Things To Do in St. Moritz

Most of St. Moritz's shops line either side of the steeply inclined via Maistra, and most of the horrendously upscale ones vie with one another for proximity to the town's most spectacularly expensive hotel, Badrutt's Palace (tel. 081/837-10-00), near the corner of via Serlas. On its premises, you'll find boutiques for Versace, Prada, Jil Sander, Bulgari, and Louis Vuitton, as well as enough upscale shops for watches and jewelry to outfit a prosperous royal court. But if it's well-designed sports equipment you're looking for, or relatively durable clothing that will shelter you from the fierce Engadine weather, head for any of the following shops: Boom Sports, via Tegiatscha 5 (tel. 081/832-22-22; www.boom-sport.ch); Corviglia Sports, via Maistra 21 (tel. 081/833-44-77; www.corviglia-sport.ch); and Ender Sport, via Maistra 26 (tel. 081/833-35-36; www.endersport.com).

The region produces lots of folkloric crafts that could commemorate your stay in the Engadine. The town's main outlet for all sorts of woodcarvings, including depictions of gnarled native Engadiners in Swiss costumes and some handcrafted furniture, is Ettlin, via Rosatsch 7 (tel. 081/832-17-07; www.ursettlin.ch). More broad-based in its folkloric inventories, with ceramics, glassware, textiles, and wrought iron, is the souvenir-and-artifacts shop Lüthi, via dal Bagn 54 (tel. 081/833-42-36).

The town's largest jeweler, and the one that saturates the high-season market with more advertising campaigns than any other in town, is Bucherer, via Maistra 17 (tel. 081/833-31-03). Finally, the town's largest emporium for chocolates is Merkur, via Serlas 26 (tel. 081/833-57-26).

Few other resorts are as depressing off season as St. Moritz, where very few of the local entrepreneurs even pretend to be interested in doing business. But as the midwinter and midsummer seasons get underway, you'll find lots of warm cubbyholes in St. Moritz, often in hotels whose bars are inspired by the Romansh sgraffito that's so prevalent in the region. Many are eminently appropriate for a quiet and cozy drink, and some, as noted below, make special efforts to attract drinking, and sometimes dancing, clients from other hotels.

One of the best examples of this is the Hotel Schweizerhof, via dal Bagn 54 (tel. 081/837-07-07; see earlier), where three separate bars provide a labyrinth of nightlife options that range from the subdued to the rowdy. They include the Muli Bar (winter only), with North American-style country-western music; the Stübli (open year-round), which divides its energies between cozy folkloric platters, a resident musician, and foaming steins of beer; and the Piano Bar (closed May-June and Oct-Nov), where melodies are tinkled out by visiting pianists from throughout Europe.

Bobby's Pub, in the Caspar Badrutt Shopping Gallery, via dal Bagn 50a (tel. 081/834-42-83), is everybody's favorite English-style pub, replete with faux Victoriana and beers from throughout Europe, including merry old England. A well-entrenched staple on the nightlife circuit is Vivai's Disco, in the Hotel Steffani, via Somplazt 1 (tel. 081/836-96-96). Here, despite an antique-looking entrance etched in Engadine-style line drawings, the music is contemporary and the decor is intimately lit and modern. Depending on whether there's live music, entrance costs 30F, which usually includes the first drink.

More expensive, and much more posh, are the disco and bar facilities in Badrutt's Palace Hotel, via Serlas 27 (tel. 081/837-10-00). Most visible of these is the King's Club Disco, where outsiders can mingle with the rich and famous, or more likely the wannabes, in a mock-medieval decor that reverberates with the sound of recently released dance music. Jackets and ties for men aren't required. Cover is from 35F to 45F, depending on the season and night of the week, and includes the first drink. In winter, it's open every night from 10:30pm to 3am. In summer, it's open only Friday and Saturday from 10:30pm to 3am. Quieter, somewhat less manic bars and watering holes, all of them relentlessly upscale, are scattered throughout other parts of the hotel as well.