LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Lost in Graubünden & Ticino
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TWO TO THREE WEEKS / CHUR TO VALS
Get well off the beaten trail on this circular road trip, taking in such gems as vivid Romanesque frescoes, quaint Engadine towns, remote Ticino villages, medieval castles, high mountain passes and two tempting thermal baths stops. Give yourself two to three weeks for this 685km trail.
With the exception of high wilderness mountaineering, this is one of the best routes for getting away from it all (with occasional options to jump back into the tourist fray). As a circular route, you can kick off anywhere, but we start in the Graubünden capital of Chur, from where we head north for a quick detour to pretty Maienfeld and its vineyards.
Make east for the skiing centres of Klosters and Davos, where you leave the bustle behind to surge east into the lower Engadine valley, with pretty towns to admire like Guarda and Scuol. In the latter, hang about for some great bath treatment. From there the road ribbons east to the Austrian border, which you cross to then head south through a slice of Austria and Italy, before veering back west into Switzerland to contemplate the frescoes at Müstair. The road continues west and then southwest, passing through picture-postcard Zuoz before reaching chic St Moritz. We then follow the Julier Pass mountain road that swings north and west, then dropping down the gorges of the Via Mala to the hamlet of Zillis, another key art stop.
The road continues south and crosses into Ticino and the medieval castles of Bellinzona. From there, steam on past lakeside Locarno and up the enchanting Valle Maggia. Backtracking to Bellinzona, the main route takes you along the Valle Leventina, with a stop in Giornico and any high valley hamlets you fancy, before crossing the Gotthard Pass to Andermatt and then veering back east into Graubünden. Make a quick stop at the monastery of Disentis/Mustér before making one last highly recommended detour to the baths of Vals, the last stop before Chur.
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