Muottas Muragl looking over St. Moritz

Muottas Muragl is a location on the southern slopes of Blais da Muottas (2,568 m) and offers at 8,051 feet (2,454 m) the most beautiful vantage point above the lakes of Upper Engadine valley. 

Muottas Muragl is situated between the villages of Samedan and Pontresina, accessible by a funicular railway built in 1907 that takes a 700-meter climb from Punt Muragl.  At the top, there is a hotel and a panoramic restaurant. 

This photo of the hotel and restaurant (with a straight-up funicular) at Muottas Muragl is taken from another mountainous location further down the valley.

We took a bus from our hotel, passed the town center at St. Moritz Dorf then the main train station, heading in the direction of Samedan to the funicular base station (1739 m).

The track is very steep, as much as 54% gradient. There are two counterbalanced carriages that ride on the same track. When the carriages come close together, the track splits into two as a “passing loop” for both carriages to pass one another.

We did not time the ride but it felt like 10-12 minutes. The first half of the line ran entirely through a forest, the second part of the line went on open mountain pasture.

The main attraction of Muottas Muragl is the view of the Upper Engadin valley flanked by views of Piz Palü, and Piz Bernina with Biancograt.  Picturesque defined.

Renovated in 2010, the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl is the first “Plus Energy” Hotel anywhere in the Alps, producing more solar energy on an annual average than the hotel itself requires. The excess energy is stored by a geothermal circuit underground. It is also CO2-neutral.

Apparently, the restaurant is not a fast-food style cafeteria typically found at summit locations. It is a gourmet restaurant which serves dinner accompanied by a spectacular sunset view. The funicular train runs until 11pm.

We did not bother to get anything there as it was quite crowded (not safe).

The location provides a bird’s eye view of the entire St. Moritz (above).

Unlike most of the high mountain locations, it does not provide skiing, although there are numerous Alpine hiking trails, snow shoeing trails and a toboggan-run to the station below.

There is a short loop behind the hotel that takes one to several vantage points in different directions and art. The iron sculpture (above) by Curdin Niggli, presented in 2007 to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the funicular railway, symbolises the crossing of the two railways in the middle (in Romansh “Cruscheda”).

We spotted a few hang gliders.

We encountered a herd of black Hérens cows happily relaxing behind an inconspicuous fence.  They seemed to be free to roam anywhere on the mountain. We think the fence is to prevent them from wandering into the restaurant and hotel.

Along the loop, we saw “Sine sole sileo” – the world’s most precise sundial. In winter, it can also be used as an almost equally precise moondial.  Its unique construction makes it possible to read the time to an accuracy of an incredible 10 seconds.

«Il Guot» – Romansh for «the drop» – is a unique work of art created by Timo Lindner to mark the centenary of the funicular railway. The drop, which is made of natural stone and mortar and coated in white marble, symbolises water in all its various forms, from rain to ice to snow.

It was a really nice sunny windless day with comfortable temperatures. R & R at high altitude.