Switzerland – golden Autumn in Grisons

Round tour, 6 days, not including transportation to Switzerland. Code 0601

Chur – Beve­rin Land­sca­pe Park – Splügen Pass  – Chia­ven­na (Lom­bar­dy) – Soglio – Malo­ja Pass – St. Moritz – S‑charl – Swiss Natio­nal Park – Flüe­la Pass – Maienfeld

small, frien­dly gro­ups (up to 7 people) – the oldest city in Swit­zer­land – Swiss mili­ta­ry bun­kers – Chest­nuts Festi­val – alpi­ne natu­ral cosme­tics – culi­na­ry spe­cia­li­ties of Lom­bar­dy – hiking in the oldest alpi­ne natu­re rese­rve – wine­ry indu­stry of Gri­sons and wine degu­sta­tion – ride along alpi­ne serpentines

Day 1 – Chur

Arri­val in Zurich. Aro­und noon a tour leader will pick up the gro­up at the air­port. A trans­fer to Chur, the capi­tal city of the can­ton of Gri­sons and the oldest city in Swit­zer­land. On the way, a meal in self-servi­ce restau­rant. We will visit the old town with its nar­row stre­etlets, many shops with local arti­san art and deli­ca­cies, a Roman cathe­dral that was built for over hun­dred years and St. Mar­tin church with Gia­co­met­ti­’s sta­ined glass. From Chur we will reach the heart of the Land­sca­pe Park of Beve­rin whe­re a night stay and deli­cio­us tro­uts for a din­ner awa­it us in a fami­ly inn with a hun­dreds years of history.

Day 2 – Beverin Landscape Park, Chiavenna

After bre­ak­fast we will visit the Rof­fla gor­ge and the falls of Hin­ter­r­he­in, a tourist attrac­tion that was made acces­si­ble for touri­sts thanks to the efforts and deter­mi­na­tion of a Swiss fami­ly. Next, we will head towards Cre­sta­wald mili­ta­ry museum, not so long ago loca­ted in top secret mili­ta­ry bun­kers, hid­den in the moun­ta­in mas­sif. A rare oppor­tu­ni­ty to fami­lia­ri­se your­self with an inte­re­sting histo­ry, struc­tu­re and arming of the Swiss for­ti­fi­ca­tions from the insi­de. A trans­fer for a meal. Along the pic­tu­re­sque Splügen Pass (2,113 m / 6,932 ft high) we will go from Gri­sons to Chia­ven­na, a love­ly Ita­lian town near the bor­der with Swit­zer­land. Beau­ti­ful, moun­ta­ino­us sur­ro­un­ding, warm microc­li­ma­te, archi­tec­tu­re of Lom­bar­dy, exqu­isi­te food and local hospi­ta­li­ty makes it a pla­ce whe­re you want to be. After check-in we will take a walk along the city whe­re we will see the castle and bota­nic gar­den among others. The region is famo­us for so-cal­led “Grot­to”, tra­di­tio­nal eate­ries with local pro­ducts (wines, che­eses, sala­mi), often lin­ked to roc­ky caves that serve for food sto­ra­ge. After visi­ting the city, we will have a din­ner in one of them.

Day 3 – Soglio

A bre­ak­fast, ride to Soglio in Swit­zer­land and check-in. Soglio is a uni­que town sur­ro­un­ded by chest­nut fore­sts. Inha­bi­ted by mere­ly more than one hun­dred people, a moun­ta­in vil­la­ge is a pla­ce whe­re mul­ti­ple cul­tu­ral events are held. You can meet people who value the har­mo­ny of a man with natu­re the­re and the pla­ce is also a home­town for bran­ded natu­ral beau­ty pro­ducts and cosme­tics.   An ari­sto­cra­tic fami­ly of von Salis made this vil­la­ge signi­fi­cant a couple of cen­tu­ries ago. We can admi­re the­ir pala­ce, among others, the­re.  We will arri­ve in Soglio during the annu­al Chest­nut Festi­val. For cen­tu­ries chest­nuts have play­ed an impor­tant role in the eco­no­my of the Val Bre­ga­glia. They are used in cuisi­ne, beau­ty pro­ducts and in beer. We will spend some part of the day par­ti­ci­pa­ting in festi­val acti­vi­ties (held in July 2015) and/or acti­vi­ties in the Val Bre­ga­glia (for exam­ple a ride by rail­way to the top of Albi­gna Dam). For the rest of the day you will have free time, for exam­ple to take a walk in the beau­ti­ful area of Soglio, bathed in autumn colours.

Day 4 – Castasegna, Sankt Moritz, S‑charl

After a bre­ak­fast we will head towards the work­shop of natu­ral cosme­tics in the near Casta­se­gna, whe­re we will be able to take a clo­ser look at the pro­duc­tion pro­cess. We leave the Val Bre­ga­glia and we will go to the Upper Engan­din val­ley along a ste­ep moun­ta­in pass of Malo­ja (1,815 m / 5,954 ft high) . Fabu­lo­us Autumn colo­urs of local flo­ra, blue sur­fa­ces of cry­stal pure lakes and snow-cap­ped sum­mits of nume­ro­us three-tho­usan­ders are a real tre­at for pho­to­gra­phers. In the vici­ni­ty of a high-end ski and leisu­re resort of St. Moritz we will take a funi­cu­lar rail­way to the popu­lar view­po­int of Muot­tas Muragl (2,454 m / 8,051 ft high) with a pano­ra­mic view of the Upper Enga­din val­ley and the most pre­ci­se sun­dial of the world. From the­re we will hike to Alp Lan­gu­ard (2 h) whe­re a meal in a typi­cal, moun­ta­in restau­rant awa­its us. The region is known for nume­ro­us alpi­ne fau­na, cha­mo­is, mar­mots and the big­gest colo­ny of alpi­ne ibex in the coun­try. On the way we will see the Ber­ni­na mas­sif with the highest sum­mit of the Eastern Alps, Piz Ber­ni­na (4,049 m / 13,284 ft high). A descent by cable car to Pon­tre­si­na and a short bus ride to the first sta­tion of the funi­cu­lar rail­way. A trans­fer to the town of S‑charl loca­ted in the direct vici­ni­ty of the Swiss Natio­nal Park, the oldest natu­re rese­rve in the Alps. Check-in and din­ner. Thanks to the lasting hun­ting season, it will be possi­ble to taste local veni­son specialities.

Day 5 – Swiss National Park, Maienfeld

An ear­ly bre­ak­fast. A walk in the Natio­nal Park (4.5 h). In the val­ley of Val Min­ger, whe­re more than half a cen­tu­ry ago the last Swiss bear died, we will climb to the height of 2,317 m (7,601 ft) with a view of the grand pyra­mi­dal moun­ta­in of Piz Pla­vna Dada­int (3,167 m / 10,390 ft high). We will also have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to obse­rve deers along the way. After hiking, a trans­fer for a meal and fur­ther jour­ney along the Flüe­la Pass (2,383 m / 7,818 ft high) to Maien­feld, a town in the wine­ry area of Gri­sons. In this region the best wine­ries of the coun­try are loca­ted. In Maien­feld the oldest, still ope­ra­ting wine­ry of Euro­pe is loca­ted and it is also the home­town for a novel hero, Heidi. Check-in. A walk in Maien­feld, past histo­ri­cal buil­dings and colo­ur­ful sur­ro­un­ding of Autumn gra­pe fields. A visit in a wine­ry and wine degu­sta­tion. A din­ner and a night stay.

Day 6

A bre­ak­fast and arri­val in the Zurich Air­port (ca. 2 h) Say­ing good­bye to tour par­ti­ci­pants. Depen­ding on the fli­ght depar­tu­re time from Zurich the­re is an option to visit addi­tio­nal tourist attraction.