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10
Days / 9 Nights Swiss Graubünden Special
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Graubünden, the
so-called Holiday Corner of Switzerland, is
located in the south-eastern part of Switzerland. It is the largest of
the 26 cantons (states) in Switzerland. There are 462 mountains in
Graubünden exceeding 3000 m above sea level, making it the
highest region in the Alps (in terms of average altitude) and earning
it the name "the roof of Europe".
A region with 150 valleys, 937 mountains and 615 lakes,
Graubünden is very popular among the Swiss, Italians, Germans,
Austrians, Liechtensteiners and Dutch who love to holiday here amidst
breath-taking panoramic landscapes.
Graubünden is the home of the very impressive ice-packed
Bernina massive, the highest group of mountains in the eastern Alps.
Due to the fact that the only triple watershed in Europe is in
Graubünden, she is also known as the Water Supplier of Europe,
giving life to millions of people and animals. Graubünden is
so blessed with spring water that the 2 sources of the River Rhine
which flows into the North Sea, the source of the River Maira which
flows into the Mediterranean Sea and the source of the River Inn which
flows into (the River Danube then into) the Black Sea, all originate
from Graubünden.
St Moritz, where the wealthy go to enjoy their riches and Davos, the
highest city in Europe where 2000 of the world's most elite people
(politicians, business leaders, celebraties, intellectuals, journalists
etc) go to attend the World Economic Forum every winter, are located in
Graubünden. Chur, the capital of Graubünden, is the
only city in Switzerland which has a cable car going up to a ski area.
Many quaint little Swiss villages can only be found in
Graubünden.
Graubünden is the birthplace of winter tourism. It is where
winter dreams come true.
Highlights
- Discover:
Chur, Lenzerheide, St. Moritz, Engadin villages, Münster
Valley, Davos, Maienfeld, Heinzenberg, Sufers, Arosa, Flims.
- Attractions:
- horse carriage ride through villages in the picturesque countryside
(optional)
- rodel toboganning on the world's longest toboggan run on rails
(optional)
- lunch picnic at and/or swimming in an alpine lake
- alpine hiking
- Heidi village
- Top of Switzerland to see the highest ice-packed mountains of the
Eastern Alps & glacier (optional)
- mountain visit for an impressive 360° panoramic view of Swiss
Alp / view of 1000 summits (optional)
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| Day
1 |
Arrival
and pick up at Zürich airport / Zürich main train
station / hotel in Zürich. Take a one-and-three-quarter hour
scenic drive along the Lake of Zürich, Lake Walen and the
majestic Churfirsten mountain range to the Holiday Corner of
Switzerland. Welcome to the land of 150 valleys, 615 alpine lakes and
937 mountain peaks. Pass the Heidi World, THE Pinot Noir region of
Switzerland and the oldest city in Switzerland. Continue to drive
through Graubünden, the most diversified and largest but the
least densely populated canton of Switzerland, known for her widely
untouched landscapes and home to three of the four cultures of
Switzerland.
Drive into the valley of castles & ruins before checking into
your hotel embedded at the foot of an inner alpine valley, also known
as the ‘Orchard of Graubünden'.
Discover the town in the geographic heart of the Alps that you will be
staying in for the most part of your tour. Towards 12:00, we visit the
city of Chur, the alpine city and the only city in Switzerland with a
cable car going up to a ski area.
Complimentary welcome drink during dinner. |
| Day
2 |
| Visit
a winter and summer sports resort where ex-British prime minister, Mrs
Margaret Thatcher, took her twins to learn skiing. Here, you have
various optional tours to choose from: (1) Horse carriage ride through
the villages in this picturesque countryside, passing by lakes where
families go to enjoy the summer with their children (2)
cable-car/chairlift ride up to one of the mountains of the largest and
highest canton of Switzerland, Graubünden, for a stunning 360°
panoramic
view of the south-eastern Swiss Alps or a view of 1000 summits (3)
rodel tobogganing on the world's longest toboggan run on rails at 3.1
km long. Decide your own speed!) |
| Day
3 |
| Today
we visit the eastern part of Switzerland, St. Moritz, in the Upper
Engadin Valley where the wealthy go to enjoy their riches and where the
Alpine Ski World Championship 2003 as well as the Winter Olympics 1928
& 1948 were hosted. Take a walk through the town. Optional: A
visit to one of the mountains in the eastern Swiss Alps for a very
impressive 360° view of the Alps including a close view of the
Bernina range, the highest mountain range in the Eastern Alps. On a
clear day, depending on the sun's rays, 7 or 8 layers of mountain
ranges can be seen from here! Graubünden has the most number
of mountain peaks in the Alps exceeding 3000 m, making it the highest
region in the Alps and earning it the name 'the roof of Europe'. Stay a
night in a Romansch-speaking quaint village in the easternmost valley
of Switzerland. |
| Day
4 |
| Go
to a village in the easternmost valley of Switzerland to see a
1200-year-old UNESCO World Heritage church from the Carolingian era.
Then go to the German-speaking part of Italy on the Reschenpass to see
the church tower which sticks out of a lake. Next, enter into
Switzerland again and go to the only duty-free oasis in Switzerland.
Next, we go to a town in the Lower Engadin Valley with quaint villages
where people go to see typical Engadiner sgraffito-painted houses with
huge doors and sunken in funnel-like windows decorated with flowers.
Take a stroll in the village or take dips in various outdoor &
indoor mountain mineral spring thermal pools (optional). Stay a night
in a quaint village. |
| Day
5 |
If the
alpine passes are open,
Either
1) Visit the highest city in Europe. This is where 2000 of
the world's most elite people (politicians, business leaders,
celebraties etc) go to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) every
winter.
OR
2) Drive over an alpine pass which cannot be driven over by coaches.
Take a hike around a lake
which is said to have a second lake
beneath it. If weather
permits, have a lunch picnic by the
lake.
Otherwise,
drive over the Julier Pass, mentioned by travel magazines as one of the
most beautiful passes in the world.
Then take a drive back to your hotel embedded in the holiday
corner of Switzerland and the rest of the day is yours. |
| Day
6 |
Visit
an alpine cheese dairy and see how cheese is made the traditional way.
Cheese-tasting: goat, sheep and cow cheese. Next, go to see the
impressive Via Mala gorge with 300-m high rockwalls. Then we take you
to walk under a river! - the River Rhine, one of the longest and most
important rivers in Europe.
OR
If weather permits, we do an optional tour: a panorama
train ride on the Bernina Express
which got inscribed on the UNESCO
World Heritage List on 7
July 2008 for being a
masterpiece of engineering
amidst panoramic landscapes and cultural diversity. Enjoy riding the
most famous train in the Alps on board the Rhaetian Railway panorama
coach whose north alpine route is a 145-km stretch that cuts through
Graubünden, boasting the most beautiful railway routes in the
world. During the trip over the Bernina pass, the train reaches an
altitude of 2.253 m (7.390 ft) and masters gradients of 70%. The
Bernina Express runs without cogwheels, on the highest long-distance
railway transversal in the Alps over up to more then 200-metre long and
90-metre high bridges, through winding tunnels, past raging mountain
torrents, glaciers and a rich array of alpine flowers to southerly
Valposchiavo, over the spiralling viaduct at Brusio and on to Tirano in
Italy.
Note: If the weather is not suitable for train ride today, you still
have the opportunity to do it another day. |
| Day
7 |
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Spring/Summer/Autumn:
The story of the little girl, Heidi, originates from a village in the
Swiss countryside. Visit Heidi village to see the Heidi house with
Heidi's room, attic, living room, cellar, kitchen etc like it was over
125 years ago. Go to a Torkel, a place where they pressed wine in the
olden days with a gigantic wooden wine presser (a must-do for wine
lovers). Possible wine-tasting upon request (optional).
Winter:
Arosa - visit this ski paradise. Opportunity for winter hiking,
sledging and skiing. Great for family with young children.
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| Day
8 |
Spring/Summer/Autumn:
Picnic and/or swim at an alpine lake. Lie, read or simply relax by the
lake while the more energetic and adventurous take a short hike
(approximately 45 min) to a nearby hill which overlooks the beautiful
Safien valley. Opportunity to see enchanting alpine flowers of various
shapes, sizes and colours, including the much-loved dandelions. Next,
visit a remoted hamlet to see how a Swiss alpine organic farmer makes a
living in the high-up countryside.
Winter:
Visit yet another winter paradise which is about a 20-min ride from
your hotel. Ice-skate on the highest ice-skating rink in Europe with
great vistas. Snowshoeing (optional), winter hiking possible. |
| Day
9 |
Visit
a town, a Swiss secret which fortunately not many from other countries
know about. Let us impress you with another of our picturesque
backyard.
Spring/Summer/Autumn:
If the weather permits, we take you to a very lovely place on a hill
for a memorable barbecue, Swiss style. Opportunity to walk in the woods
beside the BBQ ground.
Winter:
Visit Crap San Gion, a ski destination. |
| Day
10 |
| Hotel
check-out. Scenic ride to Zürich airport / Zürich
main train station / hotel in Zürich. Please do NOT schedule
your flight to depart Switzerland before 10:45 am. |
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Note
1) As we would very much want our travellers to get the most out of our
tours, the sequence and/or parts of the content of the above itinerary
are subject to changes depending on weather conditions, forthcoming
special events and unforeseen circumstances.
2) Some tours are included as optional tours because travellers MUST
have the choice not to choose them in case of bad weather. In
Switzerland, views from the summit of mountains are not always
visible. Sometimes there is ZERO visibility due to low or
heavy clouds. If the optionals are included in the
tour price, then the mountain visit is a must-do even when the weather
is not suitable for a mountain visit. This would be unfair to
the unaware traveller and it would be a wasted
trip. We always check the weather one day before and
advise our travellers if the scheduled mountain
visit would be good or not. Otherwise, we either
shuffle the itinerary and do the mountain visit another day when the
weather is good (as per forecast) or advise them not to do it at all
when the next days are not suitable for mountain visits. For other
optional tours like horse-carriage rides, thermal pools, etc, some
travellers might not want to do them for some reason or some may have
done them before.
3) If you have been to a few of the above-mentioned places but would
like to visit other not-to-be-missed places or experience some
interesting activities, we might be able to do some modification. Do
write to us.
What's included:
- Transfer
to and fro Zürich airport / Zürich main train station
/ hotel in Zürich.
(Transfer to airport not included for budget tours)
- 9 nights hotel accommodation in
countryside town and quaint villages.
- 9 Swiss buffet breakfasts. (Not
included for budget tours)
- 8 Swiss dinners. (Not included for
budget tours)
- 1 driver-guide.
- 1
tour guide.
- 1 touring vehicle
Tour
Schedule & Booking | 7
Days Swiss Discovery | 7
Days Swiss Hiking |
10 Days Swiss Mountain Explorer |10
Days Swiss Graubünden Special | 14
Days Swiss Experience
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this tour for me?
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