In response to growing demand to spend autumn holidays in St. Moritz, more and more hotels and restaurants in town and in
the Engadin are extending their opening days. The recently opened Grace La Margna Hotel – the first five-star hotel in the area – welcomes guest 365 days a year, the Suvretta House remains open until 22 October 2023, and the Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina goes right into the winter season without ever closing its doors. Autumn thus becomes a third exciting season in St. Moritz.
A visit to a gallery or museum is perfectly complemented by an enchanting autumn stroll through the streets of old St. Moritz. As well as galleries featuring local and alpine art, the town has also become home to branches of such world-famous art galleries as Vito Schnabel, Karsten Greve, and Hauser & Wirth. The latter, in collaboration with the Segantini Museum and the Nietzsche-Haus, will inaugurate an exhibition titled Gerhard Richter – Engadin on 16 December 2023, focusing on the 91-year-old German artist’s relationship with the Engadin and his fascination with its landscape.
The painter Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) also discovered the Engadin as a powerful source of inspiration, and indeed it had a significant influence on his life and work. His descendants still live in Maloja in the family residence with attached studio. Private tours are available on request. The “Sentiero Segantini” is a special experience for body and soul: the approximately two-hour walk leads to fourteen points of importance for the artist’s life and work. In St. Moritz itself, the Segantini Museum boasts the world’s foremost and most comprehensive collection of works by the famous symbolist.
The innovative picnic experiences organized by The Outdoors St. Moritz offer a first-class immersion in the natural environments of the Engadin. Those seeking a deeper and more relaxing immersion involving all five or six senses might choose forest bathing in the magical Stazerwald, a guided walk through the forest with the accent on observation, perception, and discovery. Mindfulness and stress relief are the focus of the sound healing classes at The Beat, a fitness studio in the centre of St. Moritz.
The presence of great poets, thinkers, and artists can be seen and felt everywhere in the Engadin. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) spent seven summers in the Nietzsche-Haus in Sils Maria. The 200-year-old house now houses an exhibition focusing on the philosopher’s life and work and organizes art and literary events. Val Fex opens just a few steps beyond the village square. With automobile traffic limited strictly to residents, it is a paradise for hikers, mountain bikers, or those simply seeking a pleasant and peaceful alpine stroll. Higher up the Engadin, Pensiun Aldier in the village of Sent contains a museum dedicated to Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) from Bregaglia with the world’s largest collection of prints by the artist. At the western edge there is also a 23,000-square-metre sculpture garden “Parkin Not dal Mot”, owned by the local artist and writer Not Vital (b. 1948). Meanwhile, visitors can enjoy contemporary art at Muzeum Susch, which opened in 2019 as a place for discussion, innovation, and experimentation.
