This timetable is binding. If the display at the train station says: “Departure Davos Platz, Platform 1, 1:02 p.m.”, then the clock can be set accordingly. The train leaves on time, a few seconds late at the most. Simply Swiss precision. However, the Swiss railways not only impress with their punctuality, but also with their excellent service and beautiful railway routes. This is exactly why one of these railway lines – the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula and Bernina landscape in the canton of Graubünden – was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 as one of three railway lines worldwide. The journey with the Bernina Express over the Alps is one of the most impressive train journeys in Europe.
If you want to get to know Switzerland – and the canton of Graubünden in particular – we recommend the Rhaetian Railway’s “Alpine Cruise – the cruise on rails”. For four, five or eight days, the train takes its passengers from the cities of Chur, St. Moritz or Davos to picturesque landscapes. Or in remote valleys, such as Valposchiavo. Let’s make a detour there, in that valley where Italy already sends its regards.
The most remote valley in Switzerland
The fact that the Rhaetian Railway’s Bernina Express goes to Poschiavo – to Puschlav, as the community with a little more than 3,400 inhabitants is called in Romansh – makes the journey there doubly attractive. We recommend taking the Bernina Express on the Rhaetian Railway from Chur; the trip over the Bernina Pass up to an altitude of 2253 meters leads to the edge of the glacier. If you travel the entire route from Chur to Tirano, you will cross 196 bridges – some of them impressive viaducts – and drive through 55 tunnels. The stop in Poschiavo will amaze you: “Italy already, or still Switzerland?” you hear people say.
“There are many remote places, but we are one of the most remote places in Switzerland,” says Kaspar Howald, the director of tourism. But there is no whining in this statement, rather it is the pride that Poschiavo has developed its individual strengths and is now living them: rich cultural activity and “sustainable tourism”, as Kaspar Howald notes. Gastronomy and hotels are supplied with organic products that come exclusively from the region. Hiking, biking, food, gastronomy, the peace and quiet – and the Rhaetian Railway, these are the ingredients from which Poschiavo creates its tourism. “We are a self-contained world that only exists in very few places in Switzerland.” Will this plan work? Kaspar Howald smiles and shrugs: “We’ll see…”
Here are the magic mountains
Because Chur has already been mentioned: one or two nights in the capital of Graubünden is well worth it. If you want to get to know the culinary sides of the city, we recommend the “Alpine Town Snacks Tour”, during which typical snacks are offered at several stations during a city tour – from pralines to salsiz (sausage) and cheese to pear bread and “Röteli” ( Cherry-cinnamon liqueur) – to be tasted. Culinary enthusiasts will also get to know Graubünden sushi and the “Churer Schiller”, a regional, light, tart red wine.
Change of scenery: The journey on the Swiss railways leads from St. Moritz through the Albula tunnel to Preda, a small town at around 1800 meters above sea level. Dense fog, drizzle and temperatures around three degrees give the Graubünden mountains a special magic on this May day. A magic that will later return in a different way to the Schatzalp in Davos, the setting of Thomas Mann’s novel “The Magic Mountain”.
But before that, train passengers can make a stop in Preda, from where the Albula Bahnwanderweg leads down a distance of around seven kilometers to the village of Bergün (1,360 meters above sea level). The demanding hiking trail, which leads past the impressive viaducts of the Rhaetian Railway, can be walked in a good two and a half hours. Display boards explain the railway line and provide a historical outline of the line and the Albula Tunnel, which opened in 1903.
The late 19th century will catch up with travelers when they visit the Schatzalp. The mountain hotel there of the same name is the literary setting in Thomas Mann’s novel “The Magic Mountain”, and this magic still resonates in the hotel – situated on an artificially created mountain terrace above Davos.
Opened in 1900 and run as a sanatorium for pulmonary diseases until 1954, the hotel has retained its fifties charm and character ever since. The retro style was deliberately preserved, and director Paulo Bernardo proudly shows the world of yesteryear, into which modernity is only slowly and very cautiously moving in. A visit to the Schatzalp, an enclave in the otherwise fashionable Davos, is a must for any traveler to Switzerland. In any case, it is helpful to read Thomas Mann’s novel beforehand – it opens up a different view of space and time.
- Information and advice: Switzerland Tourism, mySwitzerland.com Tel.: 00800 100 20030 (free of charge)
This is what the rail cruise “Alpine Cruise” offers
Panoramic trips with the Rhaetian Railway optionally over four, five or eight days with overnight stays in three or four-star hotels in Chur, Davos and St. Moritz. From there, the tours are guided by train.
Convenient additional offer: The luggage is transported independently from hotel to hotel.
- Booking and details at Switzerland Tourism; Transport partners are Rhaetian Railway, Swiss International Airlines, Swiss Travel System
Source: Nachrichten
