carlposter05

Hi again !

After doing a lot (and lot) of reading,searching,posting - I am down to my last question (at least for now) on Switzerland.

I have 2 days in September after spending time from Lauterbrunnen and am confused as to whether to go to Zermatt or St. Moritz.

For these 2 days - our interests lie in primarily adventure sports like summer skiing, alpining, white water rafting, paragliding, canyoning, etc. Would Zermatt be a better area for this or would St. Moritz be a better choice ?

An added attraction for St. Moritz is the ability to take the scenic Bernina Express, which I have heard good reviews about. Do folks agree about this or not ?

To put things in perspective, we will be coming from Lauterbrunnen and will be going to Venice next.

Thanks all again for all the wonderful advice. I cant wait to start the trip - will post a detailed trip report after we return !

swandav2000

Hi Again carlposter05,

I liked the Engadin area more than I liked Zermatt -- the buildings & culture are much different and will give you real variety for your trip.

You know, you don't have to stay in St. Moritz -- there are many towns along the valley floor that are less touristy and less expensive than St Moritz. Pontresina & Sils are towns you can investigate (do a text search here . . .).

Here's a link to my photos from the Fodorite gathering in the Engadin: http://community.webshots.com/album/79095617dhIGaT

Your trip on to Venice will be easier, however, from Zermatt. The train trip will take 6-7 hours with 1-3 changes, depending on your departure time. From Pontresina the trip takes 9h52 going over the Bernina Pass.

s

carlposter05

Thanks swandav again !

I agree that we probably wont stay in St. Moritz proper, but will pick a smaller town in the area.

However, if you had to pick only 1 between Zermatt and the St. Moritz area - which one would you pick ? Our intentions for the trip are as in my original post.

Thanks again ! ;-)

swandav2000

I'd pick Engadin, even with the connection & travel difficulties. You may even want to break up your journey to Venice and stay the night in Poschiavo, a town that totally enchanted me. So maybe one night in/around St Moritz and one at Poschivo.

If you find your Zermatt post, you'll see that I posted that I didn't like it.

Hope others will chime in. Really recommend you do a text search here to see more about Zermatt.

s

tom22

From Lauterbrunnen I recommend to travel towards Zermatt. You can do this by train and the line is very scenic.

There are also other small mountain villages in this part of Switzerland (Saas Fee, Belalp, Bettmeralp, Riederalp, Lötschental, Lauchernalp), which are also worth to visit.

Zermatt can give you in September some feeling of the coming Winter, as is is surrounded my the most highest mountains of the alps. Be prepared for cool weather.

carlposter05

Tom22 - so looks like you're picking Zermatt over St. Moritz then ?

The score is tied at 1-1 for Zermatt vs St. Moritz ! ;-)

Intrepid1

You may want to do some further research on the summer skiing opportunities near Zermatt vs. St. Moritz.

I find the town of St. Moritz itself somewhat sterile. If you do go to that area I would suggest you stay somewhere other than in the town/village itself.

Ingo

If summer skiing is your intention you have to go to Zermatt. No summer skiing in St. Moritz (anymore). It would not be my favourite activity, though.

I agree with swandav, the Engadine would give you a very nice change in culture and architecture from Lauterbrunnen. I'd pick St. Moritz (not the town itself, I would stay in Pontresina or Sils e.g.).

I must say I did not like Zermatt in particular. I have stayed in Saas Fee, too, and dito.

Ingo

carlposter05

How is summer skiing ? I've done some skiing in the US, but only in winter, and while I consider myself to be an intermediate skiier, my wife is a complete beginner. She has taken a couple of lessons here, but hasnt really gotten the hang of it.

The idea behind summer skiing is that I've always wanted to ski in Switzerland ! ;-) Now that might be naive and silly of me - hence the question.

Will summer skiing in Zermatt be fun ? How are the runs there ? Is it a very different experience from winter skiing in northeastern US (Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, etc).

swandav2000

Hi again,

Summer skiing is on a glacier, so think ice. No powder. Not good for a beginning.

My only trip to Zermatt was a ski trip in April. I froze. High winds. Could barely see the skier in front of me for blowing snow.

I'd suggest that if you want to ski in Switzerland, you plan another trip! Skiing Wengen or Muerren is sublime.

s

carlposter05

swandav - at this rate, I should just pay you to be my tour guide ! ;-) Just kidding - but I do really appreciate your tips and the time you spend in responding to posts. This goes to all the posters out here !

Back to the issue at hand - so is summer skiing similar to cross country skiing then ? Or is it still downhill alpine skiing ? I've never skiied on a glacier before, but it does sound intriguing. If I'm thinking ice rather than snow - I am thinking of hard surfaces that can hurt a lot if you fall, and not much control on where you're going. Would that be a fair assessment ?

Intrepid1

I think one of the big differences between Zermatt/St. Moritz and what you may be used to is the HEIGHT and the vertical drop of some of the runs.

Intrepid1

Also Carl: Zermatt vs. St. Moritz...as you probably know, Zermatt is "car-free" and has only horse-drawn wagons and electric golf cart-like vehicles.

Also, the predominant style of architecture is slightly different (notice I said slightly) in Zermatt which makes it look like the stereotypical Swiss alpine village (I'm not sure if they still pay that guy to herd the goats down the main drag or not).

The other difference is the height of the peaks surrounding Zermatt...some of the highest peaks in the Alps to include the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, the Dufourspitze, etc., are visible from the Gornergrat and Kleine Matterhorn <b> above </b> the village (when the weather is good).

Some feel the place is a bit contrived but I do find it a bit more pleasing to the eye than the village of St. Moritz itself.

swandav2000

Hi carlposter05,

No, glacier skiing is not like cross-country; it's downhill. The hill will be ice, so it'll be difficult to get the ski edges to grip, difficult to turn, difficult to stop (at least for me!!).

s

Grasshopper

OK, Carl, this is just my opinion, but you have to be really careful about tallying votes here. You need to consider who is voting. Ingo and Swandav are two of the board's Swiss experts. If it were me, their votes would be worth a lot.

That said, you're thinking St. Moritz, but in the neighborhood are tons of charming little towns. It all makes up the Engadin. It's a GORGEOUS area. You can rent a bike at the train station and ride around the lakes or along the wonderful paths that go up and down the Engadin Valley. You can windsurf or kite surf. You can hike. And you're right, the Bernina Express is fantastic.

By all means, don't stay in St. Moritz. But Pontresina or Zuoz or Bever... lots of choices!

carlposter05

The thing that I keep going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth (get my point?) about this is - I'd really like to go to St. Moritz, but the trip Lauterbrunnen-St.Moritz-Venice seems to involve way toooo much train travel.

Zermatt, for some reason (and this could just be my ignorance and naive-ity) seemed more conviniently located.

Once I am done planning the rest of the trip, I'll have to come back to agonizing over this decision.

Shirley_Eye

A friend and I have only three days in September to be in Switzerland prior to a week in Italy. The Zermatt/Matterhorn area is our destination. Any recommendations for day trips out and about; e.g., easy river rapids, hiking, etc., and a central quaint place to stay? Help would be appreciated, as travel agents aren't that familiar with the short-term trip. I enjoyed reading your communications.