Destinations with hiking activities similar to Zermatt/Wengen
A traveler is planning their second trip to Switzerland for 10 days to 2 weeks next summer, starting in Zurich. They want to explore car-free places with great hiking, considering Appenzell, and are also curious about potential visits to Austria and Germany parts of the trip.
- Start your trip in Lucerne to take advantage of the Swiss Travel Pass, as many excursions are included.
- Stay in one town in the Engadin region, like St Moritz or Sils, for easy access to various hikes and use of the guest card for transportation.
- The Swiss Travel Pass gives discounts on mountain transport but check for local guest cards for better deals in specific areas.
- Consider hiking in the Aletsch glacier area for stunning views, easily reachable with a day trip from Lucerne.
AI-generated summary-
Hello Mark,
In regards to the photo that did come through with what I assume is your family. In 1973, when I was a wee lad, we had a family photo (family of five) taken at Schwarzee with the Matterhorn in the background. Your pic reminded me of that, as my Mom had it converted into a Christmas card that year to send out to friends. Great, great memories. That trip is what has inspired me to visit Switzerland six years ago, last year, and this year. Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories.
Regards,
Danielsan
Hello RJC
Heidiland and Pizol 5
In planning your travels bare in mind that this area is in the vicinity of Sargans, Bad Ragaz and Maienfeld. These places will be even easier to reach from the more urban parts of Switzerland when the new train timetable comes into force on December 15. In brief
The IC3 trains from Zurich to Chur (every 30-60 minutes) will continue to stop only at Sargans and Landquart
The IR35 hourly trains from Zurich to Chur will in this area now stop at Unterterzen, Walenstadt. Sargans, Bad Ragaz, Maienfeld and Landquart.
The (new) IR13 trains leaving St Gallen at 55 minutes past each hour will in this area call at Sargans, Bad Ragaz, Maienfeld and Landquart.
St Moritz or Zernez
In my previous reply 11 I suggested Zernez in the Lower Engadin That was because of its strategic location.
However in her reply 17 Alpenrose says of the Upper Engadin St Moritz area:
If you will be using mountain transport to access hikes in the Upper Engadin, make sure to choose accommodation that offers the free guest card which gives you free travel on mountain transport for the duration of your stay. Some of the best mountain transport in the Upper Engadin is not included in the Swiss Travel Pass, not even for a discount, so the free guest card is worth its weight in gold. You need to stay a minimum of 2 nights to get the guest card.
Very regrettably, the operators of the cable cars in the St Moritz area have decided that they will not give any discount to Swiss Travel Pass Holders. But if you get the St Moritz guest card you get free travel on those cable cars! I repeat Alpenrose’s comment the free guest card is worth its weight in gold. In brief, this cable cars point is an argument in favour of staying in St Moritz.
Best wishes
Roger
Alpenrose,
Thanks again for another detailed post! You really go above and beyond to help and I appreciate that:)
Your suggestion to stay at one town in the Engadin region seems like sage advice so based on that I’m planning to stay in one spot. I will continue to do my homework and make a decision accordingly.
Thanks for the hostel recommendation but they would probably kick me out after one night. I’ve been told my snoring resembles the sound of a freight train. LOL! However, I will look for a place that offers the free guest card for mountain transport. Great advice!
My trip will be in the month of August and I’m due to arrive on the 7th. Still trying to work out how much time I will spend overall but leaning towards 4 night in Lucerne, 5-6 nights in Engadin (or perhaps 4 if it’s too costly) and 4 nights somewhere close to Appenzell.
You said in an earlier post that although this is not the forum to ask questions about hiking in Austria, it might be a good place to ask about traveling to and from the country. With that being said, is Lustenau a good idea for a base to explore the Appenzell area? I’m only asking this because I have found an affordable hotel option here and it’s only 1 hour 20 minutes from Appenzell. Would the STP cover transportation to this town? It’s literally right across the border.
Thanks for all the sightseeing recommendations as well! I will have a look.
Best regards
Roger,
I’m still trying to digest all the info and now I’m looking at the differences between the lower and upper Engadin. In my limited research and understanding it appears the lower part is less touristy and rustic while the upper part is more touristy and luxurious. Can I assume the prices would reflect this difference also?
It also seems like the upper part is at a higher elevation and I would assume this means more mountain transport is necessary to access trailheads. Would you say the hikes in the lower area are easier to access without having to use mountain transport?
As far as the Appenzell portion of my trip, I think I just answered my own question I asked Alpenrose earlier about Lustenau. I asked if the STP would cover transportation to this town which is situated just across the border. Answer: looks like no according to system map. However it appears the distance from my hotel to the first bus stop right over the border is only 30 minutes. I’m curious if there is border patrol at the bridge or if I can just walk over freely?
I truly appreciate your guidance.
Thanks kindly
Hi again RJC
Lustenau station is just 2.6 kms from St Margrethen in the St Gallen Canton of Switzerland. There are local Austrian OBB trains Bregenz-Lunzenau-St Margrethen every 30-60 minutes. The ride takes just FOUR minutes. The Swiss Travel Pass will not be valid on the Austrian trains. The area is flat. There is a road. You could probably walk from Lustenau to St Margrethen
St Margrethen is a very busy little railway junction. In particular the IR13 trains I mentioned in my recent reply stop there. These trains actually run every 30 minutes St Gallen(City)-Rorschach-St Margrethen-Heerbrugg-Altstatten-Buchs-Sargans, and then (as previously indicated) every 60 minutes on to Bad Ragaz, Maienfeld, Landquart and Chur.
It is the existence of this much improved IR13 service which makes me think, ‘Lustenau, while not ideal, is OK.’ Given that you have found suitable accommodation in Lustenau in the peak holiday month of August, my advice is to go for this option.
Best wishes
Roger
Hi Danielsan
I’m glad my photos brought back some fond memories. It is my family in the photo. My wife and I are avid hikers and live in the foothills of The Great Smokey Mtns. We have hiked all over the world and found Switzerland hiking to be among the best. The middle 2 photos were of Val Fex in the first post and Corvatsch in the second post. I will attempt to repost them but with the new formatt it is hit or miss
mark
Hello RJC
Your reply 5 and my reply 6 ‘crossed in the post’.
Regarding border checks between Austria and Switzerland, USUALLY there are none. On a Swiss based holiday in April this year I crossed the Austrian border twice, and there was absolutely no sign of frontier guards. Although Switzerland is not in the European Union it is party to the ‘Schengen Agreement’, Under that agreement border controls between states are rare though not impossible. In drafting my reply six, I took ‘Schengen’ into account. I repeat that I would go for the Lustenau option.
Regarding Upper and Lower Engadin, I would stress that I am no expert either on hotel prices or hiking trails.
Both areas will have a huge number of visitors in August. The Scuol-Tarasp area of Switzerland used to be very remote, but the opening of the ‘Vereina’ railway tunnel in 1999 changed everything.
That said, the Upper Engadin area around St Moritz and Pontresina is mostly at the ‘luxury’ end of the market. I would expect hotel prices to be cheaper in the Lower Engadin.
Scuol-Tarasp station is a major transport hub for postbuses, and I would expect that some of these will take you up to hiking trails. There is also a reasonably priced cable car right by the station, And it still gives 50% discount if you have a Swiss Travel Pass.
Best wishes
Roger
Hi RJC
I would agree St Moritz is touristy and expensive which is why we avoided it (it reminds me of a hilly Zermatt) . But there are many small towns that are not as Sils(but many others as well) The trails we hiked were not crowded at all In fact much less crowded than many of the Jungfrau area trails There are lots of valley hikes in the Upper Engadine that don’t require going up the mountain (as Val Fex which we found very scenic) that being said we too used the free travel card to ride the busses and cable cars. I don’t recall having to pay for any transportation either busses or cable cars in the upper Engadine around Sils The card was free from our hotel , The Waldhaus . But I expect all the hotels will provide the card to their guests Sils is a 20-30 min bus ride from St Moritz so you can visit for lunch or dinner. We did go into St Moritz for lunch one day but quickly had our fill . Besides the food was so good at the Waldhaus we got half board and ate there for all our breakfast and dinners. We did day hikes in the area and usually traveled less than 45minutes to an hour or less to get to the trailheads. Our hikes typically lasted in the 4-7 hours range but they could have easily been shorter or longer if needed. I would say 60-70% of our hikes were high alpine and 30-40% were valley hikes. All were beautiful. I don’t think you can go wrong in the Upper Engadine. The Lower Engadine may be just as good but I don’t have any experience there so I can’t comment.
Mark
jc
Hi Alpenrose
Yes you are correct. I checked and some of the photos were in Heic format. I think I have changed them to JPEG. The photos are of Corvatsch hike, Crasta in Val Fex, Curtains in Val Fex, Fuorcla Sutlej, and Trail to Muriel. I’m afraid they are out of order from how I tried to down load them. The valley pics are self evident and the glacier is at Fuorcla.
Mark
Roger,
Nice to know border crossing should not be an issue. I realize the location is less than ideal so I will continue searching for accommodations within Switzerland to see if I can find something similarly priced. If not, Lustenau will suffice. One thing about it: the location seems pretty good for visiting Heidiland which I plan to do at least one day.
I just booked a good looking and affordable AirBnB in the town of Madulain. Looks like its right in the middle of Sils and Zernez. Only an hour from Scuol and about the same to Sils by train. I will look for hikes that don’t require mountain transportation but will not avoid it completely. Especially the area near Sils. I’ll be happy to pay for a ride up the mountain in that area.
I have decided to reverse my trip order so know it looks like this: Appenzell/Heidiland>Engadin>Lucerne. I decided this for several reasons. One, I thought that in terms of “wow factor” ending the trip with Aletsch and the area around Lucerne made more sense than starting there and ending in Appenzell. Second, Lucerne is closer to the airport so my last day will be a little less stressful. Third, after Appenzell/Heidiland and Engadin I should be tired after 8 or so days of hiking and this would be a great opportunity to catch one or more of the scenic train routes on the way to Lucerne and just have a nice relaxing day riding the rails.
Your advice has been invaluable. Thanks again kind sir.
Best regards
Mark,
All the pics came through this time and they look amazing!
I found a cheap AirBnB in Madulain but I will definitely make my way over towards Sils at least one day to do some hiking. Thanks for the inspiration and hiking suggestions!
Kind regards
Hi RJC,
In addition to the replies above, some useful links to also help with your planning:
- Visiting Aletsch Glacier: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/aletsch-glacier/
- Hiking in Switzerland: https://www.myswissalps.com/activities/hiking/
- Engadine: https://www.myswissalps.com/region/engadine/
You may want to research accommodation options too in our accommodation section – all budgets are covered, including “budget” options.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Everyone,
Thanks so much to all who replied to my post and answered my questions. The advice has been excellent and has helped me immensely planning my trip.
Just wanted to share a link to a website that I believe would be a valuable resource for anyone hiking in not only Switzerland but other places in the world as well. Not sure if folks already know about it but wanted to share. Here’s a link to the hike that Mark uploaded a photo of in one of his previous posts:
https://www.hikingwalking.com/destinations/sw/sw_engadin/st_moritz/coaz_hut
I tried to insert the link but it appears it will not allow it so just highlight to copy and paste.
This website is one of the best resources on the internet for serious hikers in my humble opinion. I have used it before for hikes in the USA but didn’t realize that there are great suggestions for Switzerland including Scuol and St Moritz on the site as well. The descriptions are very detailed and I really like the maps feature. Just click on the maps tab directly under the name of the hike and zoom in until you can see the little yellow pins. By clicking on each pin you will see a picture of that exact location along the trail. Very cool feature. Anyways, hope this is helpful.
All the best to everyone!!!
Hi RJC,
>>> How did I not know about Heidiland … This area looks awesome and I want to include this in the trip.True story: The inspiration for my first trip to Switzerland which also happened to be my first trip to Europe happened one day when my wife and I were watching Netflix. We were getting tired of watching a bunch of heavy dramas so we decided to watch something light-hearted and somehow ended up watching Heidi. Next thing I know I’m scouring the internet searching for things to do in Switzerland and that’s when my dream of visiting was born. LOL
Re Heidi, this message from some years ago might interest you:
Hope this is useful!
Alpenrose
Hi Roger,
>> Very regrettably, the operators of the cable cars in the St Moritz area have decided that they will not give any discount to Swiss Travel Pass Holders. But if you get the St Moritz guest card you get free travel on those cable cars! I repeat Alpenrose’s comment the free guest card is worth its weight in gold. In brief, this cable cars point is an argument in favour of staying in St Moritz.
RJC has now found accommodation that suits him, but I just wanted to clarify the area in which the Engadin guest card is offered by accommodation providers who choose to participate. It’s not just St Moritz, but the whole area from Maloja in the south to Brail in the north, and also around Pontresina.
Zernez is indeed outside the zone in which the Engadin guest card is offered, as it is in the Lower Engadin. The border between the Upper and Lower Engadin (which is also the language border between the Putèr and Vallader idioms of Rumantsch) is said to be at Brail, specifically at Punt Ota. In terms of getting around by public transport, it is certainly very handy as a hub though.
Hope this is of interest!
Alpenrose
Hi Alpenrose.
Very many thanks. This guest card point is not just ‘interesting’! It is of fundamental importance to anyone contemplating staying in the Upper Engadin area!
Very best wishes
Roger
Hi RJC,
>>> I’m curious if there is border patrol at the bridge or if I can just walk over freely?
I’ve never crossed the border at that point, but Google maps shows there is a border station there. From what I can see on street view, the area doesn’t look particularly pedestrian-friendly though.
Austria does have some border controls in place at present, but mainly it’s the borders with Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Czechia.
Just remember to have your passport with you though, in case a border official wants to check it. Unlikely, but who wants to get on the wrong side of a border official?!
Hope this helps!
Alpenrose
Hi Mark,
Thanks for uploading those photos again – they’re gorgeous!
Alpenrose
Hi RJC,
>>> I found a cheap AirBnB in Madulain
I’ve only been past it in the train, but it looks like a beautiful little traditional Engadin village.
It’s useful to know that Madulain railway station is “Stop on request”. There will be an announcement in the train when approaching the station (usually in Rumantsch, German and English), and you will need to press a button near the door to alert the driver to stop there.
There will probably also be a button on the platform to press when you want the next train to stop. Trains from both directions use the same platform, so there might be a separate button for each direction.
Hope you enjoy yourself there!
Alpenrose
Hi RJC,
>>> Just wanted to share a link to a website that I believe would be a valuable resource for anyone hiking in not only Switzerland but other places in the world as well.
That’s an excellent site. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t include the Pizol 5-Lake Trail, in which case you might find this link useful:
https://swissfamilyfun.com/pizol-5-lake-trail/
Hope this is of interest!
Alpenrose
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