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St. Moritz occupies a singular position in the world of winter travel. Nestled in Switzerland’s Engadin Valley, it is recognised as the birthplace of winter tourism and has, for over a century, set the standard for alpine luxury, heritage, and high society.
Beyond its celebrated ski terrain, St. Moritz for non-skiers reveals a sophisticated winter lifestyle shaped by culture, gastronomy, wellness, and iconic seasonal rituals. From historic sporting landmarks to world-class spas, refined dining, and frozen-lake spectacles, the resort presents a rich and rewarding escape for travellers seeking more than skiing alone
1. Exploring the Spas of St. Moritz: A Haven of Alpine Serenity
St. Moritz is as revered for wellness as it is for winter sports. Its spa culture blends refined luxury with alpine tradition, offering restorative experiences shaped by mountain air, glacial water, and generations of hospitality expertise.
- Badrutt’s Palace Hotel Spa: Timeless Elegance and Panoramic Bliss
Set within one of the Alps’ most iconic hotels, the Badrutt’s Palace Spa offers an atmosphere of classic grandeur paired with discreet modern comfort. The indoor pool overlooks Lake St. Moritz, framed by picture-window views of the surrounding peaks. Steam rooms, saunas, and quiet relaxation spaces provide a calm counterpoint to the resort’s energy.
Signature experiences include bespoke massages, personalised facials by Biologique Recherche, and curated body rituals designed to restore balance, radiance, and deep relaxation.
- Kulm Spa St. Moritz: A Blend of History and Modernity
Housed in the legendary Kulm Hotel, the Kulm Spa balances historic prestige with contemporary wellness design. Indoor and outdoor pools, hydrotherapy zones, and panoramic relaxation areas offer a complete spa circuit in an alpine setting.
Treatments focus on stone-inspired massages, alpine-based wraps, and restorative therapies created to release tension and gently rebalance the body after days spent in the mountain air.
- Carlton Spa: Luxury and Holistic Wellness in St. Moritz
The Carlton Spa delivers a holistic approach guided by the hotel’s Moving Mountains philosophy. Spread across several levels, it features indoor and outdoor pools, a modern fitness suite, private spa areas, and serene treatment rooms overlooking the Engadin.
Signature journeys combine personalised massage therapies, restorative rituals, and tailored wellness programmes designed to rejuvenate both body and mind.
- Kempinski Spa: Alpine Serenity in St. Moritz
Located within the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski, the Kempinski Spa draws inspiration from Alpine elements of water, stone, and wood. Thermal facilities and tranquil relaxation zones create a sensory retreat rooted in natural calm.
Treatments centre on revitalising massages, detox rituals, and bespoke therapies inspired by the surrounding mountains, offering a deeply grounding spa experience.
2. Glide Across the Frozen Lake St. Moritz
Each winter, Lake St. Moritz transforms into a luminous stage of ice and snow. When conditions allow, the frozen surface becomes a playground for skating, curling, winter walks, and some of the resort’s most celebrated spectacles.
The season’s highlight is White Turf, where thoroughbreds thunder across the lake during February race weekends, drawing an international crowd for a blend of sport, fashion, and social ritual.
More adventurous visitors can try kite skiing across the open expanse, while horse-drawn sleigh rides trace snowy routes through the Upper Engadin. Whether elegant or exhilarating, the frozen lake remains the emotional centre of winter life in St. Moritz..
3. Savour Michelin-Starred Cuisine
St. Moritz and the Upper Engadin are internationally recognized for their culinary excellence, boasting an exceptional concentration of Michelin-starred addresses, grand hotel dining rooms, and chef-led concepts that form one of the most refined gastronomic landscapes in the Alps.
Krone is a respected fine-dining address known for contemporary cuisine, attentive service, and an elegant alpine setting.
Hotel dining remains central to the town’s culinary identity. Da Vittorio at the Carlton Hotel brings celebrated Italian fine dining to the mountains. The Grand Restaurant at the Kulm Hotel continues its tradition of classic haute cuisine, while Kulm Country Club offers live-fire cooking in a heritage space overlooking the slopes.
Badrutt’s Palace Hotel hosts La Coupole – Matsuhisa, showcasing Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese-Peruvian cuisine, alongside the timeless Le Relais. At the Kempinski, Cà d’Oro delivers refined Mediterranean dining, while Da Adriano focuses on authentic Italian dishes and an extensive wine cellar.
Swiss culinary tradition is preserved at Patrizier Stuben in Chesa Veglia and Alphütte Clavadatsch above the town. Contemporary alpine dining thrives at White Marmot and Edy’s on Corviglia, while international influences appear at Amaru, Mono at Hotel Monopol, and Hato.
Mountain culture continues at Paradiso Mountain Club, La Marmite, Dal Mulin, Bergrestaurant Trutz, Chamanna, and Salastrains. Seafood lovers gravitate toward Balthazar Downtown – Fish & Co, bringing coastal finesse to St. Moritz.
4. Explore High-End Shopping on Via Serlas
Via Serlas is less a shopping street than a winter ritual. Framed by grand hotel façades and Alpine light, it is where St. Moritz’s social life unfolds at an unhurried pace.
Here, international fashion houses and historic jewellers sit side by side. Bucherer and Cartier anchor the street’s watchmaking and jewellery heritage, while boutiques such as Gucci, Prada, and Moncler present winter collections where couture aesthetics meet technical performance.
Strolling Via Serlas is as much about atmosphere as acquisition. Fur-lined coats, discreet security, and chauffeured arrivals form part of a scene that has changed remarkably little over the decades.
5. Immerse Yourself in Art and Culture
St. Moritz offers a rich cultural scene, from galleries to museums, perfect for art enthusiasts.
Mili Weber House: A Fairytale World of Art in St. Moritz
The Mili Weber House offers an intimate encounter with one of Switzerland’s most distinctive artistic visions. Hand-painted walls, floral murals, and miniature worlds fill the home with a dreamlike atmosphere.
Recognised as a site of national importance, the house can only be visited on guided tours, offering insight into Weber’s life, her work, and her celebrated “flower children.”
The Segantini Museum: A Monument to Alpine Art in St. Moritz
Built in 1908, the Segantini Museum honours Giovanni Segantini, a pioneer of Alpine Symbolism. Its rotunda houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of his work, including the monumental triptych Werden–Sein–Vergehen.
The museum stands as a bridge between art and landscape, reflecting Segantini’s profound bond with the Engadin.
Cresta & Bob Museum: Exploring the Thrills of St. Moritz’s Ice Sports Heritage
Opened in 2024 in Haus Scala opposite the Kulm Hotel, the Cresta & Bob Museum explores St. Moritz’s pioneering role in winter sport. Interactive exhibits trace the evolution of skeleton and bobsleigh, the construction of the Cresta Run and Olympia Bob Run, and the legacy of the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympic Games.
Berry Museum: A Tribute to Art and Heritage in St. Moritz
Housed in Villa Arona, the Berry Museum celebrates spa doctor and painter Peter Robert Berry. Alongside luminous alpine landscapes, the museum presents diaries, letters, and documents charting St. Moritz’s emergence as a health and leisure resort.
6. Take a Scenic Train Journey
Few destinations are as richly connected to slow travel as St. Moritz. The rail journeys that radiate from the resort are not simply transfers; they are experiences in their own right.
The Bernina Express carries passengers from glaciers to palm trees, climbing to the highest railway crossing in the Alps before descending through viaducts, frozen lakes, and sun-washed Italian valleys to Tirano.
The Glacier Express, known as the world’s slowest express train, links St. Moritz with Zermatt in an eight-hour passage across deep gorges, high passes, and historic bridges, offering one of the great panoramic rail journeys in Europe.
The Albula Route, part of the UNESCO-listed Rhaetian Railway, showcases pioneering engineering through spiral tunnels and landmark viaducts, revealing the alpine landscape at a measured, almost cinematic pace.
7. Adventure with Winter Hiking and Snowshoeing
Beyond the lifts, the Upper Engadin opens into a quieter winter world. Forest paths, frozen lakes, and high-altitude viewpoints create a landscape ideally suited to winter hiking and snowshoe exploration.
Trails from Muottas Muragl are particularly prized, revealing wide panoramas across the Engadin lakes and villages below. Guided snowshoe tours venture deeper into the valleys, where silence, snow-covered pine forests, and untouched terrain offer a more contemplative side of St. Moritz’s winter.
8. Embrace the Nightlife and Après-Ski Scene
St. Moritz’s nightlife is not an afterthought to the ski day; it is one of the resort’s defining rituals. As evening settles over the Engadin, the town shifts from alpine playground to social stage, where champagne aperitifs turn into late dinners, live music, and elegant nights that often stretch into the early hours.
Historic institutions and contemporary venues coexist effortlessly. Carlton Bar remains one of the great classic hotel lounges of the Alps, where open fires, live piano music, and lake views set the tone for refined evenings. King’s Social House blends fine dining with DJs and late-night energy, while Balthazar delivers a theatrical setting for cocktails and social gatherings.
At Devil’s Place in Waldhaus am See, connoisseurs explore one of the world’s most extensive whisky collections, while Dracula Club, founded by Gunter Sachs, continues its legacy as one of the Alps’ most exclusive private members’ clubs.
For glamorous late nights, Billionaire at the Kempinski pairs live performances with nightclub spectacle, while Hemingway’s offers a livelier, music-driven atmosphere beloved by long-time St. Moritz regulars.
The RooBar, St. Moritz Sky Bar, and the Kulm Country Club Bar anchor the aperitif culture, while the Renaissance Bar at Badrutt’s Palace preserves the ritual of cigars, classic cocktails, and old-world charm. On the slopes, quattro BAR extends the après-ski scene with a polished, high-energy setting above Corviglia.
Together, these addresses form a nightlife culture that is unmistakably St. Moritz: elegant, social, international, and deeply rooted in tradition.
9. Charter a Helicopter for Scenic Flights
Seen from above, the Engadin reveals its true scale. Scenic flights departing from Engadin Airport near Samedan lift guests over glaciers, high passes, frozen lakes, and the dramatic peaks of the Bernina massif.
Helicopter tours trace sweeping aerial routes across southeastern Switzerland, while heli-ski flights transport winter sports enthusiasts to remote alpine terrain. For a quieter ascent, paragliding and glider flights offer a more meditative way to experience the region’s vastness from the air.
10. Attend Exclusive Winter Events
St. Moritz’s winter calendar attracts a global elite.
Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz takes place in January on the frozen lake.
White Turf unfolds across three Sundays in February, combining horse racing, skikjöring, and high-society spectacle.
The St. Moritz Gourmet Festival now takes place in summer, with the 2026 edition scheduled for late August.
11. Enjoy Serene Ice Skating in the Upper Engadin
Natural rinks across the Upper Engadin offer magical skating experiences. Lake St. Moritz itself becomes a vast open-air rink in cold periods, while the Chesa al Parc rink beside the Kulm Hotel offers a more intimate setting.
For something truly distinctive, the Madulain Ice Trail follows the river through winter scenery, often referred to as the “fastest hiking trail in the world.”
St. Moritz offers far more than world-class skiing. With its blend of spa culture, gastronomy, heritage, and alpine spectacle, it delivers a winter escape of rare depth and refinement. Whether indulging in wellness rituals, exploring museums, or gliding across frozen lakes, every moment in St. Moritz is shaped by elegance, tradition, and unmistakable glamour.
