St. Moritz – Top of the World – Switzerland

St. Moritz is one of the world’s glitziest and most expensive ski resorts, deserving its reputation as the St. Tropez of ski resorts. Our tour director describes this place as a ski resort for the “chic-kie mickeys”, her description of the jetset types who have heaps of money to burn.

St. Moritz

In St. Moritz, you can buy everything from Chanel skis to Cartier diamonds in the swanky boutiques. We spotted a gold mobile phone with a CHF 22,000 price tag.  For such a compact town centre, the concentration of designer label boutiques is amazing.  Every shop window that you look at, there’s a label staring back at you, including names like Etienne Aigner – Bucherer – Bally – Cartier – Herve Leger – Ferrè – T.Mugler – Prada – Dolce Gabana – Gucci – Donna Karan – Calvin Klein – Jil Sander  – Jet Set – Versace – DKNY – Ralph Lauren – Giorgio Armani – Louis Vuitton – Escada – Bulgari – etc.  Why I wonder would anyone buy designer goods in St. Moritz when the choices are much better in Rome, Milan or Paris.
 
We were here in summer and the place was quiet and had a deserted feel about it.  The designer boutiques were devoid of customers, so certainly, the summer tourists aren’t the ones who come here for designer label shopping.   

St. Moritz accommodation

St. Moritz boasts some excellent skiing with outstanding views and an average of 322 days of sunshine a year. The town has two main districts: St. Moritz-Bad is the spa area located on the southwestern side of the lake, whilst St. Moritz-Dorf is on the northern side of Lej da San Murezzan. Most of the hotels are located in St. Moritz-Dorf or village, located above the northern shores .  The town centre is very small, and I’m amazed that it has the capacity to facilitate the winter Olympics.  It is modern and lacks the medieval charm of some of the more traditional Alpine ski resorts, however, what it lacks in charm, it more than makes up for in the stunning views over the lake and surrounding mountains.  For atmosphere and nightlife, St. Moritz-Dorf is the place to stay as most of the hotels, restaurants, bars and shops are located here. From here, there is direct access to Corviglia, the largest local ski area, and there are also several bus stations from which you can take the free shuttle service to the other mountains.  Ski enthusiasts will not doubt be familiar with St. Moritz – Corviglia, Corvatsch and Diavolezza which are known for their unforgettable skiing experiences. 

St. Moritz town centre

Snowfall has arrived early this year and with current temperatures ranging from Min / Max -20°C to -4°C, ski conditions are bound to get better.

Whilst St. Moritz is a winter paradise offering skiing, ice-skating, toboggoning and snowboarding, accompanied by après-ski fun, there are also lots of other activities happening in summer, e.g. polo competitions, sailing regattas, mountaineering and hiking. So if you’d like a “chic-kie mickey” ski experience, St. Moritz is the place to go.  Make sure you take lots of credit cards with you!

Helen