Originally Posted by Melnq8

I had the same problem when I last looked for apartments in St Mortiz - couldn't find one of a decent size with a balcony and a kitchen one could actually cook in, just a lot of basic studios with little afterthought type kitchens, if you know what I mean. I'm sure they exist, but not at a price I'm willing to pay.

Perhaps I missed it, but what time of year are you planning to go? The Engadine card that comes with hotel stays is valid May-October, although I see they now offer one for sale that is good 365 days a year...for a mere 1,160 chf!

Originally Posted by Ingo

A quick search of 2- to 4-star hotels in St. Moritz came up with quite a few from 104 (Petit Steffani) over 131 (Cervus) to 145 (Soldanella) e.g. for a single room. No idea if all of them offer the Engadin Card. But that's certainly no rate that any Swiss people would call "High End". Btw, I often booked through travel agencies like Tui or Neckermann and got much lower rates than posted by the hotels on their websites. A quick search on tui.com and I found Hotel Laudinella and Reine Victoria (4 star) for 327 resp. 312 Euro (1 night free if you stay a week) for three nights incl. breakfast and Engadin Card in a single room in late September. Europa (4 star) in St. Moritz-Champfer for 329 Euro incl. Engadin Card (659 for a week). Cervo in Sils for 386 incl. half board (balcony, but no Engadin Card I think).

I doubt you would enjoy sitting on the balcony in the (late) afternoon after your hike, sipping a beer - it gets cold very quickly later in the day in the Upper Engadin. Remember it is at 1800 m elevation. And due to the special topography of the valley the temperatures at night are much colder than you might expect (cold air flowing down from the mountains and accumulating at the valley floor).

No idea how important the cable cars are for you. If not so much and you stay in an apartment in the Upper Engadin, then the Graubünden pass is also an option. www.graubuendenpass.ch

Originally Posted by neckervd

There is no need to sleep at Brig. Yo could take a train from ZRH to Visp and a connecting train from there to Martigny, much closesr to Bourg St-Pierre.
Trains every 30 - 60 minutes.
Last train to Martigny: ZRH dp 17.45 - Martigny ar 20.47 (- Orsieres ar 22.19.
Last train to Bourg St-Pierre: ZRH dp 15.48 - Bourg St-Pierre ar 20.07.
The Gd St-Bernard - Bourg St-Bernard leg isn't paricularly scenic. You may take the Orsieres bound bus as well.

Originally Posted by neckervd

Good choice; enjoy Badia Alta and surrounding areas!

Originally Posted by OlavE

The last decade I've been a dozen times hiking in the Alps and in 10 different villages/regions, and I've done extensive research on several other places. I therefore want to share some of my experiences and give some advice (or recieve some) regarding hiking in this fantastic region. Since I'm most about hiking, I will also focus on that, and not just taking the gondola up the mountains to enjoy the views. I will give advice both for good places for medium level hiking (let's say typically 600-800 height meters a day) and high level hiking (1000+ meters a day), which is what I do. In addition to hiking opportunities, I will also make recommondations based on views and scenery, both from the village and higher up in the mountains, price level, accessability with public transport and how crowded and touristy the area is. Below and in the following posts, I summarize some of what I've experinced, what I've found out through research and list some pros and cons for different places and areas.

"The big 3" - Zermatt, Chamonix and Berner Oberland (Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren)
I've nicknamed these three places/areas as the "big 3" since these are IMO the most popular, the most touristy, probably the most renowned and also possibly the most spectaular areas in the Alps. I've been both to Chamonix and two times in Zermatt, but not to Berner Oberland yet. All these areas have in common spectacular scenery and views to some of the highest and most faomus mountains in the Alps. Mont Blanc for Chamonix, Matterhorn for Zermatt and Jungfrau/Eiger/Mönch for Berner Oberland. These villages probably have the most spectacular views from the village, and are also some of the few places in the Alps where you get good glacier views directly from the village itself, and it gets even better up in the mountains.

Since they are very popular, there is also a lot of people, and especially Zermatt feels fairly crowed since it's pretty crammed in between the mountains. Chamonix is also touristy, but the area on the valley floor is bigger, so it felt a bit less crowded. All places have good infrastructure to get around, buy buses/trains and gondolas/cable cars, and you will get high into the mountains. One big negative aspect, if your not loaded with money, is that these are the only places I've been to in the Alps where all the cable cars and gondolas cost money, and are not included in the guest card for the area. The gondolas in Chamonix are fairly expensive, but the two places in Switzerland are REALLY expensive, although use of the Swiss Travel Pass would reduce the cost. For hiking I found Chamonix good, but not great for high level hiking. Zermatt on the other hand is great for all levels, and especially the hikes on the vest side of the valley where there are none gondolas or furniculars, very just really good. The 1800 height meter hike to Mettelhorn is one of the best I've ever done.

+ Great views the whole time, even from the village. Not been in Berner Oberland and Mürren, but from pictures the views from that village seems absolutely stunning.
+ Extensive hiking network, especially for medium level hikes. Chamonix and Berner Oberland are though not the best for high level hikes.
+ Especially Chamonix is really accessible, probably the place in the high Alps closest to a bigger airport with public transport.
+ Zermatt and surrounding usually have very good weather, better than further north (Berner Oberland) and east (Austria).
- Crowded and touristy. The village Zermatt is quiet charming, but the number of people are just really high.
- Expensive, especially Zermatt and Berner Oberland. A week or more with hiking here, staying in a decent hotel, eating out and using cable cars/gondolas each day, will cost you a lot.

Graubünden - Davos and St.Moritz/Engadin
I've spent a week in Davos, but not been in Engadin so far. That is one of my top alternatives for next summer. Davos is basically a small town in the mountains, not very charming. But it has a good range of accomondation, and is cheaper than Zermatt and Berner Oberland. The area is fairly accessible with train from Zurich, above the same time as the other mentioned places in Switzerland. Also, the guest card gives you an unlimited number of tours with cable cars and gondolas, which is great especially if you do downhill cycling. It will also save you a lot of money for hiking, since you usually want to get a bit higher up in the mountain than the village. Davos, although not very charming, offers very good multi sports opportunities and are also a good area for both medium and high level hiking.

+ Less expensive, at least Davos, and all cable cars and gondolas are included in the guest card.
+ Davos is a very good area for multi sport activities, hiking, cycling both road and MTB, etc.,
+ Engadin seems to have a very good choice of hikes, possibly one of the very best places in the Alps both for medium and high level hikes.
+ Engadin has good glacier views just south of the valley, but not from the villages itself. Engadin valley is also the highest lying valley in Europe with a certain population, and it's length and size is an attraction in itself.
- Davos is not very charming, and there is also little glacier views from the surrounding mountains.
- St-Moritz is a high end resort, both expensive and (as far as I understand) visited by not the most typical hiking or sports enthusiasts. But quite possibly good opportunities to stay in the other villages in the vally.

Rest of Valais - Val d'Anniviers and Saastal
My trips in Valais also brought me to the neighbouring valleys to Mattertal where Zermatt lies. In Val d'Anniviers, I've stayed in several places and I spent some days in Saastal this summer, hiking in the mountains there. And since these areas are also lying just by some of the 4000m peaks in the Alps, the views are great and the hiking opportunities likewise. And also since the big crowds go to Zermatt, these villages are significantly less populated by tourists. Expecially Zinal seemed like a quiet place, only with a handful of hotels, where Zermatt have dozens. Saastal and Saas-Fee have more tourists, but also offer some great views and some of the best high level hiking in the Alps. I stayed in Saas Grund where I found a fairly cheap pension, but it was on short notice and next time I will certainly stay in Saas-Fee.

+ Grimentz is probably the most charming of the Swiss alpine villages because of the old wooden housing.
+ Both valleys have very good selection of hikes. Especially Saastall offers some great high level hikes to peaks, passes and huts above 3000m.
+ Great glacier views from Saas Fee. Almost on par with Chamonix and Zermatt.
+ Especially Zinal and Grimentz, but also Saastal are A LOT less touristy and crowded than Mattertal and Zermatt.
+ Less expensive than Zermatt and Berner Oberland. In both valleys cable cars are included in the guest card.
+ As for Zermatt, the weather is generally good.
- It's actually difficult to find negative things about these places. It is possibly not THAT spectacular as the places mentioned above, but that's marginal. And you don't get glacier views from Zinal and Grimentz, but have to go further into the mountains.

Tomorrow, I will cover Austria and Italy.