Swiss driving trip (2) - Brissago
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| Engadine Valley |
In the summer of 2023, we did a one week driving trip from Amsterdam to Switzerland, spending a couple of days in the Engadine valley around St Moritz and then a few days in the Ticino area around Brissago, the Italian part of Switzerland. On the way there, we stopped in Belgium and France and while coming back, we stopped at a few places in Germany. It was a great vacation, and the beauty of Switzerland was mesmerising. We also enjoyed the road tripping, being able to stop where ever we wanted, and explore the not-so-touristy places on the way.
The detailed itinerary is as follows:
Day 1: Drive from Amsterdam to Strasbourg (7.5 hours); explore Spa (Belgium) on the way; stay at Ibis Styles, Strasbourg
Day 2: Drive to Celerina/Schlarigna (5.5 hours); explore Strasbourg, Zurich Lake on the way; stay in airbnb at Celerina/Schlarigna
Day 3: Walk around St Moritz Lake, Silvaplanarsee lake, Sils village
Day 4: Bernina express from St Moritz to Tirano, explore Poschiavo and Alp Grum on the way
Day 5: Up the Diavolezza cable car, explore Pontresina and Samedan village
Day 6: Drive to Ascona (4.5 hours); explore Ascona, Domodossola, Villa del Balbianello; stay in airbnb in Brissago
Day 7: Explore Ascona and Brissago pier
Day 8: Explore Locarno, walk to Italy
Day 9: Drive back from Brissago to Baden Baden (5.5 hours); stop around Lucerne Lake; stay in airbnb in Baden Baden
Day 10: Drive back to Amsterdam (5.5 hours); stop in Rhine valley at Sooneck castle
Day 1: From Amsterdam to Strasbourg, with stop at Spa
We left early from Amsterdam and drove all day through a few countries today, from the Netherlands to Belgium to a short stretch in Germany and then onto our destination for the night in France. Netherlands as usual was flat and cloudy. As we reached Belgium, the scenery quickly changed. The land became more hilly and green, with cute little colourful houses and churches dotting all the villages on the hills along the way. There were loads of windmills in Belgium too. We drove through Ardennes through some stunning green valleys.
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| Town of Spa |
We first stopped in the Belgian town of Spa. It was sunny and hot when we reached. We just walked around town and explored it on foot. The city had a very relaxed, old-world charm, and was famous for its many hot water spas, from historical times. It had some casinos, some spas, a busy high street, some street art installations and some charming cathedrals. The town was quiet, with older people slowly walking through its shaded streets.
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| Street Art in Spa |
We saw the Église Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Remacle de Spa, a small but beautiful church. There were fountains and springs all around. We walked into one of the spas too, the Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand. After that before leaving the area, we stopped at the Source de La Sauvenière, which is a well-known spring, with mineral water coming from deep below. We tasted the water there, but it wasn’t as refreshing as we expected.
At night, we were looking for Indian food and found a restaurant nearby called the Asian Classic which had great reviews. But it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Probably one of the worst Indian meals I have had in Europe. On top of that, our hotel receptionist wasn’t very helpful either and declined every request we made (for an AC, for a water kettle, for directions to an electric charger and so on). It wasn’t the most exciting end to the day, but we were in France, so what could we expect 😜. Anyways as it had been a long day, we were tired and happy to sleep early.
Day 2: From Strasbourg to Celerina/Schlarigna, with stop near Zurich Lake
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| Strasbourg canals |
We began the day with a couple of hours exploring Strasbourg. The city centre was gorgeous, especially Petite France, with its old colourful wooden houses, canals and the narrow streets. Most of the buildings there seemed to have an old timber framed wooden architecture. There were bright colourful flowers everywhere and the whole place was full of tourists. It was so vibrant, as enjoyable, just like my first visit there, in 2007.
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| Strasbourg Cathedral |
We walked around the canals and the churches and then went in to see the Strasbourg Cathedral (Notre-Dame). It looked so majestic, on the outside and the inside and the stained-glass windows were just outstanding. It was fun to explore. It was a hot day, so we left soon as we had a long drive ahead.
After we entered Switzerland, the first half of the drive was through the flat Swiss plateau, flat and boring. My father commented that Switzerland wasn’t as gorgeous as it is famed to be. And I just told him, just you wait till we get to the real Switzerland. We also had to buy a Swiss vignet to drive in Switzerland on the border.
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| Zurich Lake |
We wanted to stop on the way somewhere for lunch and ended up stopping at the Zurich Lake as I thought that would be fun. The traffic was bad in town. And the lake was crowded like crazy that day as it was a sunny weekend. So, we had something to eat but were off soon, not really impressed by the lake.
And after that, we drove through some tunnels and slowly turned away from the highway towards the mountains, the Swiss Alps. The drive got interesting and the scenery magnificent, as we drove past lakes and rivers and high peaks covered with snow. The mountain roads got winding and the weather turned cooler. The supercharger we stopped on the way was also so picturesque. It got dark quickly though as we started driving up the mountains.
After a long and tiring drive, we finally reached our Airbnb in Celerina/Schlarigna, a small village near St Moritz. It started raining a bit, and by the time we reached our Airbnb and managed to get in, it was already past 10 pm. We slowly settled in, and even though we couldn’t see outside much, the place already felt peaceful and completely different from the bustling cities we had left behind.
Day 3: Exploring St Moritz and Silvaplanarsee lakes
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Breakfast with a view,
our airbnb in Celerina |
The Airbnb was a multi-floor wooden chalet, well stocked with everything we needed and a postcard worthy view from our balcony. We were right next to a small stream, then there were some green pastures, some chalets, a historical church and then the snow-covered peaks around the valley, hidden by clouds. We ate our breakfast sitting outside. Every day. Sipping on a hot drink with the view in front was so calming, like being in a dream.
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| St Moritz Lake |
Our first day was a rainy day and so we decided to mostly explore the neighbourhood. We first drove to St Moritz and took a walk around the lake. Despite the clouds, the scenery was stunning. The lake was still, with reflections of the mountains and buildings on its surface. There were green pastures all around with wildflowers adding colour to the pastures. And the alpine wooden chalets all around felt so enchanting. The air was fresh, and it felt great to just walk. How much more amazing it may be to live here?
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| Silvaplanarsee Lake |
Then, we drove to the next lake, the Silvaplanarsee, not far from St Moritz. There was a small camper park nearby, and it was also in a valley with high peaks all around, all snow-covered. We took a short walk near the lake, then went to the village of Sils for a quick tea stop. The villages in this region were quiet, and most restaurants and hotels were shut by the late afternoon.
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| Reflections, St Moritz Lake |
In the evening, I bought a small cake from the local bakery, which was a local speciality. And I think it was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. It’s a local type of cake from the area, and I would recommend any day, except I don’t remember what it is called 😁.
One of the evenings, we decided to eat dinner in our village but there weren’t a lot of options around. When we explored a bit, we found many of them closed too as it wasn’t tourist season yet. So we chose one which was open and went for dinner to a place called Bo’s Co in our own village. There weren’t many options to choose from the menu, but we managed. But also decided we should research more before we eat out anywhere 😁. Another interesting thing I noted was that our village had electric charging spots! It was surprising that such a small village could have that too - showing how advanced things are here.
Day 4: Bernina Express to Tirano and Back
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| Bernina train |
This was the loveliest day of our stay in St Moritz. The day before, I had bought tickets for us to travel on the Bernina Express – one of the two most picturesque trains in Switzerland. It is a 4-hour train connecting Switzerland to Italy, from St Moritz (at 1800 metres) to Tirano (at 400 metres) and is an architectural marvel. It passes through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges, riding on multiple viaducts during the travel.
There are two types of trains that run on this Rhaetian railway route. The Bernina Express which has windows all the way to the roof and provides a panoramic view of the mountains and valleys it goes through. It also has fewer stops as it runs essentially for tourists. And the other are the local trains which do not have the same panoramic windows as the Bernina Express and stop more. Its windows open also, which helps when taking photographs. The Bernina express is more expensive than the local trains (CHF 56 vs CHF 32). We bought tickets for the Bernina Express one way, till Tirano and for the way back, we took the local train so we could get off at places and explore them on our own timelines. We left early in the morning to get onto the earliest Bernina Express and spent the whole day between Switzerland and Italy. And what a day it was!
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| Views on the way |
The first half of the ride is the ascent to the Bernina pass. The ride passes through majestic mountains, lush green valleys and vibrant green forests, with views of some glaciers and high peaks in the region. We went through many tunnels, viaducts connecting mountains, passing by small streams and huge turquoise lakes,with some random wooden chalets appearing randomly through the vegetation in the mountains. Each turn, each scene was like a picture postcard.
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| Bernina pass |
The train took us up to 2200 metres, till Ospizio Bernina pass, the highest stop for the train ride. We were above the clouds by then. There were two lakes there, lot of snow around and the weather was cold and cloudy. We could see people hiking there even in the cold and wind, though we chose to continue our journey. The next stop was Alp Grüm, with a view of Palü Glacier and Lago Palü from there. You can hike down to the lake from here, though we planned to stop here on our way back.
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| Italian valleys |
And then slowly, we started descending into Italy. The landscape changed again. Everything got softer, both the mountains as well as the houses. The valleys were greener and wider. There were strawberry fields, rivers, churches, and even small palaces dotting the landscape. We rode along the Poschiavo lake for a long time, that part of the ride was stunning.
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| Italian palaces |
There were a few small alpine towns and villages on the way like Poschiavo, Le Prese and Brusio, each with their colourful houses, their many old churches and fields all around – each looked charming. Around the town of Brusio, we also passed by the famous hairpin railway bridge, and it was so interesting to see the end of our red train while still on the bend.
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| Tirano |
The train terminated at Tirano and we explored the town for a bit. We walked around the old town and next to the river. They had some grand old buildings including some palazzos. It was already different than Switzerland – rules were bendable, standards were lower, and things didn’t feel as efficient 😁.
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| Poschiavo |
And then on the way back, we took the local train, and the landscape was still as stunning and enjoyable as the first time. We also got off from the train at Alp Grum and Poschiavo, to take our time and enjoy the places on the way. We first stopped at Poschiavo which was such a cute little village, with a stream flowing through. It had a few churches, a nice high street and many restaurants in the city centre. We had lunch at Hotel Alfrici and the food was excellent. It started raining soon though, as we returned back to the train. Our short stop there had felt so magical, with the green mountains and rain around.
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| View at Alp Grum |
We next stopped at Alp Grüm. It was a picturesque stop with the glacier and lake around, but the cold and rain got to us. We sat inside the train waiting room for a bit and got back onto the next train. We didn’t stop anymore that day as the weather had packed up already. The ride back felt prettier too, as we could open the windows of the trains, and the air felt fresher.
We finally reached St Moritz in the evening after a full day on the train and loved it. To be honest, I had been a bit unsure if I wanted to go on this Bernini Expire as it was clearly made for tourists, but I absolutely loved it. It’s an absolute recommend.
Day 5: Diavolezza Glacier and Villages Nearby
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| Glacier |
The day the weather improved and the sun came out, we drove to the Diavolezza base station and took the gondola to the top of the mountain. At the base there wasn’t much snow, but as we moved up, it was all snowed out and we could see the glaciers in the distance. The sun was out, and the air was so fresh.
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| On the top |
There weren't too many crowds up the peak though. There were some platforms to view the glaciers far off, and some cafes which were already open. We also saw some people working on clearing the hiking trails, getting them ready for summer. We spent some time there, playing snowball games and just falling on the snow, and loved the time there, the fresh air and the majestic views. After coming down, we went for a short hike up the mountain and came across a small snake on the trail too.
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| Going up the gondola |
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| Around the base |
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| Pontresina |
Later in the afternoon, we drove to Pontresina for tea. The village had some charming cliff-side houses. But it was too empty, there wasn’t a lot of activity happening there yet. The drive there was charming though.
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| Church of San Gian |
Back in Celerina/Schlarigna, we walked to the old church of San Gian, the one visible from our Airbnb windows. It was in ruins but had a quiet charm to it.
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| On the walk |
In the evening, I went out for a walk to the neighbouring village of Samedan, and it was such a lovely walk. Along a stream, lined with wildflowers, with ponies here and there and peaceful reflections everywhere. On the way, there were people running, mountain biking, fishing, and hiking. It was clear that this area is popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
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| Views on the walk |
While coming back, I also explored the other side of our village of Celerina/Schlarigna. It was quite huge. With wooden chalets everywhere, some beautiful churches, wildflower fields and so many birds everywhere. There were no local people outside though, only tourists mountain biking. the walk experience was just so stunning, it was so refreshing to be out and about on a sunny summer evening.
There were a few more villages nearby to visit, like Piz Nair, Piz Corvatch, Lake Staz, Hahnensee, Zuoz, Ardez, Ftan Guarda and Sils. But we didn’t get time. Also, we really wanted to go up the cable car to Muottas Muragl, for a meal at the restaurant on top but it hadn’t opened yet as it wasn’t summer yet. Like I say, to next time...
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| Our village |
And just like that our stay in the Engadine Valley was over. I absolutely loved it – the village, the airbnb, the days out. It was a mind-blowing place and I can’t wait to be back.
