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lower engadine - Trek |
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Hotel to
Hotel Trek in Switzerland |
The Trek
A wild natural
landscape that is the ancient castle of Tarasp, the baths of Scuol, the
Romanisch culture varying from village to village, rich in tradition but
nevertheless
innovative and modern. This is the Lower Engadine, situated on the
southern side of the Alps a valley far away from the busy tourist
routes; it is a valley ‘waiting to be discovered’. This journey is
especially enjoyable combining the beautiful timeless villages rich in
culture and tradition and with their own unique architecture and walking
high on
the valley sides with far ranging views over the alps. The local
language is Romansch, the least spoken of the four official languages of
Switzerland, but do not worry as English is widely understood.
The Walking
The high trail
on the sunny side of the valley leads through the ancient Engadine
villages of Guarda, Ardez, Sent, Vna Tschlin and Varnadi and offers
varied days of walking with
breathtaking views of the Lower Engadin Dolomiten. You need only carry
your lunch with you, as your bags will be moved onto the next hotel. The
paths are well marked as
they often cling to the side of the valley. Some walks explore far into
side valleys. Take an extra night in Scuol which gives you the
opportunity to walk in the nearby
National Park, Switzerland’s only one.
Self Guided
Our Lower Engadine trek is offered on a self guided basis. We provide full
walking notes and all the relevant maps as well as transport timetables.
The Route
Day 1 Arrive in Zernez. The village
has its own railway station which you can reach from Zurich Airport in 3¼
hours. We can arrange rail passes or tickets. You may wish to stay an
extra night here (1473m) in order to become used to walking at higher
altitudes.
Day 2 Zernez – Guarda. The trail initially follows the river from
Zernez to Susch, here you can take time to visit the ‘Fortezza Rohan’
ruins in this very picturesque village. The trail then climbs to the
famous‚ Schellenursli village of Guarda. 4 hours,ascent 288m, descent
108m.
Day 3 Guarda – Ardez. From Guarda follow the trail briefly
through the surrounding forest before continuing through the alpine
meadows to Alp Suot. A beautiful walk with lots of
interest and varied scenery. From here the trail leads up through Alp
Sura and onto Murtera Dadoura before descending to the village of Ardez.
4¼
hours, ascent 590m,
descent 800m
Day 4 Ardez – Scuol. From Ardez we climb along Plan Chamuera into
the Tasna valley, onto Alp Tasna and Alp Valmala. Here the trail climbs
steeply to Muot la Stella before
leveling off and leading through the alpine meadows to Alp Laret where
you will find a simple mountain restaurant. The trail then leads down to
the Prui mountain hut; here either take the chairlift down to Ftan or
follow the trail that leads through Ftan Pitschen. Along this part of
the trail you are greeted by spectacular views of the Tarasp castle and
the surrounding mountains. 5½
hours, ascent 770m, descent 560m.
Day 5 Martina - Vnà. Today starts by taking the bus to Martina
close to the Austrian border. The route is through forest, meadow and
alp and follows part of the Via Engiadina with breathtaking views and a
sight of Austria. In the village of Tschlin, you can visit the brewery
which produces Birreria da Tschlin. Vnà is small and pretty, with a
church and even a museum! Enjoy a relaxing evening after a tough but
hopefully really worthwhile day. 6 hours, ascent 900m, descent 350m.
Day 6 Vnà -Sent. Ascend the valley side to the remote village of
Z u o rt. Take time to visit the pretty chapel here before continuing t
h rough the picturesque Choglias valley. Pass through the attractive Val
Sinestra with its mineral water springs. Follow the
Via Engiadina again before a grassy descent to the interesting village
of Sent. 4¼
hours, ascent 300m descent 484m.
Day 7 Sent -Scuol. There are a number of options for today’s
route, depending on your fitness, drive and weather! You can climb
steadily to the Vastur hut and restaurant and on to the high trail of
the Via Engiadina through stunning alpine meadows to Jonvrai and
Chamonna Naluns. Continue to Motta Naluns form where you can descend by
cable car to Scoul to explore the historic town. You can lengthen the
route by taking making the complete circuit of the Piz Spadl massif
which, on a fine day, provides a spectacular end to the trek. The
shortest option is to take a pleasant low level walk along the valley. 1½
to 6 hours.
Main route: ascent 886m descent 181m
Day 8 Travel Home The rail journey to the airport, on the
efficient Swiss railway network through superb Swiss scenery is still
very much part of the holiday.
The hotels and food
The hotels on this
trek are certainly to be looked forward to. All accommodation is in
3 star hotels along the route, these hotels are all family owned and in
the evenings
serve Engadine specialties. All rooms include a bath or shower, toilet,
radio and TV. Many are in historic buildings of typical local
architecture and situated in the centre of village life.
Baggage transfer
Your baggage (1 bag per person) is transferred for you every day to your
next hotel.
How to get there
Zurich airport is
closest at just under 3 hours to Zernez, Basle 4¼
hours and more distant Geneva 5½
hours, The return journey from Scuol takes an extra 10 minutes.
By Air: Non stop scheduled flights to Zürich, Basel and Geneva from London Heathrow, London City,
London Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham Manchester and Dublin.
No frills flights from Belfast, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham,
Bristol, and London Airports. Connecting flights available from other
airports.We are more than happy for guests to
arrange their own flights with other companies. You may, for example have air
miles to use up!
Transfers from airport to centres are by rail. Zürich and Geneva have integrated rail
links with regular services to all our centres.
By Car: Dover - Calais - Rheims - Strasbourg - Basel (allow 2 days)
By Train: Eurostar to Paris with onward connections to Switzerland. It is possible to
reach Most centres in one day.
When to go
Available from the
middle of May to the end of October with a chance of snow affecting
the first 4 and last 4 weeks. The wild flowers in June are quite
exceptional. The high
altitude tends to moderate summer heat in July & August. There are local
transport
alternatives to reach all the hotels.
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