Switzerland | Engadine Trek
This is Switzerland with a Roman flavor.
Trip Highlights:
-
Enjoy charming country inns and pleasant hikes.
-
Practice your Romansch, an ancient language with Roman roots.
-
Hike past lush, green valleys, snow-capped peaks and tumbling glaciers.
Retreat in time to another era and a place far away: the enchanted Inn River Valley. Time forgotten 17th century villages, with their fascinating architecture, cling to the hillsides, and numerous ruins and a castle mark the valley’s importance through the medieval period and Hapsburg Empire. Above the valley the peaks of the Silvretta, Lischana, and Bernina ranges soar. This trek follows the length of the Inn River through Switzerland, from near the Austrian border to that of Italy.
Staying in the most charming villages and following a gentle to moderate route toward the south, you pass from the gentler terrain of the lower Engadine, with its flower filled meadows, to the upper Engadine, with its majestic, glaciated peaks, and the wild and dramatic Val Bregaglia and its piercing granite spires.
A flexible inn-to-inn itinerary allows for both gentler and more strenuous hiking options. Walk alongside some of the region’s sparkling meadows, and hike to a number of mountain restaurants where the views compete with the cuisine for attention. Hikers should be prepared for a week of spectacular hiking and the hospitality of Engadine innkeepers who pride themselves on their historic inns, quaint villages, and unique cultural heritage.
Throughout the week, you experience a range of accommodations, from first-class to old world hotels, and charming village inns. Favorites are the converted 17th century houses and inns along the way, our elegant hotel in Sils Maria, and our hotel in Soglio with its patio (great for dinner on a warm evening!) overlooking the Sciora range.
Trip Itinerary
Choose from our standard itinerary or customize the trek by adding or subtracting days.
Transfer to Scuol. Overnight in a charming inn in two converted 17th century patrician homes.
Ride the Motta Naluns cable car and enjoy a level walk to a beautiful summer alp called Prui. Descend into the Val Tasna and enjoy a picnic surrounded by stunning larch pine and majestic peaks. Continue to the ancient hill town turned artist colony, Guarda.
Distance: up to 12 miles. Elevation gain/loss: 1300/2970 ft.
Exit the high end of town and wander up the charming Val Tuoi. This verdant valley terminates at the Austrian border. The iconic Piz Buin towers over the head of the valley, above your destination the Chamanna Tuoi. The Chamanna Tuoi serves outstanding anf classic, fresh hut fare from its delightful location among sparkling green meadows. Return on a forested trail on the south side of the valley.
Distance: 8 miles. Elevation gain/loss: 2500 ft.
A bit of train/funicular transport takes you to your trailhead at Muottas Muragl, where you climb to the Segantini hut and enjoy the finest views of the Engadine. Overnight in Pontresina, home of the late 12th century mountain church, Santa Maria, adorned with frescoes dating from the 13th century.
Distance: up to 8 miles. Elevation gain/loss: 1500/3300 ft.
A moderately strenuous day through larch forests and high meadows provides a sensational opportunity to view the sparkling lakes of the Engadine. Have lunch at an alpine lake, the Hahnensee, followed by a spectacular lakeside walk to Sils Maria. Overnight in a grand, old world hotel.
Distance: 10.5 miles. Elevation gain/loss: 2500 ft.
While there are several options for the day, the goal is to reach the lake below the Piz Lunghin as well as the summit itself! On this route, you get to take in one of finest viewpoints of the stunning, steep terrain of the Bregaglia. Return to Sils and your elegant hotel.
Distance: up to 8.5 miles. Elevation gain/loss: up to 3540/3400 ft.
Strike out on a rough-hewn Roman road; an ancient path connecting long-deserted farming hamlets of the Val Bregaglia. The magnificent granite spires of the Bregaglia tower all around as you wind your way into Italian-speaking Soglio, one of the most beautiful and well-preserved historic villages located anywhere in the Alps.
Distance: 7.25 miles. Elevation gain/loss: 1170/2290 ft.
Typically, same day flights out of Zürich cannot be met.