and relaxation amid unspoilt nature should head off on foot, by bike or by horse-drawn carriage up the romantic side valleys of Sertig, Dischma or Flüela. For a change of scene, visit the Davos Lake with its swimming area and a sailing and surfing centre. In addition, there are opportunities for hang-gliding and paragliding and mountain bike and inline skating routes. Davos is also the starting point for excursions on the famous Glacier Express, and the Heidi and Bernina Express trains.

Winter

Davos is a winter sports metropolis for skiing and snowboarding fans from all over the world. At altitudes between 1124 and 2844 m, guests will find 54 ski lifts, 320 km of slopes, 75 km of cross-country ski tracks, two artificial ice-skating rinks and Europe’s largest natural ice rink for people to skate or play curling on. And no fewer than five sledging runs to have fun on! The six Davos-Klosters skiing areas of Parsenn, Gotschna, Jakobshorn, Pischa, Madrisa and Rinerhorn have been brought together into one vast winter sports arena. For skiing fanatics, the mecca is the Parsenn and Weissfluhjoch area which connects up with the neighbouring resort of Klosters. The Jakobshorn, on the other hand, is the in place for snowboarders, with its half-pipe and monster pipe. For a quieter time, take a ride by horse-drawn sledge into the snowy side valleys, or experience the Davos mountains from 84 km of beautifully prepared winter footpaths and snow-shoe trails.

Highlights

• Kirchner Museum – the world’s largest collection of works by the German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) is housed in an innovative modern museum building.
• Zügenschlucht – a wild and romantic gorge with the spectacular RhB railway line and a mining museum at the Schmelzboden at 1340 m, and the Geology Trail between Davos-Monstein and Wiesen.
• Monstein Brewery – the highest brewery in Europe and the first brewery in the canton of Grisons to open to the public. The ABC of beer-making, guided tour, tasting.
• The Schatzalp (1861m) inspired the German author Thomas Mann to write his novel “The Magic Mountain”, published in 1924. An Alpine botanical garden, the Alpinum Schatzalp, with about 800 different species of plant from all over the world. Flowers are best in June and July. Enjoy a change of scene on the summer sledging run.
• Sertigtal – its unique natural beauty and mountain scenery make for an unforgettable alpine experience. Popular destination for rides by horse-drawn carriage or sledge.

Top Events

• O’Neill SB-JAM Davos – this freestyle snowboarding event takes place every year in Davos, with the qualifying rounds open to everyone (December/January).
• World Economic Forum (WEF) – politicians and celebrities from business and society meet in Davos for this global discussion forum (January).
• Young Artists in Concert – young musicians from all over the world perform as soloists or in chamber groups at the Davos Conference Centre, in the Kirchner Museum and in various churches (July/August).
• International Hiking Rally – long-established rally involving hiking on one of four routes in the mountains around Davos, with stamps for the number of kilometres walked and coveted medals (September).

Seat reservations are mandatory and available at any train station in Switzerland and at most Swiss Travel System sales points abroad. Be sure to have valid entry documents for Italy since you will leave and re-enter Switzerland.

Route: Chur/Davos/St. Moritz – Bernina Pass – Poschiavo – Tirano (– Lugano)