Excursiv

Coming Soon

Guides
Destinations
Seasons
Search
Enter Excursiv
The St Moritz Guide

Excursiv · Guides · Alpine

The St Moritz Guide

Where

St Moritz, Switzerland

When

January. February

Read

9 min read

AllMonaco GPRoyal AscotIbiza SummerSt TropezFIFA World CupVenice Film FestivalArt Basel MiamiCourchevelSt Moritz

The Week

St Moritz does not need to explain itself. It has been doing this since 1864, when hotelier Johannes Badrutt bet a group of English summer guests that they would enjoy the winter. He was right. One hundred and sixty years later the same families still come back in January, stay two to three weeks, and treat the season as an appointment rather than a holiday.

Into Samedan. The Second Highest Airport in Europe.

Ch. 01The Arrival

Into Samedan. The Second Highest Airport in Europe.

Samedan Airport, ICAO code LSZS, sits five kilometres northeast of St Moritz at 1,707 metres above sea level, making it the second highest airliner airport in Europe after Courchevel. It is exclusive to private aviation with no commercial scheduled services. The 1,800-metre runway accommodates midsize jets including the Pilatus PC-12, the Embraer Phenom 300, and the Citation XLS, with some larger aircraft operating subject to weight and weather conditions. Guests from London, Paris, or Milan typically fly to Zurich or Geneva then continue by midsize charter direct to Samedan. The approach through Alpine topography requires a specific crew qualification and diversions to Zurich or Milan Malpensa occur in poor weather. The transfer from Samedan to St Moritz is ten minutes by car. Slots are mandatory during January peak season and for White Turf in February. The alternative arrival is Zurich, two hours by road. The train from Zurich to St Moritz on the Rhaetian Railway via Chur takes three and a half hours and is worth doing once.

Reserve

Private Jet Charter to Samedan

LSZS · 5km from St Moritz · Midsize jets direct

From £8,000 one way ex-London

Reserve →
Suvretta House. Ski-In Ski-Out. Since 1912.

Ch. 02The Stay

Suvretta House. Ski-In Ski-Out. Since 1912.

Suvretta House opened in 1912, built by hotelier Anton Bon on Via Chasellas above the town in private parkland. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, it occupies 181 rooms across a Belle Époque turret building and holds the singular distinction of being the only ski-in ski-out hotel in St Moritz, with its own private ski lift providing direct access to the Corviglia ski area. The Grand Restaurant operates with a formal dress code, honey oak panelling, and a cassette ceiling designed to evoke the ocean liner era. Suvretta Stube serves fondue and raclette. Anton's Bar stays open late. The mountain restaurants associated with the hotel include Restaurant Chasellas and, at 2,200 metres, the Trutz, the timber chalet that serves as the on-mountain lunch for guests not at Paradiso. Notable guests have included Vaslav Nijinsky, who performed his final public dance in the ballroom in 1919, Gregory Peck, Eva Perón, and the Shah of Persia. Book in September for January or February.

Reserve

Suvretta House

Via Chasellas 1 · St Moritz · Private ski lift to Corviglia

From CHF 800/night · Book September for peak weeks

Reserve →
Paradiso. 2,181 Metres. The Engadin Lakes Below.

Ch. 03The Mountain Lunch

Paradiso. 2,181 Metres. The Engadin Lakes Below.

Paradiso is a mountain club and restaurant at 2,181 metres on the slopes above St Moritz with a direct sight line over the frozen Engadin lakes. Operated by Badrutt's Palace since the 2021 season, it is the definitive on-mountain social venue of the winter. The structure has three terraces, a High Altitude Brasserie, and the Mountain Club on the lower deck which runs as a private members club with day passes at CHF 40. The Gucci lounge inside is members only. The kitchen produces Black Truffle Croque Fondue, Potato Salad with Imperial Oscietra Caviar, and Alpine classics reinterpreted with the precision the Badrutt's name requires. The wine list runs to over 500 labels with the largest Champagne selection at altitude in Switzerland. Resident DJs run from midday. The atmosphere at two in the afternoon on a clear day, with the Engadin lakes frozen below and the terrace full, is the defining image of the St Moritz season. Book in advance. The CHF 50 no-show fee is charged to card.

Reserve

Paradiso Mountain Club

Via Engiadina 3 · 2,181m · Day pass CHF 40

Lunch from CHF 150pp · Champagne from CHF 25/glass

Reserve →
Three Events on the Frozen Lake.

Ch. 04The Events

Three Events on the Frozen Lake.

The frozen surface of Lake St Moritz hosts three events in January and February that exist nowhere else on earth. The Snow Polo World Cup, founded in 1985 by Reto Gaudenzi, runs on the last weekend of January: six high-goal polo teams competing on a field marked on the ice, with the Badrutt's Palace gala dinner on the Friday evening as the social centrepiece. White Turf runs across three consecutive Sundays in February, a format unchanged since 1907: thoroughbred horse racing and skijöring, horses at full speed on the frozen lake with skiers towed on ropes behind them, watched from the lakeside tribune. The International Concours of Elegance brings exceptional motor cars from private collections onto the ice for a formally competitive display that draws entries from across Europe. The three events combined make January and February in St Moritz a social calendar in miniature, self-contained and attended by the same crowd that has been attending for a generation.

Reserve

Snow Polo World Cup · VIP Access

Lake St Moritz · Last weekend of January

Grandstand from CHF 150 · Gala dinner by invitation

Reserve →
Badrutt's Palace. Via Serlas. Since 1896.

Ch. 05The Hotel

Badrutt's Palace. Via Serlas. Since 1896.

Badrutt's Palace Hotel on Via Serlas has been the definitive St Moritz address since 1896. Its King's Social House in the basement has been the social centre of the winter season for decades. The Palace operates 157 rooms and suites across its landmark tower above the lake, with upper floor views covering the entire Engadin Valley. Le Relais features gueridon service and Belle Époque interiors, with tableside preparation and a view of the frozen lake that constitutes one of the more formally correct dinners available in the Alps. The Palace Wellness facility occupies 4,000 square metres with an indoor pool, spa, and the La Diala restaurant. King's Social House opens after midnight. Jason Atherton's bistro menu in the early evening gives way to Paradiso resident DJs later in the night. The Palace concierge manages Snow Polo hospitality packages, White Turf tribune access, and Paradiso reservations. Book the room in September.

Reserve

Badrutt's Palace Hotel

Via Serlas 27 · St Moritz · King's Social House from midnight

From CHF 1,200/night during January events

Reserve →
Corviglia. Corvatsch. Diavolezza. The Cresta Run.

Ch. 06The Skiing

Corviglia. Corvatsch. Diavolezza. The Cresta Run.

St Moritz has four ski areas. Corviglia above the town is the social mountain: wide, sunny, groomed pistes, Paradiso at the top, and the Hahnensee run down to Celerina as the correct end-of-day descent. Corvatsch on the other side of the valley is the technical mountain: north-facing, icy in the mornings, running to 3,303 metres at the summit with views into Italy. Diavolezza, accessed from the Bernina Pass road, holds the glacier: the Diavolezza-Morteratsch glacier run, four kilometres of off-piste crossing the glacier, is one of the most extraordinary ski runs in Europe and requires a guide. The Cresta Run, the original skeleton bobsleigh track built in 1885 and operated by the St Moritz Tobogganing Club, accepts male riders by arrangement. The application requires an SMTC introduction. The course runs from St Moritz to Celerina at speeds exceeding 130 kilometres per hour.

Reserve

Ski Pass · All Four Areas

Corviglia · Corvatsch · Diavolezza · Zuoz

From CHF 85/day · Season passes from CHF 1,850

Reserve →

Every stage of this trip,
bookable in one place.

Excursiv members get the concierge-handled version. One enquiry, one invoice, one week of Ibiza as it was meant to be experienced.

Browse all GuidesRead Editorial