Zuoz and the painted villages of the Engadin

In 1565, master mason Ulrich Curtins helped spread the sgraffito technique across the Engadin—incised patterns in fresh plaster that still script dates, crests and blessings onto the walls of Zuoz, La Punt and S-chanf. At 1,700 m, these villages line up arched portals, stables and patrician townhouses around Zuoz’s San Luzi church square. Just 15 minutes from St. Moritz, the valley opens into a patchwork of barns, grain stores and discreet studios, with Romansh phrases etched in limewash as much as spoken on stone benches.

Collected from your St. Moritz hotel, you settle into a Mercedes and let the driving fade into the background: we pause for photos, linger in galleries, sip coffee, while your chauffeur handles hairpins and parking. First stop La Punt (10 km) for its filigreed facades, then unhurried time in Zuoz on the Plaz. Continue to S-chanf, home base of the Engadin Skimarathon, and loop back via Celerina to the meadow-set church of San Gian. In St. Moritz, your private driver uses drop-offs that put you steps from the pedestrian lanes.