Trip report St. Moritz July 2016

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    22 July 2016 at 13:52:57 #809740

    Hello everyone

    We are now in Thun in the holiday apartment.

    Our week in St. Moritz was great and we can thoroughly recommend the hotel we stayed in – Waldhaus am See which as its name suggests is right by the lake – our room had a fabulous view across the lake, the staff were very friendly and helpful throughout.

    The first day was spent exploring, by walking right round the lake, stopping to look inside the catholic church and later to have lunch in the sailing club’s restaurant, then we went up to Dorf and visited the tourist office there. The weather had been showery but by teatime turned to heavy rain, then in the evening to snow!

    We woke next morning to find a layer of snow. We decided to take the train to Tirano – we hadn’t reserved seats so were going to use the regional train but the station personnel told us there were coaches at the front of the BEX with unreserved places and to use them. This meant we were treated to a commentary over the train’s tannoy and stopped for a photo opportunity at Alp Grum. The first part of the journey was like a winter trip with the snow everywhere but when we reached Tirano it was warm and sunny! A strange but very enjoyable day. After exploring Tirano, having lunch and visiting a couple of churches we returned on a regional train to St. Moritz.

    The next day was a bit cloudy and windy so we took a bus to Maloja and walked through the forest to the Belvedere Tower from which there were good views and which has an interesting display on each floor as you climb to the top of the tower. After lunch we took a bus to Sils where we were lucky enough to have chosen the day of a large craft market so we spent quite a long time there before returning to St. Moritz.

    Blue skies and sunshine greeted us next morning so we went to Diavolezza – there was quite a lot of fresh snow up there so we didn’t try any of the trails but simply enjoyed the views. After a while we went by bus to Pontresina and from there to Muottas Muragl by bus then funicular. Again some spectacular views. We had an excellent lunch in the restaurant then Mike went exploring on a short trail while I sat and stared! And took photographs of course. On returning to the hotel, Mike walked round the lake again! Another very enjoyable day.

    I was a little tired next day so stayed by the hotel, enjoying view across the lake from the terrace, while Mike went by train to Scuol-Tarasp where he took a bus to Tarasp and walked up to visit the castle which he found fascinating (I probably would have found the 25min walk uphill a bit much!).

    For our final day again the sun shone – we went by funicular to Chantarella and walked Heidi’s Blumenweg (flower trail) a nice easy walk – flowers and views, beautiful, then back to the funicular via Heidi’s hut. The second funicular took us up to Corviglia where we had lunch before taking gondola up to Piz Nair. Yet more great views and photo opportunities! After a while up there (yet another ice-cream enjoyed) we returned to St. M. Dorf and as it was a bit early to return to hotel, we took bus to St. M. Bad and the gondola up to Signal for a short visit. After all, it didn’t matter how many buses and mountain transports we used as they were all covered by the Engadine pass given to us by the hotel.

    We settled our bill that evening and were given 2 bottles of wine because we paid cash! We made arrangements for the hotel shuttle bus to take us to the station early next morning to send our luggage ahead by express transit to pick up in Thun that same evening. Back to hotel for breakfast then back to station to catch Glacier Express to Brig. The journey was lovely and there was an interesting commentary available using earphones. We ordered a snack at lunchtime, served at our seat. We had to rush like mad to catch our connecting train in Brig only for it to be delayed for 20 minutes so we needn’t have dashed! On arrival in Thun, we bought a few essentials in the Co-op across the road from the station, before collecting our suitcases from the luggage counter. Our host kindly came to pick us up from the station and help carry everything up to the apartment which was very welcome after a long day.

    Splitting our time between St. Moritz and Thun makes it feel like 2 separate holidays!

    I will try to attach a few photos from our time in St. Moritz.

    All the best

    Maggie and Mike

    Yes Annika, we like the Engadine very much – we may just have to come back next year!!

    By the way, I answered one of my own questions from earlier – it is fine to order food and drink on the Glacier Express if you haven’t reserved lunch!

    We sent 2 big cases ahead to Thun by same day express delivery – 12chf per case plus 30 chf express – total 54chf – very efficient and worth it as our transfer in Brig had it left on time would have been a problem.

    Maggie

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    Annika
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    23 July 2016 at 18:21:50 #854472

    Hi Maggie!

    Thanks for such an extensive trip report about your week in the Engadine! So you finally got to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of St. Moritz and some of the region’s highlights. I’m happy to hear the both of you liked it that much and feel a return trip may be worth it. The Upper Engadine is very different from the Bernese Oberland, but attractive in its own way. In any case it’s less touristy and quieter in summer – in most cases though. The Bernina Express can be crowded, but I’m glad to hear you were still able to get some unreserved seats. And indeed, the varying scenery during this train ride is impressive. The pictures you’ve attached are great. I especially like the snowy landscape surrounding Alp Grüm. It’s quite special for summer months.

    So you’re still in Thun now? If so, I hope you’ll have a wonderful 2nd part of your holiday!

    Removed user
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    23 July 2016 at 20:00:33 #854473

    Hi Annika,

    Glad you liked the pictures. We had just 3 days in St. Moritz on our first trip to Switzerland in 2001 as part of a 3 centre package tour – we were novice travellers in those days so a package seemed a sensible way to go! On that trip we had visited Maloja, Silva Plana and Sils on one day, Zuos, Zernez and Scuol on another and Piz Corvatsch on the third so were aware there was a lot more to explore. We went this time with a long list which of course was too long even for a week which is why we are considering a return! It was very quiet there as you say apart from the last couple of days when hundreds descended on the lake area for Swiss Orienteering Week!

    We are now settling down in Thun – we are here till 9th August so no need to rush about to pack everything in – just as well as the weather is a bit unco-operative just now! Showers were forecast for today and it was too cloudy for mountain trips so we just took advantage of our travel passes to take the scenic route to Montreux via Zweisimmen. We just stayed long enough for a stroll by the lake and the inevitable ice-creams and returned via Lausanne and Bern. Most of the showers luckily happened while we were in a train so we didn’t get too wet!

    More later,

    Maggie

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    24 July 2016 at 16:50:20 #854474

    Hi Maggie,

    Thank you for your trip report and lovely photos – I enjoyed reading it! Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

    Alpenrose

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    26 July 2016 at 3:52:28 #854475

    Hi Maggie, Thank you for the nice trip report and great pics, I noticed you had to pay 12chf per case plus 30 chf express, why is that extra 30 ? I thought for transferring each suitcase is only 12chf from one station to another station. Chandra

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    26 July 2016 at 9:52:11 #854476

    Hi Chandra,

    Yes it is 12chf per suitcase, but we wanted to drop off in the morning in St. Moritz (between 8 and 8.30 a.m.) and pick up the same evening in Thun by 18 p.m. so paid extra 30chf for this express same day delivery. We decided to do this rather than take it with us on the journey as we had a tight connection in Brig and also had carry on bags, a laptop bag and camera bags to cope with!

    I don’t know how long the “normal” 12chf transfer takes but it wouldn’t have been same day delivery on our rather long route which is why we went for express.

    Best wishes

    Maggie

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    27 July 2016 at 0:58:30 #854477

    Thank you Maggie for the reply, we are planning the same would like to transfer the luggage from interlaken west to Lucerne (want same day since these two stations are not far apart, hope they don’t ask extra 30chf). The plan is to drop off baggage at interlaken, then go to Brig and catch glacier express , get down at chur, then return back to Lucerne in the evening and collect the baggage at Lucerne..Thanks

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