Summer in the High Valley

The high Engadine holds glacier lakes and larch forests found in no other alpine valley, a summer landscape of rare light that few travellers ever see.

Midday. The glacier-fed lakes of the Engadine are at their brightest in strong midday light, so our advisors suggest planning the guided walk around that hour. In the summer light the water turns turquoise, and with a guide the trails stay empty of every crowd. The rest of the day can then unfold slowly: long open afternoons by the water and calm, bright evenings.

Bring light layers and good sunglasses. The high-altitude sun in the Engadine is intense, and our advisors note that both matter even on cool days. Layers suit the rhythm of the journey, from gentle guided mornings on the trails to evenings on a lakeside terrace as the valley cools and the light lingers late.

Come in summer and walk with a guide. Summer in the high Engadine is a well-kept secret, and the trails belong to those who know to come between seasons. A guide opens the quieter paths where the day's crowds never reach, whether to glacier-fed lakes or through the high larch woods, a landscape found in this valley and almost nowhere else in the Alps.

6 days. That is enough to do it without rushing. The days follow a gentle rhythm: guided mornings to glacier-fed lakes or through the high larch woods of the Engadine, long open afternoons by the water, perhaps a picnic beside a mountain tarn arranged ahead of you, and calm bright evenings on a lakeside terrace as the light lingers late. Plan walks around the strong midday light, when the lakes are brightest. Your advisor tunes the length to your calendar and pace.

As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$13,500 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.

For this summer journey, go June through September, when St. Moritz offers green valleys, warm lakes and clear summit days. It is the season when the glacier-fed lakes turn turquoise in the summer light and the larch woods of the high Engadine are at their most inviting. Summer here is a well-kept secret, and the trails belong to those who know to come between seasons. December through March is the time for pristine alpine snow instead. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your calendar.

Yes. On the Summer in the High Valley journey in St. Moritz, a picnic beside a mountain tarn can be arranged ahead of you, so everything is ready when you arrive. The water is still and the peaks are doubled on its surface. It fits naturally into the long, open afternoons by the water that follow the gentle guided mornings of an Engadine summer.

Summer evenings in St. Moritz are calm and bright. After a day on the trails, you return to a lakeside suite for an evening on the terrace as the valley cools and the light lingers late. It closes a day built on gentle guided mornings and long open afternoons by the water, the rhythm of the Engadine's secret summer, kept quiet and unhurried.

Walking the high larch woods of the Engadine means entering a landscape found in this valley and almost nowhere else in the Alps. On this St. Moritz journey the walk is arranged privately with a guide, who opens the quieter paths where the day's crowds never reach. It pairs well with gentle morning starts, leaving long open afternoons free for the water.

A private St. Moritz trip with Forest Travel is planned from around US$2,200 per person per night, before international flights. This six-day summer journey through the Engadine lakes and larch woods starts from US$13,500 per traveler, based on double occupancy. The winter journeys start higher, and suites for the frozen-lake weekends of January and February move a year ahead. The planning fee is US$250 per itinerary.

Neither is nicer in the abstract; they suit different trips. In summer, St. Moritz gives you the Engadine: glacier-fed lakes, high larch woods and valley trails that a guide keeps free of crowds. Zermatt gives you the Matterhorn and a car-free village. The two are a full day apart by train, roughly eight hours on the Glacier Express, so most travelers choose one base or plan the rail day as part of the trip.