The pleasure of joining in

A good mountain address should make it easy to leave the building. That is the thread running through this Friday's edition: the connections that turn a handsome room into a useful base, and a brief visit into something closer to participation.

In Laax, the interesting announcement concerns a future walking and cycling link. In Zuoz, the weekend's singing programme offers an invitation to listen as well as to perform. In Sils Maria, a film about Nietzsche's Alpine journeys gives a Saturday afternoon a different direction. None needs to become an elaborate itinerary. One well-chosen commitment can be enough.

Our accommodation selection follows the same principle. A private apartment suits a household keeping its own hours; a hotel with a cultural programme lends a stay a ready-made rhythm. A working week calls for a separate assessment of domestic space and somewhere to concentrate. And a nature stay need not demand an expedition before breakfast.

The useful question this week is less how far away a place feels than what it lets you do once you arrive. September still has room for both solitude and company. It helps to choose deliberately.