this is a trip report of my recent vacation in the Engadin, Switzerland. Please keep in mind that my native tongue is German and forgive the mistakes I made. The reason for writing such a trip report is - beside providing information - that during the vacation I tend to appreciate not enough what I see and experience. I have to "re-live" the vacation with that writing - and working on the photos.

I went with a bunch of friends. The five of us stayed in the three-star hotel Laudinella in St. Moritz. I admit St. Moritz is not one of the charming villages which are to find in the Engadin, but it is definitely a good transportation hub, provides excellent shopping, restaurants, cafés etc. I have stayed in this hotel a couple of times before and like it for its relatively quiet, but central location in St. Moritz Bad (not Dorf!), the bus stop right vis-a-vis.

It is a big hotel with 190 rooms - I had booked a standard room and was pleasantly surprised to get a room on the uppermost floor (6th American counting) at the south/west corner. The views were awesome! The room was well equipped with everything you need and looked like it was restored, although I had not asked for a restored room (which makes a difference in the rates). I had booked through a German travel agency and got an excellent rate: 56 Euro per night and person, including half-board (breakfast and dinner). I saw a thread on Fodors about taking half-board or not in Switzerland recently and must say it is a definite "Yes" in Hotel Laudinella. The surcharge for Half-board vs. breakfast only is 30 Sfr. if I recall correctly and this is what you get: you can choose from four restaurants: The "Stüva" is where you get the breakfast buffet, a self-service restaurant for dinner (waitresses serve the drinks and clean the tables) with salad buffet, antipasti buffet, a buffet where you choose the main course: always one with meat, one with vegetarian food, usually roasted potatoes, rice, three or four sorts of vegetables, two according sauces. And there was finally the dessert buffet.

Let me give you some examples of the antipasti buffet and the dessert buffet: the first had e.g. smoked salmon with horse-reddish cream, salmon tatar, sliced ham and melon, caprese (tomato, mozzarella, basil), dried meat (Bündnerfleisch), roastbeef slices, salad of shrimps ... the latter included e.g. mousse au chocolat, another white mouse (?) with cranberry sauce, pieces of nut cake, zabaione, cake with sour cherries, some sorts of fruits ... one day I had crepes, freshly made before my eyes, with Grand Marnier and vanilla ice cream ... yummy.

The second restaurant is the Siam Wind, Thai food. You could choose 3 courses from a menu - four or five appetizers, a dozen main courses, four or five desserts.

The third restaurant is the Pizzeria, described below (Sunday), and the fourth is "Le Carnotzet", attached to the Pizzeria, where you can have Swiss specialties like Fondue and Raclette. We did not try out the latter, because we did not find it appropriate in summer (That's winter food!), but we saw guests at a neighbouring table in the Pizzeria who had Raclette and raved about it.

Thur, Oct 13

Started at home (Dresden) 1 pm, had planned to drive somehwere near Garmisch-Partenkirche to stay overnight. The drive on the autobahn was quite easy - except some miles before approaching Munich, where we got stuck in a traffic jam (as usual). Arrived at 5.30 in Farchant, some miles from Garmisch. Found the 3star Hotel Föhrenhof quickly. I got a single room for 30 Euro per night, breakfast buffet and taxes incl. It was a very cosy room, the walls panelled with wood, small TV, balcony. Bathroom (exclusively for this room) was a few steps across the floor (unfortunately the rooms with ensuite bathroom were booked). However, I liked the familiar ambience, the quiet location and good food!

I explored the village a bit - nothing special, but from my balcony I enjoyed a nice sunset later. Dinner was 12 Euro for hotels guests - due to shoulder season the public restaurant was closed. I had a soup, salad with french dressing (not my favourite), sliced veal and spätzle (excellent) and a cup of ice cream ... hmmmm.

Fri, Oct 14

After a good breakfast we checked out and headed to Switzerland. We took the scenic route via Fernpass - Imst - Landeck and up the valley of the Inn river. Of course we paid a visit to Samnaun, which is tax free area and where the gas costs about 30% less than elsewhere in Switzerland (not to speak of gas prices in Austria, or still worse, in Germany). The drive up to Samnaun is always an interesting one: narrow road, lots of tunnels and hairpin curves, beautiful scenery.

We continued via Martina - Scuol - Zernez to St. Moritz. The fall colours in the Lower Engadine around Scuol were amazing. From green to yellow and red - and this on a sunny day! It was amazing and we stopped a couple of times to take photos.

We arrived at 3 pm. I got a very nice corner room on the 5th floor - with windows to south and west. The views were GREAT - a pleasant surprise! Then I drove to the COOP grocery to buy some mineral water, chocolate and Basler Läckerli :-) and went to the railway station to purchase a Graubünden Ferienpass. This pass costs 120 Sfr., is valid for 7 days and allows 2 days free travel on buses and the Rhaetian Railway, 50% reduction on the remaining days plus 50% reduction on cable cars/gondolas all the 7 days. This rail pass saved me a lot of money!

Since the weather was so great I added a short walk along the lake and too some more photos. The lake was incredibly blue, the larch trees had colours from green via golden to light brown ... and the snow capped mountains above ... wow, it was too beautiful! I drove back to the hotel, used the free internet access in the lobby and posted greetings on Fodors.

Dinner that night was at the "Stüva" - the buffet style restaurant. I had a bit from the salad buffet (with oil and aceto balsamico dressing), tasted some antipasti, had sliced venison with rösti (roasted potatoes) as main course and had a few bits from the dessert buffet. I ordered red wine and mineral water and an espresso finished the meal.

Since the hotel hosts the cultural centre of St. Moritz there are often music/threatre performances in the concert hall. I was very fortunate that a one-week seminar of the Youth Symphony Orchestra Laudinella was just finished and the final concert took place that night. Admission was free (donation welcome). The young musicians (all of them students) played works of Camille Saint-Saens, Schostakowitsch etc. - excellent.

Sat, Oct 15

On the agenda of the first day was a visit of the Fex Valley, one of my favourite places in the Engadin. We took the bus to Sils and first walked a bit through the charming village. At the small main square we found a horse-drawn carriage with still seats available. We went all the way to Hotel Fex - a 40 minutes ride (for only 25 Sfr. p.P.). I enjoyed this ride very much. The green/yellow/gold colours of the larch trees, the blue sky, the old, beautiful houses in the several hamlets which we passed by, cows with ringing bells (in late Oct!) - it was almost kitschy. However, after arriving at Hotel Fex I could not refuse to take a seat at their sunny terrace and have a plate with chestnut pasta, some pieces of venison, mushrooms and candied chestnuts, along with a quarter of their excellent red house wine from Sicily - exactly like a few years ago! It is great to know that such wonderful things have not changed. A special treat was that the young waitress was from my home region (Chemnitz, Saxony). We talked and I found out she was there for her third season. A week later the Hotel would close and she would go back home till the winter season begins. Funny if you recall that in previous centuries the locals in the Engadin would leave their valley for job reasons ... and now it's the opposite!

The hike back was again very easy and enjoyable. Stopped at the several hamlets, took photos (this landscape needs to be photographed!) and finally arrived at Sils-Maria. We still had time to walk to Sils-Baselgia and closer to the lake. It was late afternoon then and the views of the lake with the mountains above were breathtaking. We took the bus back to Hotel Laudinella and had dinner at the Stüva again that night.

Sun, Oct 16

Another "must" is the visit of Soglio if you are in the area. So we took the 10:12 bus. The ride was spectacular as usual: along the lakes of Champfer, Silvaplana and Sils, then down the hairpin curves of the Maloja Pass with views of the Bregaglia valley and the mountains above. We changed in Promontogno and arrived at Soglio 11:47, which was right in time for a little stroll through the narrow alleys and a picnic in the garden of Hotel Palazzo Salis. (By the way, the round trip ticket was 19.80 Sfr - 50% off with Ferienpass Graubünden).

The views were again amazing - hope you agree watching the pictures! - especially because of the fall colours. The garden of Hotel Palazzo Salis is small, but beautiful in any season. Parts of the garden are reserved for Hotel guests, another part is used for the restaurant. There are still nice corners with benches and chairs for those who just want to walk around and then have a picnic - like me :-) Watching two hotel guests relaxing on their deck-chairs I was wondering if I would like to stay in this tiny village for a couple of days ... I still don't know. Maybe it is TOO quiet for me.

Anyway, the small shop by the church was open and I happened to see the tasty marroni (chestnut) jam ... I could not refuse and bought 8 (!) small glasses (60 Sfr. - expensive!). The bad thing was I had to carry them in my backpack the rest of the day ... hm, so I thought to cut down the hike a bit and add just a short and easy hike downhill to Castasegna in spite of an exhausting and long one. My friends agreed and this decision gave us a bit more time so we took a seat on the nearby restaurant's (Stüa Granda) terrace, watched the scenery and had an excellent piece of marroni cake and cappuccino.

The hike was indeed easy, interesting and dotted with scenic views. It led us mostly through the large chestnut tree forests below Soglio where the locals collected (harvested) the chestnuts. The smoke of the fires in the cascine (the small huts where chestnuts are stored) were to smell almost everywhere. I have never before been there so late in the year and enjoyed all this very much.

When we arrived in Castasegna I was surprised: On a bus trip to Chiavenna a couple of years ago I had seen Castasegna as a quite shabby, small village which lacked any charm. The opposite today! 100 meters above the valley floor the village started with nice modern houses in beautiful private gardens, a quite nice looking hotel and well preserved old cascine again. The old part of the village looked much better than before: most of the houses restored, painted in bright colours, along a narrow cobbled main street, nice gardens (with palm trees!), the cars and trucks running on a covered road south of the village - not on the main street anymore. I saw two or three small restaurants and cafés, almost all the seats occupied. I had not known how popular that hike was and was glad they sent TWO buses at once so we all could get back to the Engadin.

Dinner that night was in the Pizzeria. It is located in the basement divided into some small rooms with partly wooden panelled walls, partly vaulted, always low ceilings. The atmosphere is rustic, the staff extremely helpful and friendly. Half-board guests could choose 3 courses from a menu with soup/antipasti (minestrone, caprese, ham and melon e.g.), about 10 sorts of Pasta/Gnocchi, maybe 30 sorts of Pizza and about 5 or 6 desserts - all these dishes served by the waiters/waitresses. In addition you could also choose from the daily changing menu - either soup or (self-service) salad buffet, a main course (one meat, one vegetarian) and a self-service dessert buffet. Hmmm ... this is what I chose that night: the local barley soup; roasted chicken, wild rice and mixed vegetables; and finally several things from the dessert buffet ... everything perfect. Very nice also the wine, a quarter of Salice Salentino from Italy (11.50 Sfr.).

Mon, Oct 17

A place I have always wanted to go back to is the Müstair valley. It is another of those scenic valleys in Graubünden with small, picturesque villages and owns a special highlight: the UNESCO world heritage site Benedictine convent Müstair. The round trip ticket was about 77 Sfr. so I decided to use one of the free days of the Ferienpass - a steal! Started 9:44 from the hotel: bus to the railway station ST. Moritz, Rhaetian railway to Zernez (change in Samedan) where I had 30 minutes time to explore the small town before the bus to Müstair left. By chance I saw the catholic church of Zernez and went in. Surprisingly nice! It is a relatively modern church, from the 19th century I think, with beautiful stained glass windows, wooden interior and modern frescos by local painter Rudolf Mirer - well worth to see! I purchased a hiking map of the area at the local tourist office and then hopped on the bus to Müstair.

The ride was again very scenic (which is not in Graubünden?). Two buses running again at the same time to transport the many hikers, which got off at several stops in the National Park. Soon the Ofen Pass (2149 m) was reached from where the road winds down into the Müstair valley - offering fantastic views of the surrounding peaks and even of Mt. Ortler (3899 m) with its glacier in neighbouring South Tyrol. We passed through picturesque villages with names like Tschierv, Fuldera, Valchava, seeing the small village Lü at its sunny terrace above the valley, stopping at charming Sta. Maria where the road to the Umbrail Pass starts and finally arriving at Müstair some minutes past 12.

On first sight a disappointment: scaffolding on the outside of the abbey church and its tower. Urrrggg. Anyway, I was immediately captured by the sheer beauty of the more than 1200 year old Heiligkreuz chapel and the abbey church. Don't expect a magnificent Baroque ensemble like in Einsiedeln, St. Gallen or many Austrian convents! Müstair is the beauty of a simple architecture w/o too many decoration. Such places bring us back to the essence of religion.

Upon entering I noticed that taking pictures of the stunning frescos was free, there was even a special light to switch on for better views (and photos). Such 1200 - 800 years old frescos are very UV-light sensitive so flash is not allowed - a fact which an Italian tourist did not realise - I talked to him pointing this out, but he continued taking photos with flash ... urrgghh, was I angry! Very impressive was the attached chapel of the grace of god with the votiv tablet.

By the time I had finished the church visit the abbey museum opened (1.30 pm). Admission fee was 12 Sfr., which sounds a bit stiff. Trust me, it is well worth the money! Included was a tour with an excellent guide who provided an unbelievable wealth of information. When I had visited the museum in the late 1990s the museum was located in a different part of the abbey - so I was now able to see the former cloisters, an area which was not accessible for visitors earlier - good luck! We saw the former nun's cells, refectory, living rooms of a former prior in medieval times, an exhibit of 1200 years old spectacular pieces (coloured glass, embossments etc.) found during the restoration.

I still had some time for exploring Müstair. It is a charming village with plenty of beautiful houses. I noticed that the houses were of the same style like in the Engadin, but the decoration turned from sgraffiti to frescos - like in neighbouring Tyrol. I caught the bus back to Zernez - admiring the scenery during the ride, watching many exhausted, but happy hikers getting on the bus - where I had again 30 minutes for strolling before the train to St. Moritz left. I got off at the National Park information centre, looked inside but saw that there is too much information provided there and decided to come back some day in the future ... and continued walking through Zernez. I did not trust my eyes when I walked along a backstreet with plenty of beautiful old houses in typical Engadin style - I had not known there were some nice corners in Zernez. And I happened to discover an absolutely beautiful B&B - the Chesa Veglia. The door was open so I took two quick photos of the "lobby" :-) and asked the owner for an info flyer, which I got promptly. Maybe I'll stay there later ... it's very affordable.

Dinner that night was again at the Pizzeria. This time I opted for the salad buffet, venison steak, rösti and ratatouille from the daily menu and ate several of the dishes from the dessert buffet ... definitely too much, but could not refuse!

Tue, Oct 18

According to the weather forecast the last sunny day. Hmmm, that needs to be a hike in the mountains! We took the bus to Pontresina and the chair lift from there up to Alp Languard (2330 m) (Round trip ticket for the chair lift was 9.50 SFr - 50% discount with Ferienpass Graubünden - caution, the Swiss Half Fare Card not valid here!). The plan was to hike further into Languard valley and back via Paradis crest and Chamanna Paradis to Alp Languard. It was an easy 3-hours hike, including several photo stops and picnic at Chamanna Paradis, which was closed. It was interesting to talk to the hosts who were about packing their stuff and preparing everything for closing time during winter. The views from the hut are indeed like in Paradis(e), especially of the entire Bernina massif with Morteratsch glacier, Piz Palü, and the famous (among mountaineerers) Crast Alv (White Crest) at Piz Bernina. We also saw the clouds above the Bernina Pass, coming from Italy and announcing the poor weather for the next days. The paths on the northern slopes were partly snow covered and slippery, so we were glad we had brought our good hiking boots.

Since the hike was short we had enough time to stop by Kochendörfer's hotel Albris in Pontresina for their excellent nut cake and a cappuccino (quite inexpensive). I enjoyed this break and the scenic views on their sunny terrace very much, but must say I was terribly disappointed when I entered their dining room. When I had aten there the last time a couple of years ago it was a noble and cosy dining room with dark wooden interior and panels on the walls - really old world charm. NOW it is a modern, "cool" and plain room with ugly chairs/tables, very bright and it lacks any charm. Brrrrrrrrrrr! Later I found out that at least the dining room for the hotel guests had a bit of local flair with (bright) wood and a fireplace.

Anyway, we walked along Pontresina's main street Via Maistra afterwards and eventually found some souvenirs to buy: a marmot and an ibex doll for only 7 Sfr. A steal.

This night we had dinner at the Siam Wind, the Thai food restaurant. I will admit I am not a big fan of Thai food, but my friends are ... and they were enthusiastic about this restaurant. I found out later that the chef is an internationally well-known guy, decorated with some awards or whatever. I did not care :-) I had spring rolls (which were the best I have ever had, but the sauce was too spicey for my taste), then a fish filet at a very special sauce plus rice and finally a cup of ice cream (which I liked most, haha).

Wed, Oct 19

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning was a sign that the weather would soon turn to cloudy and maybe rainy - and so it happened. I spent the morning in my room, wrote some postcards, read newspapers in the lobby, surfed a bit on the internet, and read a bit in the hotel's library. A relaxing day, no complaints!

However, I did not let the drizzling spoil the day and so I decided to pay a visit to the church San Gian near Celerina, only 20 minutes away by bus. I took the bus to St. Moritz Dorf, where I stopped by Café Hanselmann (a vacation in the Engadin without a visit at this Café is incomplete :-) ) where I had Sacher tart and a cup of excellent Darjeeling tea. Bought some pralinés (expensive!) and walked through St. Moritz a bit - window shopping. Eventually I saw one of the landmarks of the town, the leaning tower, which is the only remaining part of the medieval church deconstructed due to its poor condition in the late 19th century. You can still see the fundaments, though, and some tombstones. A surprisingly charming place and quiet oasis surrounded by trees in the middle of the busy town.

I then took the bus to Celerina from where I walked to the church San Gian - 10 minutes outside the village. This church enjoys an idyllic location right in the middle of the valley, on a small hill. It is open three days a week and famous for its painted wooden ceiling and medieval frescos. No photography allowed inside, too bad.

Dinner was again at the Pizzeria this night. If I recall correctly I got something from the salad buffet, then had a pizza quattro stagione as main course - and again some things from the dessert buffet, along with red wine, table water and an espresso finally.

Thur, Oct 20

Final day and the weather still cloudy, but no rain. I saw in the weather forecast that maybe the Northern side of the Alps could get some sun, so we decided to make a day trip to Chur. I still had the second free day of my rail pass available, so this was an excellent decision. The round trip ticket was somewhat near 70 or 80 or still more Sfr. - you see this rail pass saved a lot of money! We took the train 10:02 and arrived Chur 12:03. The train ride was spectacular: it is part of the Glacier Express/Bernina Express route. The leg between Preda and Bergün consists of countless bridges and spiral tunnels so that you might think your head is spinning! The views are constantly changing, but always include 3000 m reaching snow capped peaks, other bridges and tunnels, the winding pass road, tiny villages, medieval churches on hills, small turquoise lakes etc. Bad luck that the sun was missed, but in some way it was very magical, mystic.

Spectacular later also the Landwasser viaduct (between Filisur and Tiefencastel), where the train leaves a tunnel and goes on right on that bridge which take a curve - breathtaking! After passing Thusis the scenery becomes less spectacular, more lovely. And we saw countless castles/ruins along the Rhine between Thusis and Rothenbrunnen, maybe 20 on a distance of only 10 km.

Plan was to spend about 2 hours in Chur and then to continue the round trip via Landquart, Klosters, Vereina tunnel, Zernez to St. Moritz - a different route back. These 2 hours were definitely not enough for Chur! I had been to Chur before and liked it at that time, but I did not know it was so nice. The old town (pedestrian zone) is well preserved with narrow cobbled alleys, old houses with bay windows, some sgraffiti and frescos, enchanting small squares etc. And the shopping opportunities! Oh my gosh - I am not an olympic shopper, and even I found plenty of interesting little shops. Especially clothing was considerably cheaper than at home in Germany. Too little time! We had trouble to do a bit of sightseeing - get to ST. Martin church with stained glass windows of Augusto Giacometti, St. Luzi church with a Romanesque crypt and an unique circular crypt from the times of Carolusmagnus. The cathedral was (fortunately) under reconstruction so we could not see much there (but will go back in 2007). The time was even too tight to have a coffee/tea in one of the cosy cafés ...

We barely made it to the train to Klosters. After passing the industrial areas in the suburbs we had nice views of the vineyards around Zizers to Maienfeld - beautiful landscape with picturesque villages. The valley towards Klosters (called Prättigau) was civilised by the Walsers, which was obvious to see by the style of the houses: like in the Valais they used wood, while the Raeto-Rumantsch folks built houses of stone (in the Engadin e.g.). We had to change trains in Klosters (easy) and then rushed through the looooong Vereina tunnel, finally arriving in Sagliains/Engadin where we changed again to a train to St. Moritz (another change in Samedan). Folks, I can tell you this was a day with loooong train rides and many changes - but the views of the scenery, the diversity of villages, landscapes, towns were well worth it.

Farewell dinner was at the Pizzeria again - started to love this place :-) I chose from the salad buffet, had lamb rack with roasted potatoes and French beans wrapped in bacon (yummy!) as main course and picked too many things from the dessert buffet again LOL! I had a quarter of the Salice Salentino red wine again and finished the meal with an old whiskey - upon recommendation of the waiter. We had great fun chatting with the other guests and even the waiters/waitresses contributed a joke from time to time.

Fri, Oct 21

We checked out at 9.30 and purchased some wine, cheese, chocolate etc. at the COOP grocery. The next stop was in Guarda to purchase some "Schellenursli" related souvenirs. Expensive, but cute. Next detour Samnaun for cheap gas and sugar (yes, the sugar is about 40% cheaper than in the European Union!). Had some trouble with the Austrian customs, but it ended without paying a fine. The drive home was looooong - especially since we got stuck in a traffic jam past Munich again - and we finally arrived in Dresden at 8:30 pm.

I would go back in a heartbeat ...