Spa hotels in Grisons
Grisons carries the whole range of Alpine wellness: Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals, the Bogn Engiadina mineral spa in Scuol, the springs of St. Moritz and the mountain climate of Davos — carried by the famous light of the Engadin.
Holidays & wellness in Grisons
Three languages, a hundred and fifty valleys, more than six hundred mountain lakes: Grisons is the largest and most varied canton in Switzerland — and it carries the whole range of Alpine wellness, from the Roman mineral bath to the architectural temple of stone. In Vals Peter Zumthor let the Therme Vals, one of the most famous buildings of modern spa culture, grow into the slope; in Scuol more than twenty mineral springs feed the Bogn Engiadina spa; in St. Moritz bubbles one of the oldest known healing springs in Europe. Add the second Grisons speciality: altitude. Davos lies at 1,560 metres as the highest town in Europe, and its mountain climate once carried the lung sanatoriums of Thomas Mann's “Magic Mountain”. Above it all stands the light of the Engadin — that clear, high brightness that drew painters such as Giovanni Segantini here. In Grisons wellness means: mineral, altitude and wide open space.
What this region stands for
- Architecture spas (Therme Vals)
- Mineral spa (Bogn Engiadina Scuol)
- Mountain climate (Davos)
- Spring and winter-tourism tradition (St. Moritz)
- Engadin light & hiking
- Rhaetian Railway (UNESCO World Heritage)
Why wellness here?
The wellness profile of Grisons rests on two Alpine pillars: water from the mountain and altitude itself. The mineral and thermal tradition is exceptionally dense. In Scuol in the Lower Engadin more than twenty mineral springs surface; the Bogn Engiadina uses them for a bathing and sauna complex with brine pool and a Roman-Irish bath and is recognised by the Federal Office of Public Health as a medically run spa. In Vals the Therme Vals built by Peter Zumthor draws from the valley's only thermal spring and has counted since 1996 as an icon of spa architecture — quartzite, steam and light joined into a walk-in total work of art in stone. In St. Moritz the carbonated Mauritius spring has been used for more than three thousand years; the resort also counts as the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism (1864). The second pillar is the mountain climate. Davos at 1,560 metres was the European centre of the altitude cure against tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries — Thomas Mann set it a monument in his “Magic Mountain” —; today the low-stimulus, low-allergen mountain climate carries wellness and respiratory programmes. All of it is opened up by the Rhaetian Railway, whose Albula and Bernina lines have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2008, and framed by the Swiss National Park, the country's only one, in the Lower Engadin.
When to travel here
Summer (June to October): the high time of the Engadin — clear light, hikes over the lakes of Sils and Silvaplana, the Swiss National Park, the passes and the panoramic lines of the Rhaetian Railway. The mountain climate is especially mild and low-stimulus in summer. Winter (December to April): St. Moritz, Davos, Arosa, Flims-Laax and the other Grisons areas are among the classic Swiss ski addresses — wellness as après-spa after a day on the pistes. The mineral and thermal baths (Vals, Scuol) run all year and are a high point especially in the cold season.
Sights and anchors for the spa-free day
Therme Vals (7132)
Peter Zumthor's thermal bath of Vals quartzite, opened in 1996 — a walk-in total work of art of stone, water, steam and light, fed from the valley's only thermal spring. An icon of modern spa architecture, celebrated worldwide.
Bogn Engiadina Scuol
The mineral spa in the Lower Engadin, fed from more than twenty mineral springs — with brine pool, a Roman-Irish bath and an extensive sauna landscape. Recognised by the Federal Office of Public Health as a medically run spa.
St. Moritz
Birthplace of Alpine winter tourism (1864) and site of one of the oldest healing springs in Europe: the carbonated Mauritius spring has been used for more than three thousand years. A fashionable high-altitude resort at the foot of the Upper Engadin lake plateau.
Davos — the highest town in Europe
At 1,560 metres, once the European centre of the altitude cure against tuberculosis and the literary setting of Thomas Mann's “Magic Mountain”. The low-stimulus mountain climate carries respiratory and wellness programmes to this day; alongside a large ski and hiking area.
Rhaetian Railway (UNESCO World Heritage)
The Albula and Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railway have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2008 — a masterpiece of railway building with the Landwasser viaduct and the landscape of spiral tunnels. The Bernina Express connects Grisons with Tirano in Italy.
Swiss National Park
Switzerland's only national park, founded in 1914 in the Lower Engadin — a strictly protected high-mountain reserve with ibex, red deer and bearded vultures. Nature experience in its most original form, near the spas of Scuol.
Official tourism portals
Up-to-date information on getting there, events, opening hours and visitor's tax is available directly from the destinations.
Frequently asked questions about the region
What makes the Therme Vals so famous?
The Therme Vals was built in 1996 by Peter Zumthor from local Vals quartzite and counts as one of the most important spa buildings of modernism. Fed from the valley's only thermal spring, it stages stone, water, steam and light as a walk-in total work of art — spa culture and architecture in one. It is part of the Hotel 7132 and also accessible to day guests.
What is the Bogn Engiadina in Scuol?
The mineral spa of Scuol in the Lower Engadin, fed from more than twenty mineral springs. It offers indoor and outdoor pools, a brine pool, a Roman-Irish bath and a large sauna landscape. As a medically run spa recognised by the Federal Office of Public Health it combines recreation with a real spring tradition — including treatments recognised by health insurers.
What does the mountain climate of Davos mean?
Davos lies at 1,560 metres as the highest town in Europe. Its low-stimulus mountain climate, low in allergens and pollutants, made the resort the centre of the altitude cure against tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries — Thomas Mann set it a literary monument in “The Magic Mountain”. Today the climate is used for respiratory, allergy and wellness programmes.
Grisons or the Bernese Oberland — what is different?
Grisons: larger, further east, trilingual and more strongly shaped by mineral and thermal springs — Therme Vals, Bogn Engiadina, St. Moritz — plus the mountain climate of Davos and the famous Engadin light. Wider, quieter, with an architecture-spa tradition of its own.
Bernese Oberland: more compact, shaped by the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio and the lakes (Thun, Brienz), with Gstaad and Grindelwald as premium addresses. Both carry top hotels; Grisons has the denser spring and mountain-climate lineage.
When is the best time to travel?
June to October for the Engadin — clear light, lake hikes, the national park and the panoramic lines of the Rhaetian Railway. The mountain climate is especially mild in summer.
December to April for winter sports in St. Moritz, Davos, Arosa and Flims-Laax with après-spa. The mineral and thermal baths of Vals and Scuol run all year and are a high point in winter.
Grisons — spa hotels & holidays
Water from the mountain — from Rome to Zumthor
The spa tradition of Grisons reaches from antiquity into the architectural present. In Scuol more than twenty mineral springs surface and feed the Bogn Engiadina, a spa recognised by the Federal Office of Public Health with brine pool and Roman-Irish bath. In Vals Peter Zumthor fitted the Therme Vals of local quartzite into the slope in 1996 — a total work of art in stone that has shaped modern spa culture worldwide. And in St. Moritz the carbonated Mauritius spring has been used for more than three thousand years. Three epochs of healing-water culture, in the small space of Grisons.
Altitude as a remedy — Davos and the Magic Mountain
The second Grisons speciality is altitude itself. Davos, at 1,560 metres the highest town in Europe, was once the centre of the altitude cure against tuberculosis; Thomas Mann immortalised the sanatorium world in his “Magic Mountain”. The low-stimulus mountain climate, low in allergens and pollutants, is the basis of respiratory and wellness programmes to this day. The mountain world is opened up by the Rhaetian Railway, whose Albula and Bernina lines have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2008 — and over everything lies the clear Engadin light that Segantini already painted.