A weekend in the Engadin
The Engadin, or Engadine, is a high Alpine valley region in the canton of Graubünden. You most probably have heard of St Moritz – the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism – but St Moritz is only one of the many places the Engadin has to offer, in summer and in winter.
It’s June. We arrived in the Engadin by train on the famous Albula line. After checking in to our hotel in Sils Maria we decided to take advantage of the evening sun for a stroll through the Val Fex, a picturesque side valley of the Upper Engadin starting just next to our hotel.
The next day we started with a train ride on the world-famous Bernina line.
The Albula/Bernina line has UNESCO World Heritage status and is a beautiful panoramic route, with great views of mountains, glaciers and lakes. The Bernina line goes all the way to Tirano in Italy, but we left the train at the highest point of the route – the Ospizio Bernina (2,253m).
From the Ospizio Bernina we hiked to the Alp Grüm, and its Belvedere Restaurant with a beautiful view over the Val Poschiavo and towards
the Italian Valtellina, it is just over one hour and mostly flat so anyone can do it!
In summer you get a free public transport ticket when you stay more than one night in participating accommodations which includes most cable cars and a vast train and bus network, so we decided to take even more advantage of this ticket.
From Alp Grüm we hopped back on the train to Diavolezza, from where we took the cable car up to the mountain station Diavolezza for a lunch stop overlooking the highest peak of the Eastern Alps: the Piz Bernina, as well as an impressive glacier landscape.
Back in the Bernina valley, we were lucky to catch a train with a panoramic roofless wagon. Super fun (although a bit loud)!
We made a quick stop in Pontresina before hopping off the bus at
Silvaplana and strolling back to our hotel along Silvaplana lake, watching the kitesurfers enjoy the famous Maloja wind.
On Sunday before heading back on the train to Chur, we took the Signalbahn up to the Corvatsch area and hiked down the picturesque Schellenursli path telling the story of the famous Engadin boy, accompanied by beautiful wood-carved figures depicting scenes from the kids book.(Find more details about this and other kid-friendly hikes here)
This was another great weekend in the beautiful Engadin, but there is still so much more to do and see. We’ll be back in winter to enjoy the valley on skis.
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