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Plopped down amidst the quiet villages of the wild and beautiful Engadine Valley that runs for 100km along the south side of the Alps, brassy
ST MORITZ
is the prime winter retreat of the international jet set, who over the years have created a mini-Manhattan of Vuitton and Armani in this stunningly romantic setting of forest, lake and mountains; when the tourist office trumpets St Moritz's "champagne climate", they don't necessarily mean the sparkling sunshine (although there's an amazing 322 days of that a year on average). The town spans two villages, St Moritz-Bad on the lake and St Moritz-Dorf on the hillside 2km above, linked by the main Via dal Bagn. Dorf is the upmarket one, while Bad - site of a Roman spa - is more down-to-earth. The area boasts legendary bob and toboggan courses, including the death-defying 1.2km
Cresta Run
(five rides Sfr450; book on tel 081/833 46 09,
www.cresta-run.com
). You can rent wooden sleds (Sfr4/hr or Sfr10/day) for the famous winter
Preda-BergEn toboggan run
(daily 10am-5pm;
www.berguen.ch
), starting from Preda train station and taking a zigzag 5km route down through the scenic Albula valley to BergEn, where trains cart you back to the beginning; the course is floodlit six nights a week (Tues-Sun 7-11.30pm). Another toboggan run, also with rental, drops from the
Muottas Muragl
viewpoint above St Moritz down into the valley. On the hillside west of Dorf, a curious domed church-like building holds the excellent
Giovanni Segantini Museum
(June-Oct & Dec-April Tues-Sun 10am-noon & 3-6pm; Sfr7), displaying the mystically beautiful work of this largely self-taught artist, acclaimed as the definitive painter of Alpine life.
Via Serlas winds up from the
train station
below Dorf to a central square, from where the
tourist office
is 100m east at Via Maistra 12 (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm; Christmas-March also Sun 4-6pm; tel 081/837 33 33,
www.stmoritz.ch
). The
HI hostel
A
Stille
, Via Surpunt 60 (tel 081/833 39 69,
www.youthhostel.ch
; E15-20/$24-32), is a twenty-minute walk around the lake (or bus stop Sonne), alongside a separate
Stille
A
hotel
(tel 081/833 69 48,
www.hotelstille.ch
; E20-25/$32-40; closed Nov-May) and near the
Olympiaschanze
A
campsite
(tel 081/833 40 90; closed Oct-May).
Hotel Bellaval
(tel 081/833 32 45; E20-25/$32-40) is beside Dorf station. Most
restaurants
are ridiculously expensive; affordable ones include
Boccalino
pizzeria, Via dal Bagn 6, but with this kind of scenery all around, you might prefer to picnic. Your best bet for a
drink
is
Bobby's Pub
, Via dal Bagn 52.
You need to reserve at the station a day ahead for the stunningly scenic four-hour
Palm Express
postbus journey to Lugano (June-Oct daily, otherwise Fri-Sun only). This takes you west over the Maloja Pass into the gorgeous Val Bregaglia, then along the shoreline of Italy's Lake Como (passport needed) before crossing back into Switzerland for the final stretch alongside Lake Lugano.
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