Pontresina vs St. Moritz vs Davos, hiking & biking

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    30 September 2018 at 14:17:24 #818551

    We’ll be traveling to this area June of 2019 from Varenna, staying for 2 nights and then heading to Zermatt via Glacier Express. We’ll be traveling with our 12 and 13 year old and love to hike, mountain bike, etc. Was wondering which of these three areas would be best to use as our base and any suggestions for great outdoor experiences while in the area? Thanks so much- just having trouble deciding which town would be best for our stay

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    30 September 2018 at 21:39:06 #897047

    Pontresina is a good bet. Prettier than Davos, close to St Moritz but less glitzy and somewhat cheaper. Pontresina and St Moritz are the better places to start the Glacier Express journey to Zermatt

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    1 October 2018 at 6:17:22 #897048

    Hi Bjcm12 and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    Be sure to read through out Graubünden regional page here: http://www.myswissalps.com/gr aubunden – it should help you narrow down your search. All 3 towns I think are nice, however I might lean to Davos (http://www.myswissalps.com/da vos) for downhill mountain biking.

    You can connect onto the Glacier Express from there as well (just a little extra time needed). http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress/gettingth ere

    Do note a rail pass can be very advantageous for travel in Switzerland. http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses
    Generally no reservations are needed on any trains (except the Glacier Express and other panoramic trains – http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain otherwise you can often just hop on and go.

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    1 October 2018 at 23:46:45 #897049

    Depends on what you’re looking for. To my mind, St Moritz is the domain of black Mercedes limos and haughty restauranteurs (e.g., my wife and I were denied a seat for dinner in an empty restaurant in SM, ostensibly because it was fully booked, but more likely because we walked in without having changed out of our informal hiking garb). Davos is predominantly a ski town that has grown too much and too fast. Pontresina is clearly the best of the three, and has good access to varied hiking and biking opportunities. But, even that lacks the charm of the smaller locales in the Engadine, such as Scuol or Guarda, although the latter are a bit more remote from other parts of Switzerland.

    NTL

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