MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial July trip to Engadine – based in Sils Maria?
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Hi–
I’m still working to finalize our trip to the Engadin Valley in July.
So far my plan is to take the train from Zurich to St. Moritz where we will be picked up by Waldhaus Hotel in Sils Maria and stay for 3 nights.
I was going to find another town to stay in the lower region since we have 6 nights total, but the more I look (and think of having to take the train back to Zurich to then fly home to London), I’m wondering if it makes sense to just stay in Sils Maria and do day trips from there or is that a waste of an opportunity to stay in another location? The more I research, the more unsure I become. I would love to hear if there are “not to be missed” areas that we should definitely see.
Also, if we are just planning to stay in the Graubunden region, does it make sense to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass?
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your advice/experience.
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Hi Ivykim,
It’s perfectly ok to use Sils Maria as the base for your entire trip in the Engadine. In summer Sils Maria is a wonderful starting point for many hikes and boat trips on Lake Sils. You can also easily travel to St Moritz and plan day trips around the region with the Rhaetian Railway. Lots of sightseeing options here: http://www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz/activities
If you’re only travelling in the Graubunden region, you might want to consider getting the Graubunden Pass. There is an option to purchase a pass for the entire canton or just the north or southern region. The pass includes urban transport in Chur, Davos, Scuol and St Moritz. You can find the details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/graubundenpass. Be sure to study the validity map: myswissalps.com/graubundenpass/validity
I hope this gets you started.
Regards,
Anna
I’ve stayed at the Waldhaus, and gone to Sils three times in the last few years. It is awesome, and definitely my favorite Swiss destination. I suggest you contact the Waldhaus and ask if they offer a free regional travel pass for guests staying multiple days. They did when I visited. Enjoy! Don’t forget to check out Val Fex, which is adjacent to the Waldhaus.
You might be better off with just the Swiss Half Fare Card or perhaps the Swiss Travel Pass Flex might be the best option. The Waldhaus will provide a free pass that is good for the local busses and cable cars and perhaps some train routes. You will just have to check its validity map. The Waldhaus concierge is available by Email and was very helpful prior to our stay there. I would recommend the half board option as the dining room and meal service was very good.
Mark
To all who have kindly replied to my post:
Anna/Maloja Snake/Mark,
I am very appreciative of your time and advice offered for our trip. We’ve booked the Waldhaus with half board and are very much looking forward to being based there for the duration. Thank you for your confident recommendations. I will be sure to report back and hope our trip details will help others in the same way you’ve helped me.
Hi IvyKim,
We visited the Engadin valley in Sept 2018 and had a wonderful trip. Let me share what we did so you can decide if you would like to do some of the activities. As that was almost 5 years ago, things may have changed eg bus schedules – pls check out the relevant websites to stay updated.
We only visited the sights around SILS and Pontresina which was more than enough without having to make long train journeys (except the one to Tirano). The other travels to the sights were by horse carriage (must do) or buses which were covered by the Engadin card – huge savings.
We based ourselves in Sils Im Maria Hotel Privata and Hotel Maria. Our hotel stay at SILS and PONTRESINA included the Engadine card which includes for local transport, mountain railways and cable cars in the entire region and for the public buses ranging as far as Soglio and Chiavenna and the Rhaetian Railway line to Pontresina, the Bernina Pass and to Alp Grüm.
Review of Hotel Privata
Review of Hotel Maria
Sil Maria is a lovely little place and hopefully will not be over run by hoardes of tourists. These are some of the activities we did which I can recommend in order of priority:
SILS MARIA:
VAL FE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE 👍🏼
http://www.sils.ch/en/your-stay/discover-sils/fex-valley.html
We chose the Coretti company and had a very friendly “driver” who came to pick us up in the carriage at our hotel. It was worth every cent as we had a 1.5hr stop for refreshments before returning back to Sils Maria. I suggest a private carriage ride if your budget allows it. This is one of the most memorable rides we have had in our travels. There was some snow on the peaks, the greenery, the open spaces…..beautiful.
There was a short 15min stop at the chapel in the middle Fex Crasta. Then proceeded further up to Fex Curtins, the end where Hotel Fex is. Make sure you go all the way to the end of the valley where Hotel Fex is. The ride was around 50mins with gorgeous views forever etched in our memories.
The most scenic part is between the middle Fex Crasta to the end Fex Curtins where Hotel Fex is. The ride allows a 1.5hr stop at Fex Hotel so we could enjoy the cafe there.
> LAKE SILS WALK –
http://www.sils.ch/en/your-stay/discover-sils/lake-sils.html
Walk From Sils: To get to the start of the path of Sils Lake, walk by the side lane towards bakery Grond and Hotel Alpenrose restaurant. Follow the sign leading to Majola & Isola. Beautiful vistas of the mts on the right and the lake in front.
The walk from our Hotel Maria to Isola was 1.5hrs. There is a WC 10mins along the path from Sils boatshed. After that it’s little uphill in some areas with lovely views of the lakeside. We stopped at Restorante Legrav in Isola for 45mins. The blueberry pie & Apple Crumble was delicious.
We then carried on to Majola boat stand. We took the 3pm boat back which reached Sils 3:30pm. A lovely boat ride. Enter the boat early to sit outside at the back. There is nothing much in the town of Maloja itself.
> CORVATSCH – 3,303metres – highly recommended. Our favourite mt.restaurant.
http://www.corvatsch.ch/en/experiences/summer/hiking/
Bus No. 6 from Sils Maria Posta. Arrive Surlej, Corvatschbahn. The bus is once an hr. The return bus is every hr mark. Eg 14:10pm.
Then ride the cable car to the Corvatsch Mittelstation Murtel middle station. Then transfer to the 2nd section to Corvatsch Bergstation
DESCENT: to the middle Murtel & down to Bergstation
BEAUTIFUL VIEWS AT CORVATSCH. One side is the glacier and the other of the lakes and alps. Wonderful cafe with views.
Rosti Veal sausage CHF 19.50, fresh ginger lemon drink, German beer.
>TO PIZ NAIR (3,057m)
Give 3.5 hrs for the whole trip from Sils.
We took BUS #2 from SILS MARIA POSTA TO ST MORITZ SCHULHAUSPLATZ. Quite a scenic ride especially when we pass Lake Silvaplana.
*At St Moritz Schulhausplatz stop, alight & Cross to the opp side of the bus stop. Walk left & turn right the stairs up to the Funicular station (St. Moritz SMBB)
At Piz Nair, there is a restaurant with great view. The Erdinger beer was bubbling. Mocha ice cream was good quality and not so sweet.
Returned by the No.2 bus at 14:39pm. The bus stop is just below the flight of stairs, coming down from the St Moritz Funicular station.
*Scan the Engadine Pass at the ticket gates.
First Funicular to Chanterella. Its small funicular with only 2-3 carriages for sitting and standing room.
*At Chanterella, scan the card to transfer to the 2nd funicular for CORVIGLIA.
*At CORVIGLIA, scan the card and take the aerial ropeway to Piz Nair.
At Piz Nair, there is a restaurant with great view. The Erdinger beer was bubbling. Mocha ice cream was good quality and not so sweet.
Returned by the No.2 bus at 14:39pm. The bus stop is just below the flight of stairs, coming down from the St Moritz Funicular station.
We would have loved to walk the lakeside at Silvaplana but missed out on that.
> WALK FROM SURLEJ MITTEL STATION TO FUORCLA SURLEJ – 1.5 hrs around 2km+ highly recommended for the views..the weather was nice during our walk. It’s out in the open so be well protected from the heat if it’s in summer.
The view of the glacier at the Cafe is awesome as its so close up. Limited drinks – tried the Rivella Swiss drink (blue label no sugar). Salami CHF 14. The walk across to Fuorcla Surle j changes in altitude by a mere 53m but involves long ups and downs.
My review:
PONTRESINA
From SILS IM MARIA, we took a bus to Pontresina and stayed at Hotel Allegra
Review of Hotel Allegra
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g198838-d233220-r625291130-Hotel_Allegra-Kloten.html
The only issue we had with Pontresina was finding a place to have our meals – it was super expensive everywhere. So we ended up frequenting a lovely italian restaurant most of the time. With Sils we chose the Half Board which made it so convenient.
> MUOTTAS MURAGL – 2456m in. 👍🏼
http://www.mountains.ch/en/mountain-adventure/muottas-muragl
From Pontresina, catch bus #1 or #2 to the Muottas Muragl Taltstation.
Ride the 15min Funicular up to the cafe. Hike to the lake.
You can also hike to Alp Languard and then ride the chair lift down to Pontresina.
> PONTRESINA TO TIRANO – Direct route 2hrs 15mins.
At the Pontresina train station ticket office, we showed our Engadine Pass and Half Fare Card. The segment from Pontresina to Alp Grum is covered by our Engadine Card). So we only paid the Alp Grum to Tirano return segment and requested for the paid upgrade of the whole trip to 1st class.
We needed to to punch the ticket at the red machine before boarding the train at Pontresina as well as leaving when Tirano. Not sure if there is still required.
> DIAVOLEZZA – wonderful views as always.
Diavolezza is situated above the villages Pontresina in the Upper Engadin. You get here with the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) or Bus 705 to Bernina Diavolezza Bahnhof in the direction of Livigno. Take the cable car up and see the Morteratsch glacier.
PDFs Summer and Panoramic Guide brochure
http://www.diavolezza.ch/en/service/summer/
I am typing this in a bit of a hurry so there is no time to include any photos at this time.
That’s what I had in my notes – perhaps I should put this in a trip report which I failed to do when I returned. As you are travelling in July, I am not sure if there will be any snow on the higher peaks – we feel that’s the icing on the view for us. The views we had in late Sept may differ depending on the time of visit. Hope you get your plans sorted out and the above helped you.
Thank you so much traveljet for sharing your trip experience in the Engadine. Much appreciated. I am sure it will help fellow forum members.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
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