Chur or St Moritz?
 

Hello,

We intend to visit Chur or St Moritz from Interlaken before making our way to Lugano in early september.

We are debating on staying for a couple of days in Chur versus St Moritz as it is 3 hrs from Interlaken versus 5.5 hrs to St Moritz.

We would be open to travelling to St Moritz if you advise St moritz over Chur.

Also we would like to incorporte a few hours halt in Pontresina or Poschavio on our way from Chur / St Moritz to Lugano, but we have suitcases with us as well.

Looking forward to your suggestions

Thanks in advance
Amit

Chur is a nice small town in the Rhine Valley whereas St. Moritz is a resort town on a small lake in the middle of the Alps, with cableways to viewpoints and glaciers.

I wouldn't stay at St. Moritz proper, but rather at a scenic village beside, like Sils Maria (between two lakes), Pontresina or Silvaplana Surlej. There are very frequent buses between all these places.

Interlaken - Chur is 3 1/2 hrs by train along the boring itinerary via Berne - Zurich and much longer if you travel through the Alps (more scenic).

Interlaken - St. Moritz is 5 hrs by train via Berne - Zurich - Klosters - Vereina Tunnel or 5 1/2 hrs by train via Bern - Zurich - Chur - Albula Tunnel.

If you are looking for a really scenic journey through the Swiss Alps you should spend a whole day and choose one of the following itineraries:

Interlaken dp 8.00 - Brig 9.11/9.18 - Glacier Express - St. Moritz ar 15.58

Interlaken dp 8.04 - Meiringen 8.36/8.50 Stein Glacier/Susten Pass (15 min photo stop) - Andermatt 11.04/11.54 - Glacier Express - St. Moritz ar 16.58

Interlaken dp 8.33 - Meiringen 9.07/9.25 - Grimsel Pass (30 min photo stop/stunning glacier panorama)- Oberwald 11.25/11.42 - Andermatt 12.20/12.54 - Glacier Express - St. Moritz ar 17.58

Interlaken dp 8.33 - Meiringen 9.07/9.25 - Grimsel Pass (30 min photo stop/stunning glacier panorama)- Oberwald - Nufenen Pass (15 min photo stop) - Airolo 12.57/14.15 - Gotthard Pass (20 min photo stop) - Andermatt 15.18/15.28 - Reichenau-Tamins 17.48/18.08 - St. Moritz ar 19.58

Interlaken dp 8.33 - Meiringen 9.07/9.25 - Grimsel Pass (30 min photo stop/stunning glacier panorama)- Oberwald - Nufenen Pass (15 min photo stop) - Airolo 12.57/13.14 - Belllinzona 14.09/14.45 - San Bernardino Tunnel - Thusis 16.20/16.30 - St. Moritz ar 17.58

Interlaken dp 7.29 - Loetschberg Tunnel - Simplon Tunnel - Domodossola 9.12/9.25 - Centovalli Express - Locarno 11.19/11.35 - Bellinzona 11.59/12.45 - San Bernardino Tunnel - Thusis 14.20/14.30 - St. Moritz ar 15.58

Interlaken dp 7.29 - Loetschberg Tunnel - Simplon Tunnel - Domodossola 9.12/9.25 - Centovalli Express - Locarno 11.19/11.35 - Giubiasco 11.54/12.06 - Monza 13.38/14.32 - Varenna - Tirano 16.52/17.00 - Poschiavo 17.35 - Bernina Pass 18.21 - Pontresina 18.52 - St. Moritz ar 19.11

Long stopovers recommended on scenic places along all these itineraries.

St.Moritz was the only place that disappointed us in Switzerland. There were a lot of ugly concrete buildings.Luckily, we stayed a few miles away in charming Pontresina.

We also stayed in Pontresina and enjoyed our time using it as a base. I thought St. Moritz a big nothing & would not go there!

I wouldn't go to Interlachen either. I would go into the mountains and visit Wegen or Lauterbruten.

Try to travel light. Depending where you go, the Swiss towns are pedestrian only, which means you'll have to wheel your bags to your hotel.

"Depending where you go, the Swiss towns are pedestrian only, which means you'll have to wheel your bags to your hotel"

There are indeed a few car free villages in Switzerland, like Wengen, Muerren, Braunwald, Graechen, Zermatt, Saas Fee, Belalp, Riederalp, Bettmeralp, Fiescheralp, Pila, Landarenca, ...
They are either tiny or have a well organized (electromobile) luggage transport system.

Interlaken is not itself a beautiful destination - you can look up while there and enjoy nice views, and its location between the two lakes is nice, but Interlaken, being a large town on the flat with decent train connections, serves as a springboard for the wonderful targets higher up - Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, the Jungfraujoch, etc.

People with plenty of time on their hand like to stay in Interlaken and make day-trips to those higher-up destinations, and to others like Niesen, Niederhorn, Brienzer Rothorn, and boat rides on both lakes.

But if time is of the essence, pick one of those targets and stay right there.

As to St. Moritz - think of it as Mo-Ritz (more ritzy) and you get the idea - Porsches and Rolex watches... But as somebody suggested, stay nearby, for example Sils Maria etc., the region (Engadin) is great, just not the town of St. Moritz itself.

Follow neckervd's advice and take the train from Interlaken through the Lötschberg tunnel down to Brig (in the Rhone valley) then the train up and over the center of the alps to St. Moritz. That train can be either the Glacier Express - a train for tourists with creature comforts etc., or regular trains that use the same tracks for less money. See www.sbb.ch

Quite a few of those other solutions mentioned by neckervd are also fabulous - read up on them and decide.

Chur is not in the same league at all, it's a nice town, nothing wrong with it, but that's all it is, not a mountain location or otherwise wonderful.

As for luggage, Swiss rail offers some wonderful options for luggage forwarding -- same day in a very few and pricy circumstances, but also next day much more affordably if the times for drop off and pick up work. And most stations have either a manned luggage desk or a variety of affordable luggage lockers, so you can check or store everything you won't need for an overnight or two. If interested, explore the "station & services" section of the swiss rail web-site:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Thank you very much for the detailed response.
We will take heed to your suggestions and stay at Pontresina or Sils Maria for 2 nights.

My question is that the itineraries you suggested require frequent changes...is this doable by train with luggage/suitcases?

kja suggested using luggage forwarding services. Would it work for Sils Maria or Pontresina given they are smaller villages?

Interlaken is only our base to cover Jungfrau region - Lake brienz cruise and the GoldenPass train

At some point we would want to do a self drive as well.

Woud you suggest driving from Interlaken to Sils Maria/Pontresina or Sils Maria down south to Lugano?

Many thanks in advance

IME, the change times indicated by SwissRail allow time for the necessary changes for people with normal mobility and a reasonable amount of luggage. If you are traveling with a LOT of luggage, or if your movement is limited, you might want to plan for a bit more time at each station.

As I understand it, the luggage forwarding and storage options are station specific -- use the link I provided above, enter the station, and then check the "station & services" tab to learn what you need to know.

I wonder why you want to do a "self drive"? Doing so would mean that the driver doesn't get to see the scenery. Public transportation in Switzerland is excellent -- easy and convenient. Do give it some thought before committing.

Good luck!

We, too, are planning a trip to include St. Moritz, only ours will be in winter to permit our son to ski. So your remarks about St. Moritz give me pause. Is it reasonable to stay in Pontresina, for instance, with someone who will be skiing out of Zermatt each day?

Julie, you do NOT want to stay anywhere remotely near St. Moritz if you are skiing out of Zermatt...they are MILES apart.

Hi JulieVikmanis,

Pontrsina and Zermatt are about 8 hours apart. Is that what you actually meant to ask?

s

If traveling that much on trains and perhaps lake boats check out the Swiss Travel Pass which covers both and all your trains as well as potential Maloja Pass bus St. Moritz-Lugano (very scenic bus ride)- www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.sbb.ch for lots of info - and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com good too.

Been to both Chur and St Moritz and both are great bases for mountain trains but the Bernina Pass Railway is one of the most dramatically awesome in Europe - nice day out or of going to Lucerne via Bernina Express and bus to Lugano.