St Moritz: A Summer family break to the Swiss Alps

St Moritz is best known as a backdrop for James Bond films and the winter resort for superstars, from Marlene Dietrich to Madonna.

But outside the skiing season, when even your salupettes have to be Chanel,
the Swiss alps become surprisingly affordable. In fact, they¹re the ideal
family destination, full of the possibility for gentle adventures in the
mountains. We rambled, mountain biked and took cable cars with no crowds. We
may not have been the Princesses from Monaco - St Moritz winter devotees -
but we felt like royalty.

St Moritz, now famed for break a leg sports, was founded as a place to
recuperate in the healing spring. We stayed at the original hotel for these
19th century healthseekers, the vast Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains, where
ski-obsessed celebrities would normally have been occupying the luscious
suites. But in the summer, the clientele is other families and the hotel
gears up to take children.

St Moritz is also the home of one of the most famous fictitious kids, Heidi.
We walked up to her wooden hut and followed the Heidi Flower trail, looking
out for the elusive edelweis. And my family found fondue the most
child-friendly food, not for its taste but its theatrical elements. The
five-year-old twins loved all the dipping and dripping.

For five days, we lived like movies stars in the mountains, at a fraction of
the celebrities cost. And think of all the money we saved on kitting out the
kids with salupettes.

Dea Birkett
May 2007

Useful information about St Moritz:


We ate chestnut puree cakes and Swiss chocolate at Confiserie Hanselmann.
We watched On Her Majesty¹s Secret Service to see all the stunts filmed in
St Moritz.
We stayed at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains

See Take the Family's Switzerland destination guide.