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SchweizCycling Switzerland north to south on Euro Velo Route 5. Route on Open Street Maps. DavosWe ended up in Davos for a few days to ski because it's a short drive from Livigno through the Vereina Tunnel with the auto train. Telemarkers Andi & Connie are here too. Sleeping at the interesting Hotel Derby because it's the best price in town and next to the Parsennbahn. Next to an abandoned and dilapidated building, we heard both buildings have been scheduled for demolition for years. Many of the hotels and buildings in Davos seem ready for demolition or, at the very least, an extensive renovation. The old hotels were probably beautiful in their heyday in the 70s/80s, but look shabby even from the outside when not covered in snow. The flat roofs of most buildings are not at all what I expected of a Swiss ski resort. It seems the town was built without any sort of architectural vision or style; completely characterless. Can't get over the fact that the richest people in the world stay at these places and pay exorbitant prices during the WEF. With no cap on hotel room prices, even a dumpy closet of a room will go for 4-figures/night during WEF. Despite the dated look of the place, everywhere still demands the usual Swiss prices. In town, we only ate at Weber Bäckerei: sort of reasonable prices in a bakery-café setting. There, we ate delicious Rösti und Gerstensuppe. Up on the mountain (Parsenn) we had a nice break at Mungga Hütte (Mungga is Engadiner word for Marmot). Although a Valliser specialty, the Raclette is amazing here. We shared a portion and washed it down with some east Swiss apple wine from Möhl - perfect snack and cider was an excellent alternative to crappy mainstream beer. Möhl uses east Swiss apples too. Apropos crappy mainstream beer, Davoser alternatives are Monsteiner Bier & Davoser Craft Bier. The latter wasn't available in any place we went to, but the Monsteiner Naturtrüb Helles - "Huusbier" - is excellent. Monsteiner Bier is brewed in the tiny Walserdorf of Monstein (pop. <200) - south of and politically part of Davos. Whenever possible, it uses regional and organic hops and barley. It even partners with neighbor producers to make cheese, wurst, etc. from brewing byproduct! We enjoyed plenty of fresh Monsteiner Bier and good food in Monstein at the Veltlinerstübli (Di.-So.). The other option in Monstein, Restaurant-Hotel Duncan, had Betriebsurlaub when we were in town, but looks like a great place to stay and start off on ski tours or hikes. In the city of Davos, it is available vom Fass:
Davoser Craft Bier has been around since 2018 and can supposedly (many seem to be sold out or not carrying at the moment) be found at numerous bars, restaurants, and hotels around town including:
EngadineEngadine is the new Vinschgau 😂 Vacation project with Mom & Dad in fall 2019 was to hike the Via Engiadina - Engadiner Höhenweg! Fr. 6.9.Met in Tschlin! M&D had smooth connection, <4h from ZRH. Slept at Hotel Macun's Dachwohnung for 2 nights. Visited the Alp Girun brewery for happy hour before excellent fondue dinner at the hotel. Sa. 7.9. - Alp TeaChilly hike to Alp Tea for lunch, was ~3/3.5h roundtrip. No inside seating so were promptly on our way again after tasty pasta and Gerstensuppe lunch. Slept a second night in tranquil Tschlin. So. 8.9. - Tschlin to Val SinestraTschlin - Val da Ruinas - Vnà - Val Sinestra - Sent. Tschlin to Sent is 16km. Tschlin to Val Sinestra is ~9,5km. Lunch at:
Slept at Val Sinestra, but would have preferred Arina Vnà. This hike took forever. It was snowy and a white-out so no majestic mountain views. It was cool, but after crossing the gorge and reaching stable ground above it, it took foreeeeeeever to reach Vnà. Thankfully Arina was open for a nut pie snack for a little fuel and warm up before finally reaching Val Sinestra. Val Sinestra looks like a castle deep in the woods. It was built in 1910 as a Kurhaus. Now it's run by some Dutch people and similar to indoor camping with simple buffet meals. Mo. 9.9. - Val Sinestra to ScuolEasy day: ~1 hour flat walking to Sent, can snack at Bakery Benderer. Direct walk Sent to Scuol is ~1h or hike on the Via (3h, 8km) from Sent to the Bergstation - Motta Naluns - of the gondola, gondola or walk down to Scuol. Food:
Sleeping: Chasa Valär for 324 CHF (2 nights). Decent accommodation in a 2-bedroom apt at a good price, but a balcony would've been ideal. Without a balcony, we decided to hang out at the fountain for happy hour. We had a decent dinner at Crusch Alba. Di. 10.9. - Rest day in ScuolShort and scenic hike up to Saloon San Jon for lunch at the ranch and Tschlinerbier vom Fass! GuardaVal hotel has Tschlinerbier vom Fass and we stopped here for a drink and aperitivo. Great pizza dinner for a change from Swiss cuisine, but Pizzeria da Taki charged us a ridiculous 4 CHF for 2 extra plates to share our pizza. Mi. 11.9. - Anniversary! - Scuol to ArdezScuol - Ftan - Alp Laret (lunch) - Chamuera - Brunnen - Ardez. Bus 921 from Scuol to Ftan every hour, which shaved 4km uphill off our track. 😊 Then it took about 1.5h and 500hm to Alp Laret where the elevation is 2200m. It was mostly downhill (~10km) from there, but took much longer than anticipated. Food: Furnaria/Cafè La Carsuot in Ardez, Ustaria La Stalla in Ardez, Ustaria Crusch Alba in Guarda. Sleeping: B&B Chasa Arfusch in Ardez. Fantastic hotel with delicious food and Tschlinerbier vom Fass. Do. 12.9. - Ardez - Chamonna CluozzaBus from Ardez to Zernez every hour, 3.5h hike to Chamonna Cluozza hut in national park. Of course, once again, took longer than expected (~4.5h) and my knee was killing me (go figure, the youngest member of the group had the bad knee!). Fun experience at Chamonna Cluozza. Fr. 13.9. - Cluozza - Livigno - Ospizio Bernina
Slept 2 nights in Albergo Ospizio Bernina. Ospizio Bernina is a magnificent place, but more so in winter. Summer - especially at night - is nice too, but there is a plethora of loud, obnoxious motorcyclists. Albergo OB had fantastic ravioli. Sa. 14.9. - Ospizio BerninaRegional train to Poschiavo for lunch. Valposchiavo has 95% organic farms! Restaurants in town emphasize 100% Valposchiavo dishes and whenever local ingredients are used. Excellent pizza at Hotel Ristorante Albrici. Wanted to get organic gelato at Bio-Bistrò Semadeni, but were too full! Instead got a cone later at Chalet Stazione. On the return trip to OB, we checked out the glacier park at Cavaglia stop and enjoyed the view for a bit at Alp Grüm. Ate at Cambrena to change it up, which has local Pontresina Bier, seasonal menu, and homemade pasta. So. 15.9. - HomeRode the train together to Morteratsch. We loaded up at the Albergo breakfast, which was included in the room price, otherwise we could have had brunch in Morteratsch at the Alp-Schaukäserei. With our hunger satisfied, we simply had Apfelwein and Pontresina Bier while Dad checked out the glacier trail. To bring:
Additional for J&C to bring:
Summer '21Chasing the ☀️Finally reuniting with Mommy & Daddy! ❤️ Saturday 10.7.: Meet in Kandersteg! Stay 2 nights at Hotel Blümlisalp. Daytrip possibilities from Kandersteg:
Blatten: 2 nights at Hotel Nest- & Bietschhorn + Lötschenpasshütte = Hüttenschmaus & Hotelzauber for 150pp, each with Halbpension, sauna at hotel. Hike down to Leukerbad, 10km / 4h40m. Lunch at Fluhalp. 👣 Track. Leukerbad:
On the way from Leukerbad to wine country, we could stroll the the village of Albinen and possibly eat (and sleep) at Godswärgjistubu. 🍇 Varen seems to be a nice, small village with plenty of wineries and an accessible location.
TicinoFusio is a tiny, remote alpine village. Could sleep at Antico Osteria Dazio, Villa Pineta, or Hotel Fusio. In this NE part of Ticino, remote yet easily accessible from Locarno, there a few restaurants scattered around such as Slow Food spot La Froda near the Foroglio waterfall and Trattoria Unione in Cevio. Ascona on the lake! Accommodation: *Hotel Polo in downtown or Garni Dolce Vita (uphill w view). TschlinLooking for a way to break up the journey back to Prien, I came across Tschlin... "ruhigsten Ort der Schweiz" - da wollen wir hin! The tiny mountain village has everything we need:
We have to come back for the Bergbierfestival in Oktober!! ZermattEssen und Trinken
☀️ SummerSummer in Z can get hot these days so look for those swimming lakes. Accommodation & Logistics
ZurichSwitzerland is more than Calanda, which I was happy to learn during our numerous trips to the city in the fall and winter of 2014. Our favorite spot is Turbinenbraeu Rampenverkauf.
Übernachtungsmöglichkeiten: Hotel St. George, Pension für Dich, Zum Guten Glück,
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