MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 8 days hiking in Engadine in July with a family?
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Hello, we are a family of four (includes two teens) flying To Zurich in July and have 8 days, car-free, to spend as we wish. We love beginning/intermediate hiking in the Alps! We’ve spent our last summers in Wengen and Zermatt and explored the surrounding area from those base locations via train, gondola, cable cars, etc. We want to explore a new part of Switzerland and think the Engadin Valley is a good choice. I’d like to find a smaller village (like Wengen) from which we could do day trips and hikes. Is Pontresina a good choice? We could stay there for a few days and then go to the lower valley or somewhere else recommended since we have 8 days before we have to fly back to London (we can go through either Geneva or Zurich). I’d appreciate any advice since there seems to be many great options. Thanks so much!
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The Engadin (and the wider Canton Graubünden is my favourite area of Switzerland, especially due to having what is essentially it’s own ‘national railway’ (The Rhatische Bahn – RhB).
Pontresina is a good place to stay but if you want the true heart of the Engadin – stay in one of the smaller places along the railway line from Samedan to Scuol Tarasp. For added convenience and comfort, I recommend staying fairly close to a RhB railway station (rather than a place served only by bus) for example:
Bever, La Punt-Chamues-ch, Zuoz, Zernez, Susch, Ardez or Scuol itself.
Zernez is the jumping off point for the Ofen Pass / Pass dal Fuorn and the incredibly beautiful Swiss National Park
Everywhere in canton Graubunden can be reached easily within the day on excursions from a single location, so you don’t have to book two different hotels if you prefer to stay in one place. So you can easily get to St Moritz for a bit of glitz, and you can easily spend a day on the Bernina Railway (use local trains to hop on and off – avoid the Bernina Express)
Hi Ivykim!
Yes, the Engadine is an excellent choice for a family/hiking holiday. Please find our personal tips for hiking and other activities at https://www.myswissalps.com/upperengadine and https://www.myswissalps.com/lowerengadine.
Some of my favorite villages are Bever, La Punt-Chamues-ch and Zernez. They’re all on the main train line connecting St. Moritz in the west to Zuoz and the Lower Engadine in the east.
Pontresina can work too. You’ll have direct access to the Bernina Pass there, which is a wonderful alpine hiking area in summer. The train ride to Tirano is beautiful and can well be combined with hiking. Please see https://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress for further information.
As for your way back to either Zurich or Geneva: the most common option would be to travel to Zurich via Tiefencastel, Thusis and Chur. Maybe you could include a visit to the Albula valley, Bad Ragaz or the beautiful Walensee en route. Another route to reach Zurich would be via Susch in the Lower Engadine, Klosters and Landquart..
A journey to Geneva would be signifcantly longer. You could turn this into a 2-day scenic trip, but you’d have to give up on a hiking day in that case. You could take the Palm Express bus through the Bregaglia valley to Chiavenna and Lugano (http://www.postauto.ch/en/leisure-offers/excursion-tips/2022/palm-express). The next day, travel to Locarno and take the Centovalli railway (https://www.myswissalps.com/centovalli) to Brig. Then head further west to Geneva.
You’ll find specifics for each route in the timetable: https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.
In case you need just a bit more of traveling than 8 days, this Swiss Travel Pass promo, adding 2 free days to an 8-day pass, may be helpful: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/the-swiss-travel-pass-spring-2023-promotion.
Last year we stayed in Sils En Engadine next to Sils Maria and found it very scenic with many nice hikes close by. Val Fex and the trails off the Furtschell and Murtel lifts were especially enjoyable and scenic. We stayed at the historic Waldhaus hotel and highly recommend it. I personally didn’t much care for St. Moritz but that is a personal opinion but we did go there for lunch and a visit one afternoon which was enough for me. .
Here are some photos of hikes in the Sils area.
Mark.
Thank you so much Mark for your tips, and what beautiful photos!
Seems like the weather was perfect.
Thanks again,
Yolanda
Note the Waldhaus hotel automatically linked to my post is not the one I stayed in. We were in Sils while the link is to a hotel in St Moritz. Very different.
Mark.
Thanks for pointing that out Mark, will rectify.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Mark, thank you for your helpful response and gorgeous pictures. I am going to check out the Waldhaus based on your recommendation. I appreciate you sharing with the forum!
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