Pure driven snow, luxurious hotels, events as good as the champagne is dry, and all topped with a layer of enchanting history, there are plenty of reasons why people should visit St. Moritz. Now, TIME has named the Swiss ski resort as one of the world’s greatest places for 2023.
“The Swiss Alps are literally hotter than ever,” joked Adam Robb of TIME. In their annual ranking of the world’s greatest places to visit, the alpine resort of St. Moritz was one of the 50 locations selected by the magazine for 2023.
Arguably the oldest ski resort in the world, St. Moritz was joined by bucket list fillers from across the globe such as Barcelona, Aqaba, Kyoto and the island of Sylt in Germany. However, instead of focusing on the pristine mountains, Glacier Express or the exciting ski and snowboarding pistes, TIME's attention was largely focused on the many prestigious events held in the Engadine each year.
“There’s never been more to experience in less time, as traditions old and new pack late winter weekends when the ice sheet spanning Lake St. Moritz is at its firmest," Robb wrote. The glitzy White Turf horse races, ICE vintage car show and gourmet festival were all mentioned as highlights of the town’s calendar.
Along with the events, TIME also praised St. Moritz for its stunning 19th-century palace hotels - originally constructed to cater for the British tourists that would go on to make the resort famous. Some of the hotels mentioned included “the Carlton, which also offers [the gourmet festival’s] most intense hangover cure: Ice bathing. In February, Nomad Circle’s travelling art show makes its new home at Grace La Margna, St. Moritz’s newest five-star hotel," Robb cooed.
What’s more, the fun doesn’t end when the weather turns and the snow melts, with TIME noting that the local lake presents an excellent opportunity for sailing, swimming and hiking during the summer. Finally, the town’s famous music festivals, nightclubs and bars were all mentioned to cap off a review that was bountiful in its praise for the alpine resort.
Want to see which other locations made it into the TIME list? Check out the official website.