St Moritz: The Swiss Resort a 19th-Century Bet Turned Into Europe's Original Winter Playground

St Moritz sits at around 1,822 metres in the Engadin valley of the Swiss canton of Graubünden, its lake and surrounding peaks credited with an unusually high count of annual sunshine hours that the resort has marketed since the 19th century. The town's status as a winter destination traces back to a specific, well-documented wager: in 1864, hotelier Johannes Badrutt bet a group of departing English summer guests at his Kulm Hotel that the Alpine winter would be milder and sunnier than they expected, offering to cover their travel costs if they were disappointed. They returned, reportedly stayed on for weeks, and St Moritz is widely credited as the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism as a result.

An Olympic pedigree unmatched by its size

St Moritz remains the only town of its modest size to have hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1928 and 1948, a legacy that still shapes its winter sports infrastructure, from its bobsleigh and skeleton tracks to its ski areas across Corviglia and Corvatsch.

The Cresta Run's closed circle

The Cresta Run, a natural ice skeleton track first built in 1884 and rebuilt fresh in ice every winter, is operated by the private St Moritz Tobogganing Club, whose membership has long drawn European aristocracy and international business figures alongside amateur racers, and which has kept access to the run deliberately exclusive for more than a century.

The grand hotels

Badrutt's Palace Hotel, opened in 1896 by the same hotelier family behind the original wager, remains the town's most storied address, its turreted silhouette on the lakeshore a fixture of St Moritz's identity, alongside Suvretta House, set apart from the town centre in its own private grounds. Both have anchored the resort's reputation as a winter base for Europe's wealthier and more discreet travellers for well over a century.

Traveller tips

• Zurich and Milan Malpensa are the nearest major international airports, with a road or rail transfer of around three hours.
• The Glacier Express and Bernina Express both link St Moritz to other Swiss and Italian towns on some of the region's most scenic rail routes.
• December to March is peak ski season; summer is quieter and suits hiking around the surrounding lakes.
• The Cresta Run is open to paying visitors for single runs during its winter season, separate from full club membership.