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Published: December 16th 2014
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Swiss National Park Visitor Centre at Zernez
The relatively new centre for the one and only National Park. Where to go today? Up, down below St Moritz or down the Engedin valley towards Austria? We chose the latter as we’d heard good things about the new Swiss National Park headquarters at Vernez. They had just celebrated 100yrs of the park which is Switzerland’s only National Park. It’s strange really when you consider the vast areas of mountains that could be protected for the future. How lucky we are in NZ with all our Parks and at home having 3 on our doorstep.
We had to do a bit studying of timetables to figure how we were going to run the day but since the NP closed at 12 it was a no-brainer to start there.
The Visitor Centre was worth the visit as it was interactive and suitable for all ages. It started with a film of all the wildlife in the park which had some wonderful photography. There was the history of the park with the old and new contributions; the animal and bird displays; the geology; the research and a whole lot of learning tools. The Swiss are keen to add new parks to the existing one. I think we do it better but then
Quaint houses in Guarda
Note the typical rounded doora and designs on the houses I’m biased and we’ve had a lot of practice.
After finding some food we sat in the sun to picnic until the next train down the valley. It was another lovely day but any time out of the sun saw us soon layering up again. It’s cold.
The next stop was Guarda which we had read has lovely old traditional houses and is quite unique. The only problem with the visit is that it is way up on a hillside and the buses up are not frequent. The wanderweg looked too steep so we walked up the road. A very wise decision as it was much more gradual but it was still 2.5km uphill. We worked up some heat despite the cold. Guarda turned out to be a fantastic choice. It has houses 100’s years old with wonderful wall art. Around the doors and windows are various border patterns etched into the paint work. On the walls are pictures of plants and animals. The houses have very thick walls, arched doors, and little attached balconies. Very pretty. The streets are cobbled and there are many fountains. On the strange side we saw goats virtually living on a balcony
and basking in the sun on a windowsill. There was an operating blacksmith and a flock of sheep living on a yard. Framing it all are snow covered mountains.
It was then a fast walk downhill and back to the train connections to Celerina.
This valley is well worth visiting. First it is flat and open, then it narrows to a deep gorge and opens up again with villages dotted along the valley. Some people must never see the sun in winter living on the shaded side of the valley. There was a lot of snow about and much preparation happening for the ski season. This is not a great time to visit if you want action as it is very quiet as locals take a rest before the rush. However, it would be great place to do a bike ride down the valley into Austria and on to Innsbruck. Might just think on that one ?…..
So ends our few days in the Engadin valley of the Graubunden Canton. We’ve done a few new things from our last trip and enjoyed the winter experience despite the cold. But, give me summer or autumn any day.
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