The Alps in Summer: St. Moritz, the Engadine and Austria's High Tauern

Summer in the Alps means long days, open passes, wildflowers in the high meadows and lakes warm enough to swim in lower down. This guide covers three areas we like to combine in July and August: St. Moritz and the Engadine in Switzerland, the Hohe Tauern and the Grossglockner road in Austria, and Schloss Elmau just over the border in Bavaria. For the country pages, see Switzerland and Austria, and for every hotel we use, our Europe list.

St. Moritz and the Engadine

The Engadine is a long, high valley in Graubünden, running northeast from the Maloja Pass toward Austria. Around St. Moritz it is a chain of lakes, larch forests and villages at about 1,800 meters, with the Bernina massif to the south. Evenings are cool even in high summer, so pack a warm layer.

Badrutt's Palace in Summer

Badrutt's Palace has been the grand hotel of St. Moritz since 1896 and is still owned by the Badrutt family. It opens for two seasons a year. Summer 2026 ran from 5 June to 7 September, and the hotel has announced summer 2027 for 4 June to 6 September. Outside those dates and the winter season it is closed, so a trip in late May or late September needs a different hotel.

In summer the hotel arranges most of what the valley offers: hiking and biking from the door, sailing and paddleboarding on the lake, kitesurfing on Lake Silvaplana, golf, riding, rafting and guided glacier walks near the Bernina. There are tennis and padel courts on site and a kids and teens program.

Hiking

The trails are very well marked, and many hotels in the valley include a summer pass for the main Upper Engadine lifts, so ask when you book. Some walks we suggest:

• Muottas Muragl: the funicular, the first in the Engadine, dates from 1905 and climbs to 2,456 meters. From the top, the Philosophers' Path is an easy walk with a view over the lakes to the Bernina.
• Val Fex: a quiet side valley above Sils, with easy walking through meadows and forest, horse-drawn carriages if you would rather ride, and a few old mountain hotels for lunch.
• Morteratsch Glacier: a gentle walk up the valley to the glacier snout from Morteratsch station, with posts along the path marking where the ice reached in past years.

The Bernina and Glacier Express

The Engadine has two of the most famous train rides in the Alps, and both start in St. Moritz.

• Bernina Express: runs from St. Moritz over the Bernina Pass to Tirano in Italy, about two and a quarter hours. The highest point is Ospizio Bernina at 2,253 meters, above Lago Bianco, and on the way down the train loops around the Brusio circular viaduct. The Albula and Bernina lines are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2008. It works as a day trip, or as a way to reach Lake Como with a car waiting in Tirano.
• Glacier Express: runs between St. Moritz and Zermatt in about seven and a half to eight hours, crossing 291 bridges and passing through 91 tunnels, with the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 meters as its high point. Seat reservations are compulsory, and Excellence Class adds a five-course lunch with wine and a window seat for everyone. The train takes an annual break in the autumn, which in 2026 runs from 11 October to 4 December. Use it to move between St. Moritz and Zermatt, not as a return trip.

The Swiss National Park

The Swiss National Park opened on 1 August 1914, the oldest national park in the Alps and still the only one in Switzerland. It covers about 170 square kilometers around Zernez, an hour from St. Moritz, and has the strictest protection category the IUCN assigns. You must stay on the marked trails, dogs are not allowed, and the park is closed to visitors in winter. In return you get ibex, chamois, red deer and marmots, with golden eagles and bearded vultures overhead. Start at the visitor center in Zernez, go early and bring binoculars.

Austria's Hohe Tauern

Hohe Tauern National Park covers the high ground around the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain at 3,798 meters, across the states of Salzburg, Carinthia and East Tyrol. Bearded vultures were first reintroduced to the Alps here in 1986, a story our Austria page tells.

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road

The road opened in 1935 and runs 48 km from Bruck in the Salzach valley to Heiligenblut in Carinthia, with 36 hairpin bends. It crosses the Hochtor at 2,504 meters, and a side road climbs to the Edelweiss Spitze at 2,571 meters. The best stop is Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, with views of the Grossglockner and the Pasterze, the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps. The road is a toll road and is open from early May to early November, snow permitting. In high summer, start early, before the traffic builds.

Krimml Waterfalls

At the western end of the park, the Krimml Waterfalls drop 380 meters in three tiers, the highest falls in Austria. A path of about 4 km climbs beside them, reaching the top in about an hour and a quarter. The trail is open from May to the end of October, and the flow is strongest in early summer when the snow melts.

We do not yet have hotels in Austria on our list, but Salzburg is the natural city base for the Hohe Tauern. Hotel Sacher Salzburg, on the bank of the Salzach facing the old town, is the classic choice.

Schloss Elmau, in Bavaria

Schloss Elmau is in Germany, not Austria, in a high valley near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but it fits naturally into an Alpine summer. It is about 45 minutes by car from Innsbruck airport and about an hour and a half from Munich airport. It has about 150 rooms and suites across the Hideaway and the more private Retreat, six spas and a concert hall with well over a hundred concerts a year.

In summer the draw is walking in the Wetterstein and Karwendel mountains, swimming in Lake Ferchensee from June to September, and the hike up to King Ludwig II's mountain house on the Schachen, with its gilded Turkish Hall. It is reached only on foot, a round trip of six to seven hours, and opens from early June to early October, snow permitting. Unlike Badrutt's Palace, Elmau stays open between seasons, which makes it useful for a trip in May or early October.

Best Months

Mid-June to mid-September is the main window. Late June and July bring the wildflowers and the fullest waterfalls, and August is warmest and busiest. September is often clear and settled, though Badrutt's Palace closes early in the month. Snow can linger on the highest trails into June, and summer afternoons can bring thunderstorms, so plan the big walks for the morning.

How to Combine Them

The three areas are a few hours apart by road, so for a week we suggest two bases, with a driver for the long legs.

• Switzerland and Italy, about a week: four nights at Badrutt's Palace, then the Bernina Express to Tirano and on to Lake Como. Our guide to Italy's lakes and coasts covers the hotels there.
• Switzerland and Bavaria, about a week: four nights in St. Moritz, then a drive through the Lower Engadine and Tyrol to Schloss Elmau for three nights, flying home from Munich.
• Ten days across three countries: St. Moritz, then Elmau, then Salzburg, with a long day on the Grossglockner road and a stop at Krimml on the way.

For timing across Europe more broadly, including which mountain hotels close between seasons, read Europe in the Shoulder Season.

If you would like help planning a summer in the Alps, get in touch.