Savognin is a quiet village in the Surses valley of Graubünden, surrounded by mountains and largely overlooked by the international tourist crowd heading for St. Moritz an hour to the south. That is part of its appeal. The ski area is mid-sized — about 80 kilometres of runs, mostly red and blue — and family-friendly, with none of the glitz or the prices of the Engadin resorts.
The village sits at 1,200 metres in a wide, sunny valley with Romansh-speaking communities on either side. The Church of Son Martegn just above town has medieval frescoes worth a look. In winter, the skiing is solid if not spectacular: well-groomed pistes, reliable snow, and short lift queues. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails follow the valley floor.
In summer Savognin is a hiking base. Parc Ela, Switzerland's largest nature park, surrounds the village, and trails lead up to alpine lakes, over passes into the Engadin, and through larch forests that turn gold in October. The Julier Pass road, which has been a trade route since Roman times, climbs south from the valley and offers one of the most scenic drives in eastern Switzerland.