Piz Nair Corviglia • Mountain Peak Views & Lake Hike

Piz Nair is a tall mountain peak above St. Moritz in southeastern Switzerland. It is accessible with a cable car, so non-hikers can enjoy the views without all the work. At the top, you’ll find a restaurant where you can enjoy a meal with a view. Many make the very short climb to the tallest rocky point for even nicer views for only the tiniest amount of work. 

You can ride back down or optionally hike to the middle station, along a unique rocky landscape, visiting Lej Alv, a beautiful bright blue reservoir. This area is also popular with mountain bikers that speed down the steep dirt trails with abandon. Piz Nair is a great addition to any visit to the St Moritz Engadin region.

See more of the best Swiss viewpoints for non-hikers

Overview of Piz Nair

The Piz Nair mountain is located in the Engadin St. Moritz region in southeastern Switzerland. This area is easily accessible by car or train.

Here is the summer map for the Piz Nair Corviglia area. To reach Piz Nair, you ride a funicular from St. Moritz to Chantarella, then to Corviglia. Then transfer to a large cable car to Piz Nair. 

Trail Map

The trails in this area are mostly used by mountain bikes. But the hike we did from Piz Nair to Corviglia was much nicer than we expected, even though the path was partially shared with bikes. The trail leads down the rocky mountain to a large reservoir, that has picnic areas and a path around the water. The trail ends at the Corviglia middle station where you’ll find a couple restaurants.

Shorter option: From the Corviglia middle station, there is an easy 3 km path to and around the Lej Alv reservoir. It is suitable for strollers. See trail map.

Getting to Piz Nair

The mountain transport starts in St. Moritz at the funicular – Via Stredas 14, 7500 St. Moritz. 

By car: Drive to St Moritz and park in town. The closest parking garage is Parkhaus Quadrellas at Straglia Serletta, 7500 St. Moritz.

By public transport: Take a train to St Moritz and walk up 900m through the village to the funicular station as shown below. Or you can take a bus from the train station to St. Moritz, Schulhausplatz, which is close the funicular.

Tickets for the mountain transport

You can purchase tickets for the mountain transport at the funicular station in St. Moritz. You can buy a round trip ticket for the full journey from St. Moritz to Piz Nair or individual sections if you plan to hike. Make sure to inform the ticket office of your plans so you don’t over pay.

In summer 2021, a round trip ticket to Piz Nair costs CHF 69/adult, discounts for youth and children, under 6 free. No discounts for SBB GA, Half-fare cards or Junior cards. See current prices here.

Transport to Piz Nair is free with the Engadin Mountain Railways Inclusive pass, which is free if you stay overnight in one of the 100 participating hotels or other accommodations. Piz Nair is also included in the Engadin hiking pass which you can purchase for 2-6 days. For example, a 4 day pass costs CHF 173/adult. 

Operating times

The mountain transport to Piz Nair is open for summer season from late June through mid-October. It may close due to bad weather. The mountain transport runs daily. The first ascent on the funicular is 8:20. The last descent from Piz Nair is 16:45. Check current operating times.

Photo story

Riding up to Piz Nair

From St Moritz you ride two funiculars up to Corviglia at 2486m.

At Corviglia, you transfer to a cable car to ride up to Piz Nair. We’ll end our hike here later.

It’s a large open cable car. Many people bring their bikes in here.

Looking up to the Piz Nair peak.

Looking down to Corviglia from Piz Nair.

Exploring the top of Piz Nair

At the top of the cable car, you’ll find a restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating, a gift shop and WC.

There is a short wander up to the peak as shown here. You should do it.

View from the very top.

View northwards

View down to St Moritz and Silvaplana.

View down to the lake where we will hike to soon.

Starting the trail down

The trail starts on the mountain bike path. They go really fast, so stay to the side and listen for bikes and quickly get out of the way.

I was skeptical at this point. The trail did not look very nice.

But it got much better very quickly. At this point, the footpath leaves the bike trail.

Follow signs to Lej Alv, which is the lake ahead.

The trail gets more rocky as you go.

Lots of yellow flowers in this section. Watch the trail markers carefully – we lost the path a couple times.

And then more grassy.

Visiting the lakes

First you reach the little lake shown here, which collects run off from the dammed reservoir above.

Here’s a view of the lake from the dam.

Follow the trail up the dam to reach the large reservoir.

I don’t think you’re supposed to swim in the reservoir – it’s freezing cold, so I don’t think you’d want to anyway. So instead they have provided a small splash pool if you want to cool off.

There is a gravel path around the lake. This part is possible with all-terrain strollers. Instead of hiking down from Piz Nair, you can start at the middle station Corviglia and follow a wide easy path to this reservoir then walk around it.

Looking back up to Piz Nair on the other side of the lake.

A little civilized, but still so beautiful.

Ending at Corviglia middle station

Now follow signs to Corviglia, where you can catch the funicular down to St Moritz.

At Corviglia, there is a cafe with outdoor seating.

Instead, we chose to walk up to the alpine hut just above Corviglia, about 10 mins. Good decision. You can take the narrow footpath or follow the service road which is suitable for strollers.

Much nicer atmosphere from the alpine hut. Food was good too!

Lounge chairs for lazy days.