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Start your trip here Photo credit: swiss-image.ch/Christof Sonderegger By Lee Foster Find a Uniglobe Travel Agency Near You Switzerland is a special place for civilized day hikes and walks in the fresh mountain air amidst stunning alpine vistas, but without requiring any major vertical-climbing exertion. A hiker returns each evening to culinary artistry and comfortable lodgings. This lure is particularly strong in eastern Switzerland around the towns of Scuol and Davos, near the one and only Swiss National Park. Unlike serious U.S. and Canadian mountain hiking, available only to the backpacker or energetic climber, Swiss hiking is accessible to people of all levels of fitness and all travel styles. The excellent Swiss Railway winds through the alpine valleys, making available thousands of miles of hiking trails from the many rail stops. At many rail stations you’ll see hikers departing. Sites beyond the rail stops can be accessed easily by an efficient bus system, called the postal motor coach. Most hikes occur along relatively level ground, but often in spectacular alpine settings, sometimes reachable by cable cars. Evenings can be spent back at your hotel amidst the full comfort of quality lodgings. Swiss mountain hikers need carry only a light daypack while walking this “rooftop of Europe,” as Switzerland is sometimes called, partly because three-fifths of the country is The Alps. The mountains around the small towns of Scuol and Davos in the Engadine province present many excellent outings. You can plan your outing with information (Which you can obtain in advance) from the Swiss Tourist Office. Once in Scuol or Davos, you can either hike on your own or join outings organized by hotels or by the local Tourist Office. Guides can transport you to the hiking trailhead, sometimes using taxis or the local bus systems. A typical day of hiking from Scuol might take you to the Swiss National Park. You hike along the specified trails amidst breathtaking alpine scenery. At selected overlooks your binoculars may pick out three deer- family denizens of these mountains – the red deer, ibex, and chamois. The weather is generally pleasantly cool from June 1-October 1, which is the hiking season. Some hikers wear Swiss-made Raichle hiking boots, but these should be purchased in advance and broken in prior to a trip. A daypack with rain gear will ensure that a hiker can proceed in all weather. The Alps in sun and the Alps in a drizzle present equally fascinating perspectives. Hikes are generally leisurely affairs, walking from village to village along the hillsides, or proceeding more energetically as one wishes. Hikes take you past terraced hillsides, populated with brown cows, or through the forests of deciduous larch and evergreen fir or pine trees. The fresh and clean air, the brilliant sunshine, the alternately jagged and rounded high peaks, and the ample network of relatively level trails are all elements in the landscape. Wildflowers are visible throughout the hiking season. On some walks you pass glaciers, where snow fall exceeds snow melt. From numerous springs in the mountains the water seeps out. Small streams are plentiful.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com A visitor may well want to engage the services of a native mountain guide for a day or two of orientation in the region. I engaged such a guide at Scuol. We walked up the Tavru Valley for an overview of the Swiss National Park, an unforgettable experience. My guide led me to views of three prominent peaks – Pisoc, Minger, and Foraz. While I was dazzled by the alpine vistas, he set up a powerful telescope on a tripod and acquainted me with a herd of deer-family animals, called chamois, grazing the hillside a half-mile away. The Scuol and Davos Regions

Photo credit: swiss-image.ch The area around Scuol, the Engadine, is an intriguing area of Europe. Much of this fascination becomes apparent during a few days of walking. In this long, north-south aligned valley, the Germanic and Latin cultures of Europe meet and mix. The result, for example in house building, is that the wood-working skills of the north complemented the stone-masonry skills of the south. Through the Engadine runs the Inn River, a stream that eventually empties into the Danube and the Black Sea. The Scuol region is a five-hour train ride east from Zurich. Many travelers fly into Zurich, overnight and adjust there, then take the train to Scuol. The Swiss train system, rather than a rental car, is the optimum mode of transportation, and a rail pass known as the Swiss Card is an economical way to purchase a train ticket. The National Park, one of the main hiking areas near Scuol, was formed in 1914 to preserve one of the few remaining wild areas in the country. This is a prime walking area, with hikers carefully restricted to the marked trails. The National Park Visitor Center at Zernez is an excellent source for good maps, advice on hiking trails, and an appreciation of the geology, flora, and fauna. The Alps consist of relatively soft rock that erodes in huge tailings down the mountainsides. Spring wildflowers throughout the Alps are splendid in June, but flowering continues at high altitudes until snowfall in October. Marmots, large rodent animals, populate the Alps. All these features are well protected in the National Park, which is especially famous for its preservation of large herds of deer-family species. Include in your hiking itinerary a visit to the small historic town of Guarda, one of Switzerland’s most picturesque villages. The town’s eighty houses were rebuilt between 1630-1720, after the Hundred Years War devastated all the structures. Like the houses in Scuol, Guarda houses are all built in the same manner. A spirited citizen with a good feel for the historic importance of the village gave me a guided tour. The restaurant in the Piz Buin Hotel offers regional specialties, such as white veal sausages and potatoes. The level road between Guarda and the small village of Ardez is typical of the area’s excellent walks with appealing alpine vistas. Lodgings in the region are diverse in price and style. A number of large hotels were built here in the prosperous 1860-to-World-War-I period, when tourism flourished. People of means from all over Europe deemed it fashionable to come to Scuol or Davos to take the curative mineral baths or to drink the medicinal mineral water. Economical lodgings are possible in small hotels and in rooms rented in houses. The Scuol or Davos Tourist Offices or Swiss National Tourist Office can help with options, as can an informed travel agent making your arrangements. Few foreign visitors comprehend the importance of the waters of the region in the historic development of tourism here. Two types of medical treatments for various ailments were and are popular. One treatment involves soaking in heated mineral water pools. The other treatment involves drinking various mineral water concoctions. A substantial academic medical establishment gives support to these therapeutic approaches. A visitor should realize that the primary water-therapy approach here is medicinal rather than pleasurable or sensuous. Aside from the mineral waters for medicinal purposes, there are several tasty bottled waters for pleasure drinking, such as Valser, known to be sodium free, and Sassal, which is high in calcium. The culinary masterpieces of the Engadine await the visitor in the evening and may even tempt for lunch. White veal sausages, venison, and thinly sliced smoked meats are specialties here. Yogurt and Swiss cereals enhance breakfast. For dinner, be sure to try a fondue, the brilliant Swiss concoction of melted Gruyere and Emmental cheese, with a touch of kirsch liquor, garlic, and spices. The Swiss, with 35,000 acres of vineyards, produce several dry white wines and some medium-bodied reds for the vinophile to enjoy. One brand to ask for is Aigle, meaning Eagle. The most celebrated restaurant in the Scuol region, with two Michelin stars and a high Gault-Millau ranking, is in the Paradise Hotel, where rabbit and lobster are among the favorites. The other small town in eastern Switzerland that makes a good hiking base is Davos. Davos is a community of 12,000 situated at 5,118 feet, making it one of the highest alpine vacation centers in Europe. Mountains rise several thousand feet above the city. Because the city is so close to the tree line, large

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com open spaces in the high country are available for hiking in summer and skiing in winter. Davos is a major tourism center with over 100 hotels. There are many excellent restaurants, including the Strela-Alp, high in the mountains and accessible via cable car. Deer is the menu specialty. The Teufi Restaurant, located far up a typical hiking valley, tempts the walker with Swiss fondue. Davos emphasizes many summer sports beyond hiking, but special to this mountainous region, such as hang-gliding, soaring, and para-gliding (gliding down a mountain on a kite-parachute). All these sports benefit from the powerful thermals available on the steep Swiss mountainsides. Over 200 miles of walking trails lead out from Davos. One extraordinary walk begins with a funicular rail trip high into the mountains. You then hike along a level trail for two hours to a gourmet restaurant. The funicular goes to an area called the Parsenn Panorama. Panorama is an apt word to describe the vistas of brittle rock, large rock slides, steep peaks, and the city of Davos 2,000 feet below in the valley. The walk takes you to the Strella Pass restaurant, where you should try the barley soup, fresh salads of tasty greens, and a hot regional specialty dish called alper maccerone, consisting of potatoes, pasta, ham, onion, and cheese, cooked on an enormous skillet. After the meal you can take a gondola back down the mountain to Davos. Swiss Glaciers: Listen to the silence

Photo credit: swiss-image.ch/Roland Gerth The thrill of hiking across permanent Swiss glaciers can be experienced near St. Moritz, but only travelers in superb physical condition should consider it. Managed by expert mountain guides, the hike is known as the Glacier Hike Diavolezza Morteratsch. The trek includes a walk across both the Pers and Morteratsch Glaciers. Hikers first transport themselves by train to Bernina-Diavolezza and then a gondola ride up to 9,827 feet, across from Piz Bernina, the tallest mountain to be found in this Graubunden region of Switzerland. At the start of the endeavour, one enjoys a close-up look at the summit of Piz Bernina (13,284-foot-high), whose valleys below are filled with glacial ice. The intensive 7-1/2-hour hike covers eight miles of steep up-and-down terrain with a 4,000-foot vertical drop. (If the idea of such a hike is daunting, a traveler wanting to enjoy the scenery can take the gondola to the top of Diavoleeza and enjoy the views and a beer at the outdoor restaurant. First, hikers rapidly descend a rock-strewn hillside and then cross the Pers Glacier. Following another sharp uphill and then downhill rocky scramble, a hiker views the Morteratsch Glacier. The hike then proceeds two miles down the Morteratsch Glacier to its boulder-studded terminus. Views of the mountain peaks, including several peaks adjacent to Piz Bernina, and a close-up look at the crevasses, ice falls, and moraines on the glaciers are highlights of the expedition. The glaciers are moving forward about 65 feet a year. Between 1550 and 1850, these glaciers gradually advanced, proceeding toward the villages in the valleys below. The prayers of the local villagers were enlisted to encourage the glaciers to stop. Perhaps these prayers were heard. Starting in 1850, the glaciers began to retreat. The guide for our group of 30 hikers was 71-year-old Paul Nigg, who has guided hikes here for 46 years and has the physique of an 18-year-old. Nigg was a philosopher of the mountains as well as a careful adviser of every hiker. He assisted each hiker in the decision about whether to start the ordeal and, once committed, he showed how to walk over the stone and ice efficiently. Nigg volunteered to yodel, suggesting that such vocal outbursts were an expression of the joy of being alive in the mountains. He liked to throw out his chest, cast back his shoulders, and let out a yodel. The views of the glaciers close up show the brutal force that frozen water can represent, carrying boulders forward with ease and crushing any rocks on the bottom into “rock flour.” Is the silence worth the undertaking? Quite simply: Yes. The Swiss Style The calm pace of walking for a few days in the Swiss Alps around Scuol or Davos provides an opportunity to meditate on the Swiss character as well as the world of nature. The Swiss in this region exhibit a robust vitality, nurtured by the clean air, the habit of walking in the mountains, and the general prosperity. Collectively, the 7.8 million Swiss, living in 26 cantons, are among the healthiest people on earth.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com The Swiss generally speak enough English for the typical North American visitor to communicate easily. The most common local language is a Swiss dialect of German. The four official languages of the country are German, French, Italian, and Romansch. Some aspects of Swiss life differ sharply from habits elsewhere. For example, many Swiss tend to buy their houses and cars with cash rather than extended indebtedness with time payments. The Swiss purchaser may save for years before buying, rather than buy and enjoy the object while paying it off. The Swiss don’t typically like to be in debt. The country is immaculately clean, and the countryside has no billboards to detract from the scenery. For the traveler interested in alpine walking and hiking, along with comfortable lodgings and quality dining, Switzerland is a good option.

Lee Foster is an award winning veteran travel journalist. He has won awards for travel writing and photography from SATW (Society of American Travel Writers) and BATW (Bay Area Travel Writers). He has also published 10 travel-related books, including his newest The Photographer’s Guide to San Francisco and The Photographer’s Guide to Washington, D.C.

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