Pontresina sits at the mouth of two glacial valleys on the Upper Engadin, and the village has been a mountaineers' base since the nineteenth century. The first ascent of Piz Bernina, the highest peak in the eastern Alps at 4,049 metres, was made in 1850 by a Graubünden surveyor, Johann Coaz, and the village grew rich guiding foreigners up the neighbouring summits. Old photographs of men in woollen coats and hobnailed boots, roped together on a glacier, still hang in the cafes.
The setting is the thing. A small, tidy village of old stone houses and newer hotels lies on a terrace in the sun, in a broad valley of larch and pine, and behind it the Roseg and Morteratsch valleys lead toward the glaciers. A flat road follows the Roseg valley to a restaurant at its head, and in summer horse-drawn carriages carry visitors along it. The Morteratsch glacier, a tongue of ice that has been shrinking for a century, can be reached by a short walk from the railway station, with markers along the path showing where the front stood in earlier years, a sobering sequence.
Pontresina is the foot of the Bernina Pass road, one of the most scenic routes in the Alps, and for riders it is the natural start of the climb. The road leaves the village and rises in broad bends through larch forest, with views back over the valley, before reaching the high lake country, where the Bernina railway runs beside the road for much of the way. The surface is smooth, the bends are open, and traffic is moderate, though it can be heavy in summer. In winter the pass is kept open and the road is a popular route to Italy.
The village is also known for its sun. The Engadin has a dry and bright climate, and Pontresina has a reputation for blue skies, even when other parts of Switzerland are in cloud. The air at this altitude, about 1,800 metres, is thin and clear, and temperatures drop rapidly at night. The Romansh language is spoken here as well as German, and the names on the old houses reflect a long history of bilingual living.
There are plenty of cafes and restaurants in the village, and the local speciality is Bündner Gerstensuppe, a thick barley soup, followed if you can manage it by a slice of Nusstorte. Fuel is not as easy as in a larger town, so check the tank, and consider Samedan, a short ride away, or St Moritz, which has more stations. Parking for motorcycles is available near the station and the old village.